Easements in Travis County, TX
Hill Country topography and rapid infill make Travis County title work heavy on drainage, slope, and shared-access easements, with electric transmission corridors crossing the outer county.
Travis County Clerk
The county publishes a free public parcel viewer showing platted easement strips.
About 10 years of open, continuous, adverse use is generally required.
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.026, 16.024-16.025
Read the Texas rulesEasements you'll see most often here
- Electric transmission and distribution easements
- Drainage and water-quality buffer easements
- Slope and construction easements on hillside lots
- Private road and shared access easements outside city limits
Local things to watch for
- Water-quality buffers near creeks can restrict building even where the easement itself is narrow.
- Unincorporated tracts frequently rely on a private road easement rather than a public street.
Check your own lot
Upload your title commitment and we'll translate Schedule B into plain English, then map the easements against your parcel boundary — free.
Common questions
How do I find out if my Travis County property has an easement?
Start with the title commitment or owner's policy from your purchase — easements are listed in Schedule B. Recorded easements are also indexed by the Travis County Clerk, and the county's free public parcel viewer usually shows platted easement strips. A current survey catches anything used on the ground but never recorded.
What easements are most common in Travis County?
Electric transmission and distribution easements, Drainage and water-quality buffer easements, Slope and construction easements on hillside lots, among others. Water-quality buffers near creeks can restrict building even where the easement itself is narrow.
Can a neighbor gain a permanent right to cross my Travis County land?
In Texas, open, continuous, and adverse use generally has to run for about 10 years before a prescriptive easement can be claimed. Permission given in writing usually stops the clock, because the use is then no longer adverse.
Does an easement lower property value in Austin?
It depends on where it sits and what it prohibits. A narrow utility strip along a rear lot line rarely affects value. An easement that crosses the buildable area, bars fences and structures, or gives someone else a driveway through the yard can meaningfully limit what the property can become.
Know your easements before you close
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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.