State v. Hale

In State v. Hale, 136 Tex. 29, 146 S.W.2d 731, 736 (Tex. 1941), a landowner brought a takings claim alleging that the State's construction of a road prevented the free flow of flood water and had damaged his farmland. Hale, 146 S.W.2d at 734. The court stated that "the true test is, did the State intentionally perform certain acts in the exercise of its lawful authority . . . which resulted in the taking or damaging of plaintiff's property, and which acts were the proximate cause of the taking or damaging of such property." Id. at 736.