Category Archives: private property rights

TREND: A State audit reveals County improperly used eminent domain

What state allows an auditor to look at eminent domain? Oklahoma

What was the Oklahoma state auditor reviewing that included eminent domain? Records, process and procedure at Creek County, Oklahoma

What eminent domain related violations did the OK auditor find?

  • failed to provide sufficient paperwork to determine eminent domain was used in accordance with state statutes
  • court records showed that the property was obtained for economic development, a violation of state law
  • an executive…

Tarrant County Voices on Eminent Domain. 4 Bits Informed Intel.

In a letter to the editor of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, a North Texan from the Tea Party rich lands, makes the following points about eminent domain:

  • The land owners had to go to court to get just and adequate compensation.
  • Forcing this into the courts is “either gross incompetence or willful abuse of authority.”
  • its not cool when  the “Rangers initially didn’t want to pay the judgments, insisting this was the city’s (taxpayers’) responsibility. This in spite of being lavished…

Lege Trend: Adding Requirements to Pre-condemnation Access for Private Companies Using Eminent Domain. Bonjour: Oil, Gas, Electric…

Which state is putting in new requirements for pre-condemnation surveying access for private companies that have eminent domain authority? West Virginia

What are the new requirements for pre-condemantion access? To receive pre-condemantion access to private property, the condeming entity must:

  • send a letter via certified mail
  • the letter must be sent 15-to-60 days before the date of the survey

What sparked this bill? A court stopped precondemnation access for surveyors because public…

Lege Trend: 5 year moratorium on private company eminent domain use.

Which state legislature is moving a 5 year moratorium on private company eminent domain use? South Carolina

What motivated this move? The Palmentto pipeline

What is the Legislature required to do in those 5 years? Study the use of eminent domain, specifically as it applies to pipelines. 

Jasper County Sun Times | S.C. Senate approves scaled-back eminent domain bill

 

Lege Trend: Moratorium for Eminent Domain for Pipelines. 3 Quick Bits Informed Intel.

  • Georgia is considering HB 1036 which would create a 1 year moratorium to prevent eminent domain by pipelines
  • HB 1036 creates a 13-member commission of experts from business, agriculture, the environment and related fields to review the process, compare notes with how other states do it, and then prepare legislative recommendations by the end of the year.
  • The author, a Republican, wants greater study of eminent domain and environmental issues.

Savannah Now | House bill would delay…

3 Reasons an Ethics Professor Says the Arlington Baseball Stadium Should Have Not Used Eminent Domain

  • A ball park is neither a public use nor a public purpose
  • There is no public benefit of a ball park
    • And, if you try to say there is an economic benfit, he’ll throw studies at you to say that is not true
  • Taking land from one property owner to give it to another so they can make money is no different than Kelo, and that’s what happened in Arlington

–Richard Galvin is the Betty S. Wright Professor in Applied Ethics at Texas Christian University. Star Telegram | Greene got it wrong on use…

Private Property Rights Trend: New Laws Prevent Data Gathering on Lands Outside City Limits. 5 Bits Informed Intel.

What type of land is being protected from researchers that want to gather data? Private property outside, the supporters point mostly to farm & ranch lands

What kind of data are they gathering? All sorts, such as water quality 

What do opponents to these new laws requiring permission to gather data on land say?

  •  it prevents people from taking pictures of wildlife and scenery from public places
  • the true intent is prevent the exposure of pollution
  • the state trespassing laws violate…

TAMU Student Senate Passes Resolution Opposing Eminent Domain. 3 Elected Officials Speak Too.

Why does Texas A&M Student Senate oppose eminent domain? The proposed high speed rail that would traverse rural Texas triggered the vote

What did the elected officials, who were present, say about eminent domain? “Their resounding message was that voting in favor the Eminent Domain Opposition Act is akin to advocating for the protection of property owners.”

Which State Representatives and State Senators participated in Texas A&M Student Senate eminent domain debate?

  • Sen. Charles…

Campaign Trend: Eminent Domain. Toll Roads. 3 Points from 1 TX House District.

In which house district is this occuring? HD-2 (Flynn)

What are activists saying about eminent domain and toll roads?

  • “I never felt like he (the incumbent) cared one bit that a private organization would have been able to use the power of eminent domain over the citizens to build a for-profit toll road.” 
  • “Even with personal visits by property owners to his office, Rep. Flynn was fully behind this private toll way, and continued to advise us with statements such as, ‘stick…

Landowner & Pipeline Fight in Federal Court. State Police Stop Pre-Condemnation Access. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

Where is this eminent domain case in the courts? A federal district judge and Federal Energy Regulatory Agency granted a pipeline in Pennsylvania the ability to clear trees in anticipation of a pipeline while the matter continues in federal court.

How did the state police stop the pre-condemnation access? The federal judge’s order did not authorize the state police to arrest protesters who appeared to stop the loggers.

What is the issue the land owners are fighting? Landowners operate…