More on who’s master of their eminent domain?
The House Judiciary committee today passed by a vote of 10-0 HB 1010, which puts serious restrictions on the government’s ability to take private property for public use. The bill is also retroactive to Nov 23 of last year, which impacts the NK Hurst/Stadium Building Authority conflict. The unanimous vote sends a strong warning to the Stadium building Authority and could complicate matters to get the stadium built on time.
January 9th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Any idea if the bill was amended at all? In particular, I figured the bill could stand to have “private person” defined for purposes of triggering the chapter that allows only run down properties to be condemned for benefit of private persons, and the owners of the run down property paid 125% – 150% if the land is agricultural or owner-occupied.
As introduced, I think the bill might prevent investor owned utilities and the like from exercising eminent domain to get right of way. Maybe that’s the intent, but, if so, it seems like a radical departure from prior practice.
January 9th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
There were some changes from the original draft, including the retroactive date. I’ve had a busy day and will have to double check for the others.