Kaufman County stock-law answers may live in old election records

Texas often starts with an open-range rule, but a county or part of one can vote to restrain certain livestock. The result can differ by animal and by the area covered in an old election order.

A separate state rule bars knowingly allowing listed livestock to roam unattended on U.S. or state highway rights-of-way. The statute excludes numbered farm-to-market roads from that highway rule.

Do not guess from a fence or a neighbor's memory. Ask the Kaufman County Clerk for the election order that covers the land and livestock in question, then read Agriculture Code Chapter 143.