(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 54-14-102

  • County mayor: means and includes "county executive" unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) A person owning any land, where ingress or egress to and from which is cut off or obstructed entirely from a public road or highway by the intervening land of another, or who has no outlet from the land to a public road in the state, by reason of the intervening land of another, is given the right to have a private easement or right-of-way not exceeding twenty-five feet (25′) condemned and set aside for the benefit of the land over and across the intervening land for the purpose of ingress and egress and extending utility lines, including, but not limited to, electric, natural gas, water, sewage, telephone, or cable television to the enclosed land. Maintenance of the easement or right-of-way shall be the responsibility of the person granted the easement or right-of-way. Gates or fencing that restricts access to the subservient land may not be erected. In counties with a metropolitan form of government, the maximum permissible width for an easement or right-of-way is fifteen feet (15′).
(2) If a person who already possesses a private easement or right-of-way of less than twenty-five feet (25′) granted pursuant to this chapter determines that additional land is needed for the purpose of extending utility lines, including, but not limited to, electric, natural gas, water, sewage, telephone, or cable television, to the enclosed land, then the person must file a new petition requesting additional land. Upon receipt of a petition requesting additional land for the extension of utility lines, the court may, upon a showing of good cause, grant the petitioner’s request and direct a jury of view to lay off and mark an additional area for utility lines; provided, that the total private easement or right-of-way does not exceed fifteen feet (15′) in counties with a metropolitan form of government or twenty-five feet (25′) in all other areas.
(b) The chancery and circuit courts and county courts, the latter acting by and through the county mayor, are given concurrent jurisdiction in such matters.
(c) As many different owners of lands as may be cut off or obstructed or deprived of adequate and convenient outlets may join together against any number of different owners of intervening lands as wish to have the easement or right-of-way so condemned and set aside to them over the intervening property, and the joining shall not make the proceedings multifarious.
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