In Dallas County v. McKenzie, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a county could be held liable for damages caused by a defective bridge. The bridge had been built by the county and was located on a public road. The plaintiff, McKenzie, had been injured when his wagon fell through the bridge. The Court held that the county was liable for the damages caused by the defective bridge. The Court reasoned that the county had a duty to maintain the bridge in a safe condition and that it had breached that duty by failing to do so. The Court also noted that the county had been aware of the defect in the bridge and had failed to take any action to repair it. The Court concluded that the county was liable for the damages caused by the defective bridge and that the plaintiff was entitled to recover damages from the county. This decision established that counties can be held liable for damages caused by defective bridges and other public works.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Dallas County v. McKenzie, arguing that the majority's decision was contrary to established precedent and would lead to an absurd result. He argued that a county could not be held liable for damages caused by its officers when they acted beyond their authority or jurisdiction, as it had no control over them at such times. Furthermore, he noted that if counties were held liable for all acts of their officers regardless of whether those acts were within or outside their scope of authority, then counties would have little incentive to ensure proper training and supervision of said officers. Finally, Justice Field asserted that while there may be some instances where a county should be responsible for wrongful actions taken by its agents under certain circumstances (such as negligence), this case did not present any such situation since the officer acted without legal justification or authorization from his superiors.