Wyatt Ranches and Jim Wells County lawsuit settled

• Jim Wells County and Wyatt Ranches entered into a lawsuit after Commissioner Renee Kirchoff Chapa Precint 3 crews cut down trees that were on the Wyatt Ranches property.
• The two year lawsuit was a priority for Jim Wells County Judge Pedro "Pete" Trevino Jr.
• Negotiations were settled - Wyatt Ranches would receive $125,000 and an apology letter from Commissioner Renee Kirchoff Chapa.

Two years ago, Jim Wells County cut down trees that Wyatt Ranches said were on their property. The ranches sued and won the right to seek damages, even though the county and Wyatt Ranches are still on good terms.

In December of 2021, Wyatt Ranches administrator Bradford Wyatt learned that crews from the county cut down 50 trees along the side of Los Robles Division on County Road 352.

That’s a problem for the ranch because those trees – aside from giving shade – acted as a barrier to keep trash from blowing into the cattle’s pasture.

“So, trash blows into the pasture, specifically plastic. And cattle, when they’re consuming grasses, they come across plastic. Plastics have different taste," Wyatt said. "Unfortunately, there’s a growing problem of cattle that are being killed because they are consuming plastics."

Wyatt initially asked the county commissioner to pick up trash weekly, but negotiations didn’t get anywhere. So, he filed a lawsuit.

When Jim Wells County Judge Pedro “Pete” Trevino Jr. took office, he received permission from all the county commissioners to make negotiations and settle the case.

They came to an agreement of $125,000 and an apology from Commissioner Renee Kirchoff Chapa, who was in charge of the crew that cut down the trees.

“When we received the letter of apology from the commissioner. We felt that it was a genuine letter and, so, we advised the law department of the ranches that our request was to receive the $125,000 from Jim Wells County and then donated back to them,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt Ranches is known to be a generous donor to the counties that the ranches reside in.

Judge Trevino wanted to put the legal battle to rest and maintain the relationship with the ranch without hurting the taxpayers.

“The $125,000 is actually going to be donated back to Jim Wells County. Mentioning earlier about being good stewards of our tax money, it’s basically, going to be a zero loss to the county,” Trevino said.

Commissioner Renee Kirchoff Chapa submitted a statement to KRIS ^6 Reporter Melissa Trevino that said:

Bradford Wyatt, Administrator of Wyatt Ranches, said the ranches are glad to have the sincere apology and are looking to their future relationship with the county.

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