Pre-condemnation Access – Page 3 – InfoHive

5 Bills + 5 Companion Bills. Eminent Domain Reform for Rail Only.

A legislator coalition joined forces to limit eminent domain for high speed rail. Who is involved?

Senators Birdwell, Creighton, Kolkhorst, Perry, & Schwertner
Representatives Ashby, Bell, Cook, Schubert, and Wray

Which eminent domain issues are being addressed?

Pre-condementation Access to Property. SB 973 by Creighton/HB 2168 by Bell (Railroad Determination Before Surveys) – prohibits a high-speed rail entity from entering private property to conduct a survey unless the Texas Department…

Legal Trend. Company Withdraws Lawsuits to Continue Negotiations. 4 Key Points in Legal Strategy.

The Company: Texas Central Rail

The lawsuits: 12+ lawsuits concerning eminent domain, and specifically pre-condemnation access to the privately held land

The strategic advantage of withdrawing the laawsuits: amicable negotiations

The trend being emulated: Private companies promoting negotiations without eminent domain

Dallas Morning News | Bullet Train Developer Drops Lawsuits against Landowners (References the Schwertner bills, SB 626-629)

Construction Dive | TX bullet train developer…

Just the Facts. SB 627. The Eminent Domain Package via Senator Schwertner.

SB 627

The author list: Schwertner | Birdwell | Burton | Creighton | Hall | Huffines | Kolkhorst | Nichols | Seliger | Zaffirini
What it does: Sets up rules for precondemnation access such as:
- An owner can refuse entry
- A condeming entity has to pay for damanges done during precondemnation access and inspection
- If a condemning entity uses a permission form, the form has to meet 4 standards
What’s the hook? Currently pre-condemantion access has very few rules

4 Reasons Property Owners tout Trans Pecos Pipeline as the next Dakota Pipeline Standoff.

What’s the Trans Pecos Pipeline? A West Texas pipeline that will deliver natural gas to Mexico & the pipeline cost will be paid by Mexico so it can power electricty plants

What characteristics of the Trans Pecos pipeline that draw parallels with the Dakota Pipeline protest?

Landowners talk about court awards in the millions that they won but that are unpaid.
- The pipeline is appealing the awards.
Native Americans are getting involved to protest in Texas
The Texas land includes some…

TREND. Courts v. the Lege. Eminent Domain. High Speed Rail.

The competing timelines:

Will the Texas Legislature prohibit eminent domain for high speed rail before the May 29th Sine Die?
Will the July 3rd Harris County trial on the issue have the final word?

The brewing issues:

Does the high speed rail project have eminent domain authority under Texas statutes?
If so, how should land owners and pre-condemantion access to the land work?
- Sound familiar? It should, its the same issue that land owners in West Texas raised with the Trans-Pecos…

Legal Trend. No Pre-condemnation Access. +1 State Supreme Court

Requiring that land owners allow precondemnation access to their land for pipelines is going out of fashion.

The latest court to side against pipelines in eminent domain: The West Virigina State Supreme Court

What did the West Virigina Supreme Court have to say?

unconvinced the pipeline serves a public benefit
if there is no public benefit, there is no eminent domain and there is no access to land without land owner consent.

Why did the court decide there was no public benefit in the…

TRENDING: Pre condemnation Access. Can a private company get access? A TX Court enters the fray.

The high speed rail project: Texas Central Rail, Dallas-Houston line

The court: a Harris County Court

The issue the court was considering: precondemnation access to land by the rail

Why landowners claim victory: The request for access to the land was withdrawn

Why high speed rail claims victory: No meaningful decision was made by the court

Houston Chronicle | High-speed rail land dispute lands in Houston court

TREND: Drones for pre-condemnation access. Eminent Domain via robot.

How are drones used? Drones fly over private property to collect 3D property mapping models to use in eminent domain litigation

How does this fit with juries? Juries can take virtual reality tours of the property to be condemned

Wisconsin Law Journal | Firm brings modeling into eminent-domain litigation

Quick Take Property. Special District Abuse. 3 Lessons from a Plains State.

North Dakota in 2015 passed a bill prohibiting quick take of property for eminent domain. it was vetoed. An interim study was convened. Where are they now?

North Dakota has been experiencing abuse of quick take eminent domain by special districts building flood control projects and drainage projects
Recent court cases have said that water districts aren’t following proper eminent domain process
The Committee is set to recommend 3 solutions.

Bismark Tribune | The battle between private…