Mississippi couple wins $41,920 after loggers cut 1,299 trees on their land

A logging job that was supposed to take place on neighbouring property ended with 1,299 trees cut from a Mississippi couple’s land, turning a boundary mistake into a legal dispute over more than $40,000. According to the Court of Appeals of Mississippi’s October 7, 2025 decision in Payne Logging LLC v. Gerald Smith and Rhonda Smith, the couple documented the damage with photographs and handwritten notes recording the number and diameter of trees they found cut. A chancery court awarded them $41,920, and the appeals court later upheld the judgment after finding that the evidence supported the number of trees cut and their location on the couple’s property.Logging work crossed onto neighbouring propertyGerald and Rhonda Smith owned 36.5 acres in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, next to a 40-acre property owned by Robert and Joyce Hester. In 2022, the Hesters hired Payne Logging LLC to harvest timber from their property.