Updates
Easement law and recording updates
What changed in easement law, what courts decided about utility corridors, and how county recording offices are handling land records. Every post is written from free official sources you can open yourself, and lists them at the bottom of the page.
- Utility corridors
Ohio's high court reads a 1948 utility easement to allow herbicide spraying
In Corder v. Ohio Edison Co., the Supreme Court of Ohio held that an easement letting a utility trim, cut and remove trees and other obstructions also lets it use herbicide inside the corridor.
- State law
Wyoming's proposed 30-year cap on conservation easements did not advance
House Bill 220 in Wyoming's 2025 session would have limited new conservation easements to 30 years; the bill was not taken up for introduction, so perpetual easements remain the norm there.
- County recording
More counties opened electronic recording in 2025, and it changes how easements get filed
County recorders and clerks across several states brought eRecording online during 2025, shortening the gap between signing an easement and finding it in the public index.
General educational reference only. Prescription periods and their exceptions change, and several states set the period by case law rather than by statute. Read the linked official code and consult a licensed attorney in that state before relying on any of it.
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