LUKE NOLAN, Claimant, v. STATE OF ILLINOIS, Respondent.

Case summary

Claimant sought compensation for the loss of his horse, which broke its leg after becoming mired in a mud hole on a highway near Cuba, Illinois. The court denied the claim, finding that the highway was not under state jurisdiction and thus the court lacked jurisdiction.

Claim type: Property Damage

AI-generated summary from the opinion text — may contain errors. The opinion text and PDF above are the official record.

Highways-when State not liable for loss of property resulting by reason of a defective highway. Where it appears from the evidence that the highway has not been taken over by the State the court is without jurisdiction to make an award for the loss of property by reason of such defective highway. JOSEPH R. MARTIN, for claimant. OSCAR E. CARLSTROM, Attorney General; ROY D. JOHNSON, Assistant Attorney General, for respondent.

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE CLARITY delivered the opinion of the court:

The claimant, the owner of a certain horse named Prince, 8 years old, while driving said horse along the highway running to Cuba from the north.

Near the City of Cuba there was a mud hole according to the allegations of claimant and in attempting to pass this spot the horse became mired in said mud hole and sustained a broken leg which it is claimed made it necessary to kill the horse.

It is contended by the State that the highway in question was not taken over by the State under either the $60,000,000 or $100,000,000 bond issue but still being a State aid road and this court would be without jurisdiction.

From all the evidence in this case, it is the opinion of this court that the contention of the defendant is correct and therefore said claim is disallowed.