Louisiana neighbours fought over a 70-foot strip of land; after signs, bright lights and even a dead cow appeared near the boundary, an appeals court upheld $15,000 in damages and an injunction

A decade of peaceful relations between neighbors in Union Parish, Louisiana, ended in a bitter court fight involving bright lights, power generators, large warning signs and a rotting cow carcass near a property line. A Louisiana appeals court has now upheld a lower court ruling that settled the dispute over a 70-foot strip of timberland. According to the court record published by Justia Law, the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a district court decision that placed the property line at an old downed wire fence. It also upheld damages of $15,000 against the landowners whose actions had led to the dispute. The ruling in consolidated docket numbers 56,654-CA and 56,655-CA requires Jesse Justin Colvin and his wife, Ruby Sue Hill Colvin, to pay $7,500 each to their neighbors, Robert Bradford Jones and Roni Michelle Reppond Jones. It also permanently bars the Colvins from further disruptions along the property line.From good neighbours to legal combatantsThe dispute involved two neighboring properties in Farmerville, Louisiana. Court records show that Jesse and Ruby Colvin bought a 23-acre property along Highway 828 on July 12, 2012, where they made their primary home. About two years later, on March 25, 2014, Robert and Roni Jones bought a neighboring one-acre property on Linville Fire Tower Road. For more than ten years, the two couples were friends and good neighbors. That relationship changed when they began arguing over a 70-foot-deep strip of timber and undergrowth between their properties. The Colvins said the disputed strip was entirely inside their northern property line. They relied on surveys completed in 1989 and 2012. The Joneses disagreed. They said the true historic boundary was marked by an old combination wire fence farther south. When the Joneses said they owned the wooded area, the Colvins put up "NO TRESPASSING" signs along the surveyed property line. When the Joneses continued to claim the land, the Colvins replaced the signs with larger ones placed along the same surveyed line.Escalating harassment along the property lineThe legal case began on September 8, 2023, when the Colvins filed a lawsuit in the Third Judicial District Court for the Parish of Union. They asked the court to officially establish the property boundary. The Joneses then filed their own claims. They asked for a permanent injunction and money damages, saying the Colvins had seriously interfered with their use of their home through repeated acts of intimidation. According to testimony and court records published by Justia Law, the Colvins put orange construction fencing along the disputed area. They also aimed high-intensity lights at the Joneses' property, including their backyard. They ran loud power generators from dusk until dawn and placed a dead cow beside the survey line near the boundary. After a bench trial, District Judge Monique Babin Clement ruled for the Joneses. The trial court found that the legal boundary was the old combination fence, rather than the line shown on the newer survey. Judge Clement issued a permanent injunction requiring the Colvins to remove signs, posts, lights and other flagging materials. The court also found Jesse Colvin liable for $7,500 in damages to each of the Joneses, for a total of $15,000.Appeals court confirms the boundary lineThe Colvins appealed to the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal. They argued that the trial court was wrong to place the boundary at the old downed fence, issue the injunction and award damages. A three-judge panel made up of Judges Hunter, Marcotte and Ellender rejected the Colvins' arguments and affirmed the trial court's ruling. The decision was issued on January 14, 2026. The appeals court explained that the location of a disputed property boundary is a factual issue. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 786, a boundary can be fixed based on evidence of long-term possession when ownership cannot otherwise be clearly established. Evidence at trial showed that earlier owners of the Colvin property had treated the old wire fence as the practical boundary for many years. Jesse Colvin also admitted during questioning that, before the dispute, he had never visited the northern boundary area involved in the case. He had never kept livestock or cut trees there. Colvin also said he had the property surveyed in 2022 because he did not know where the property line was. He acknowledged that his grandchildren placed steel posts along the line based on that survey. The appeals court found no clear error in the trial judge's decision to rely on the physical evidence and history of possession when setting the boundary at the old fence.Upholding damages for neighbourly harassmentThe appeals court also rejected the Colvins' challenge to the $15,000 damage award and permanent injunction. The Second Circuit found that the trial record provided enough evidence to support the trial court's findings about the Colvins' conduct. The record included the large signs, dead cow, construction fencing, bright lights and loud generators directed toward the Joneses' property. The trial court found that these actions had no legitimate purpose and substantially interfered with the Joneses' quiet enjoyment of their home. The appeals court noted that Louisiana law considers whether an activity causes real damage or is simply a minor inconvenience. Factors include the character of the neighborhood, the level of intrusion and the effect on neighbors' health and safety. The Colvins argued that the Joneses had suffered only minor inconvenience and had shown no physical, medical or financial harm. The court disagreed. It noted that serious discomfort, repeated sleep disruption, stress, worry and loss of enjoyment of property can amount to real damage. The Second Circuit therefore found no abuse of discretion in the $7,500 award to each Jones and no error in the permanent injunction. With the appeals court's January 14, 2026, decision, the legal boundary remains fixed at the historic old wire fence. The injunction requiring the removal of signs, posts, lights and other boundary materials also remains in place.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.