Presidio County
A lawsuit filed by Mary Baxter and Neil Chavigny trying to keep a gated road to their property in Western Presidio County closed has ended after a federal court ruled that the two did not timely file a notice for appeal, according to court records.
District Judge Genie Wright had ruled against them in November 2024, agreeing with the plaintiff—Maria Maurial, a land speculator and investor—that Naegele Springs Road was a county road and that it was illegal to close it off from the public with a gate. Baxter and Chavigny added Presidio County as a co-defendant to put the burden on the local government to prove whether or not the road was open to all.
Historically, the gate just before Baxter and Chavigny’s property was kept open or locked by a combination that other landowners––including neighbors Jeff Fort of the Pinto Canyon Ranch, and the Judd Ranch, LLC––had access to. But after learning that Maurial had gone through the gate without their permission, Baxter and Chavigny decided not to continue the practice of giving neighbors the code. Maurial sued to open up the gate.
The county, in its arguments, relied on one part of state law that said a road declared public by a vote of the commissioners court, as did a 1975 vote, could only be made non-public with another vote. However, several other laws passed since then mandated designations of existing county roads through lists, outreach to landowners, and formal maps, none of which showed Naegele Springs Road as public. Big Bend Sentinel’s attempts to clarify the issue and access documents was stifled by rulings that road records were not public due to “pending litigation.”
Wright’s ruling in a summary judgement also awarded $30,157 to the county for attorney fees. Baxter and Chavigny planned to appeal the ruling at the 8th Court of Appeals in El Paso, but the plaintiffs objected to the filing, saying it didn’t meet a deadline after the summary judgement. The court agreed in an October 3 ruling and dismissed the case.