Can a Mississippi county board of supervisors install a culvert or grade an entrance from private property to a state highway?

Plain-English summary

Lauderdale County's board attorney, Lee Thaggard, asked the AG a practical question. State highways run through Lauderdale County. Private driveways connect to those state highways. Sometimes the entrances erode, the drainage fails, or a culvert is needed where a private driveway ties into the state right-of-way. The board of supervisors wants to install or maintain those features when doing so is necessary to keep the state highway itself in good shape, not just to do a favor for a private landowner. Does the county have the legal authority?

The AG, through Special Assistant AG Kristi D. Kennedy, said yes, under § 65-7-81, subject to two conditions: MDOT approval, and a public-benefit finding entered on the board's minutes. Section 65-7-81 expressly authorizes county boards of supervisors to "construct, reconstruct, maintain or contribute to the construction, reconstruction and maintenance" of any state highway, whether inside or outside a municipality's limits, with or without the municipality's consent. Prior AG opinions (Hollimon, 1989; Gamble III, 2000; Welch, 1993; Younger, 1991; Bishop, 1999; Coleman, 2005; Mabus, 1984) have read § 65-7-81 to include culvert installation and ingress-egress maintenance, so long as the work is "reasonably and necessarily calculated to preserve" the state road and is for the public's benefit rather than the landowner's.

The opinion is careful about the limits. The AG cannot decide as a matter of fact whether a particular culvert or driveway grading is necessary for road preservation, because § 7-5-25 limits the AG to opining on questions of state law, not fact. The board has to make those factual findings on its own minutes, subject to judicial review. The opinion also flags that Mississippi has a few specific provisions that authorize work on private driveways under different rationales: § 19-3-42(1) (school bus turnarounds), § 19-3-42(5) (driveways and parking lots of certain nonprofits and private nonprofit cemeteries), and § 19-3-75 (roads to public cemeteries). Those statutes might apply to the specific facts of a given project.

The opinion also noted that § 65-7-81 exists in two versions, one for countywide/unit road systems and one for the beat system, and applied the unit-system version because Lauderdale County operates under the countywide/unit system.

What this means for you

If you are on a Mississippi county board of supervisors and your road manager comes in asking whether the county can fix an entrance off a state highway, the opinion's answer is yes if (1) the project is "reasonably and necessarily calculated to preserve" the state highway and is for the benefit of the public rather than the landowner, (2) the board enters findings to that effect on its minutes, and (3) MDOT approves. The opinion conditions the authority on those minute findings, drawing on the Younger and Coleman opinions.

If you are a private landowner along a state highway, this opinion does not give you a right to demand county-funded culvert work. The work is discretionary for the county and conditioned on the public preservation rationale. If the entrance is only beneficial to your property and not to the road itself, this authority does not reach it.

If you are an MDOT district engineer, the opinion makes clear your approval is part of the authority chain. A county that proceeds without MDOT approval is acting outside § 65-7-81's express authorization.

Common questions

Q: What does the public-benefit finding actually need to say?
A: The opinion describes a two-part finding (from the Younger and Coleman opinions): that the work is "reasonably and necessarily calculated to preserve" the state road or right-of-way, and that it is for the benefit of the public, not the landowner. The opinion does not prescribe any particular form or supporting detail beyond that standard.

Q: Who pays?
A: The county. Section 65-7-81 lets the board "construct, reconstruct, maintain or contribute to" the work. The opinion does not address whether the landowner can be required to contribute or what restitution remedies are available.

Q: What if MDOT declines to approve?
A: Then the county cannot proceed under § 65-7-81. The board would need a different statutory hook (such as § 19-3-42 if the entrance is a school bus turnaround or qualifies under another listed category).

Q: Can the county install a culvert at the request of just one landowner?
A: The opinion conditions the authority on the work being for the benefit of the public and "not the landowner" (citing the Coleman opinion). The finding on the minutes has to rest on preservation of the state highway, not on a benefit to the private property.

Background and statutory framework

Mississippi has a hybrid system for county road administration. Some counties use the beat system (each supervisor manages roads in his or her beat); others use the unit or countywide system (the board manages all county roads through a unified road department). Section 65-7-81 has two versions, one for each. Lauderdale County, identified as a unit-system county, falls under the countywide/unit version, which gives the board broader and clearer authority over all county roads and over state-highway maintenance contributions.

Section 7-5-25 limits AG opinion authority to questions of state law, which is why the AG declined to make factual determinations about specific projects. The board's minutes are the appropriate record for findings. Judicial review remains available.

The opinion's catalog of related statutes is useful: § 19-3-42(1) for school bus turnarounds, § 19-3-42(5) for nonprofit and private nonprofit cemetery facilities, § 19-3-75 for public cemeteries. These give the board narrower hooks for specific scenarios where § 65-7-81 might not apply because the work isn't primarily for state-highway preservation.

Citations

• Miss. Code Ann. § 65-7-81 (board authority to maintain state highways)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25 (AG opinion authority)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-42(1) (school bus turnaround driveways)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-42(5) (nonprofit and cemetery driveways)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-75 (roads to public cemeteries)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/L.-Thaggard-May-14-2026-County-Authority-to-Install-Culvert-Pipes-and-to-Provide-Gravel-or-Grade-Entrances-from-Private-Property-to-State-Highways.pdf

Original opinion text

May 14, 2026

Lee Thaggard, Esq.
Attorney, Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors
Post Office Box 2009
Meridian, Mississippi 39302-2009

Re: County Authority to Install Culvert Pipes and to Provide Gravel or Grade Entrances from Private Property to State Highways

Dear Mr. Thaggard:

The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.

Questions Presented

1. What legal authority does a board of supervisors have to install culvert pipe or to build an entrance ramp from private property to an adjacent state highway when such would be factually necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the state highway and would be for the benefit of the public, not the benefit of the private landowner?

2. Similarly, what legal authority does a board of supervisors have to provide such maintenance in the form of grading and/or graveling such entrance when grading and/or providing gravel to a degraded or eroded entrance from private property to an adjacent state highway would be factually necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the state highway, and would be for the public benefit, not the benefit of the private landowner?

Brief Response

1. Mississippi Code Annotated Section 65-7-81 gives county boards of supervisors discretionary authority, subject to the approval of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, to maintain state highways within their county, including installing culverts and providing ingress and egress from private property to the state highways where it is necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the highways. MS AG Op., Hollimon at *1 (Feb. 22, 1989).

2. Please see response to question one.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Section 65-7-81 provides:

The board of supervisors of any county in the state may construct, reconstruct, maintain or contribute to the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of any state highway declared by legislative act expressly to be such highway or which, in accordance with law, has been taken over by the State Highway Department for construction, reconstruction or maintenance; and this section shall apply to such state highway within as well as without the limits of any municipality and, when within such limits, with or without the consent of the municipal authorities.

Miss. Code Ann. § 65-7-81 (countywide/unit road system).

This office has thus opined that Section 65-7-81 gives county boards of supervisors, "subject to the approval and specifications of the State Highway Department … discretionary authority to maintain state highways within the county." MS AG Op., Hollimon at 1; see also MS AG Op., Gamble, III at 1 (Aug. 25, 2000). "[S]uch maintenance may include the installation of culverts and the provision of ingress and egress from private property to such state highways to the extent necessary for the preservation and maintenance of such roads." Id.; see also MS AG Op., Coleman at *2 (June 3, 2005) (providing same and noting such action may not be "for the benefit of the landowner").

This said, as noted in your request, the types of maintenance "necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the road[s]" are ultimately determinations of fact to be made by the board of supervisors "subject to review by a court of competent jurisdiction." MS AG Op., Welch at 1 (Apr. 7, 1993); see also Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25 (authorizing the Attorney General to opine upon matters of state law only). It is therefore the opinion of this office that if the Board makes findings by entry upon its minutes that installing culverts at or grading or graveling an entrance from private property to an adjacent state highway is (1) "reasonably and necessarily calculated to preserve" the public road or right-of-way and (2) for the benefit of the public and not the landowner, then it may, subject to the approval of the state highway department, perform such maintenance. MS AG Op., Younger at 1 (Nov. 27, 1991); see also MS AG Op., Coleman at 2; MS AG Op., Bishop at 1 (Dec. 10, 1999).

This office generally does "not opine as to the propriety of an act with regard to a general application of 'applicable law,' and instead, … opine[s] where a discrete question of law has been posed." MS AG Op., Baker at 1 (Jan. 26, 2018); see also MS AG Op., Dye at 1 (July 27, 2018). This said, we note that other more specific statutes may also apply to the situation posed in your request depending on the underlying facts. For example, Section 19-3-42(1) allows county boards of supervisors to maintain private driveways established as school bus turn-arounds; Section 19-3-42(5) authorizes boards to maintain driveways and parking lots of certain nonprofit organizations and private, nonprofit cemeteries; and Section 19-3-75 authorizes boards to maintain roads or driveways to public cemeteries. Further, this office has opined that boards have the authority to take necessary action "to maintain a public county road right-of-way and provide for the proper drainage thereof." MS AG Op., Mabus at *3 (Apr. 24, 1984).

If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: /s/ Kristi D. Kennedy
Kristi D. Kennedy
Special Assistant Attorney General