The § 710.20 duty, in plain words
If you have a right to use a private road on an access easement, § 710.20 makes you contribute to its reasonable and necessary maintenance. What that share is, and what happens if you refuse, depends on which rung of the precedence ladder your road stands on.
Questions about the duty
Who is a beneficial user?
A person with a right to use the private road or driveway, including owners of parcels burdened by the easement who hold use rights.
What roads does it cover?
Private roads and driveways on an access easement providing ingress and egress between real property and a public road.
What costs are shared?
Reasonable and necessary maintenance and repair; damage one user causes is that user's alone.
Our easement deed already sets shares. Does § 710.20 override it?
No. The instrument creating the easement outranks the statutory default; only a written agreement among the users outranks the instrument.
We have nothing in writing. What do we each owe?
An equitable share in proportion to the amount and intensity of actual use, which is why the records page next door matters.
What can we do about a user who refuses?
The statute is silent on remedies, so the honest answer is: whatever your written agreement provides, which is the strongest reason to have one.
Does the law apply to the power company's easement?
No; railroads, utilities, water carriers, cooperatives, gas companies and government bodies are excluded.
Is this retroactive to old easements?
The duty attaches to beneficial users of covered easements; how it meets your road's older documents is a question for counsel with the deeds in hand.
Where do we read the text?
At the legislature's site, linked below; read the official text, not a summary.
This page is general information for road association volunteers, not legal advice. Laws change and every road's documents differ — for decisions about your association, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Reviewed against primary sources; see citations on each page.