## Facts

- Andrew and Esther Hollars owned a 40-acre tract in Stone County, Missouri, with its north boundary adjoining Highway 13, a public road.
- An east-west hollow (ravine) crossed the tract and prevented vehicles from traveling from the northern portion to the southern portion.
- To reach the southern portion by vehicle, the Hollars regularly crossed adjacent property owned by Church of God of Apostolic Faith, Inc., which lay between Highway 13 and the area the Hollars sought to access.
- The church objected and demanded the Hollars stop using the route.
- The Hollars sought a statutory private road over the church’s land under § 228.340, RSMo 1969, which limited private roads where a public road passed through or alongside the applicant’s property.

## Issues

1. Whether § 228.340, RSMo 1969 authorizes a private road of necessity across neighboring land when the applicant’s tract borders a public road, but terrain within the tract blocks vehicular access to part of the property.
2. Whether internal physical barriers within a single tract can satisfy the statute’s threshold requirement that the applicant’s land not border a public road.

## Decision

- The Missouri Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment establishing a private road over the church’s land.
- The court held the Hollars were ineligible for a statutory private road because their tract bordered a public road (Highway 13).
- The court declined to treat the hollow as dividing the property into separate tracts for purposes of the statute.

## Legal Principles

- Statutes authorizing a private way over another’s land are in derogation of common-law property rights and are strictly construed.
- Under § 228.340, RSMo 1969, a private road of necessity is not permitted when a public road passes through or alongside (borders) the applicant’s property.
- Difficulty or inability to reach part of a tract by vehicle, due to internal terrain, does not override the statute’s bar where the tract as a whole adjoins a public road.
- Courts apply the statutory text as written; any expansion of the remedy to cover hardship where land borders a public road is a legislative matter.

## Conclusion

Because Highway 13 bordered the Hollars’ tract, § 228.340 did not allow compelling a private road across the church’s property, even though a hollow impeded vehicular access to the southern portion of the Hollars’ land.


Hollars v. Church of God of Apostolic Faith, Inc., 596 S.W.2d 73 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980)