Tornado Recovery Leads to Eminent Domain.

How did a tornado recovery lead to eminent domain? To clean up tornado damage, a town undertook widening the main thoroughfare in a low income neighborhood

How was this project funded? Federal Funds

Were the federal government or the local government tasked with implementing the plan to widen the thoroughfare? Local Government

How well was eminent domain received at the city council? According to 1 city council member, “” I have no appetite to vote for eminent domain takings,”

WAMC | Tornado Recovery Project Sparks Eminent Domain Controversy

Private Property Rights. License Plate Readers. Lesson from the Attorney General

How would a county in Texas be able to capture license plate information for the purpose of enforcing minimum libaility insurance statutes?

  • Pass a Bill
  • Give Counties specific authority to use certain equipment
  • Give counties specific purpose to use the equipment
  • Specify what the enforcement mechanism will be

How did we learn this step by step guide to county license plate reader use?  Because of Attorney General Opinion KP-0076 that answers  whether Bowie County can engage a private company to use a license plate reader data looking for vehicles that don’t have liability insurance?

Did the AG opinion reference a fee splitting arangement? Yes, the vehcile owner will get a letter from the District Attorney office, and fees will be split 50-50 between the County and the company.

Can this fee splitting arrangement with automatic license plate readers work? No, not without legislation.

What is the statutory solution to make automatic license plate readers ok for counties? Counties need specific authority for the “use of automated photographic or similar technology to enforce the state’s vehicle financial responsibility laws. ” That’s the basic bill draft done for you.

What does the Attorney General analysis look like? Its a laundry list of all the uses for photo enforcement in Texas. The highlights:

  • statutes  limit what local government it applies to
  • statutes limit specifically what can be captured by the photgraphic enforcement
  • statutes limit the kind of penalty that is permitted. (i.e. civil or criminal penalties)

Campaign. Eminent Domain Limitations. Just Because People Like It, Doesn't Mean People Need It.

A state representative candidate in rural Utah pilloried using eminent domain for hike and bike trails saying:

““If its on a master plan, we’ll do what we have to do … but not just to run a trail that people think would be nice to have.”

Standard Examiner | Utah Republican Convention 2016: 3 northern Utah races contested Saturday

Private Property Rights in Cable Boxes.

Who is making an argument about private property rights in cable boxes? Grover Norquist 7 Americans for Tax Reform

What sparked the private property rights argument? A rule change by the FCC which Norquist says would allow 3rd party to change and access content on cable boxes

What’s the issue really? Whether programming apps, like netlfix, Hulu, etc…, must be accessible by cable boxes.

What’s the argument by Norquist really? Cable companies have property rights in their cable boxes, let’s let these apps play by the same free market rules that all other television channels played by for decades

Americans for Tax Reform | Grover Norquist Submits Comments to the FCC on the Proposed Set Top Box Mandate

 

Legal Trend. Property Rights. Sovereign Immunity. Deer Breeders v. TPWD Wasting Disease Enforcement.

The property right: The Business of Deer Breeding

The lawsuit: Deer breeders sued the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in Feburary 2015 over the taking of their property 

What was the property taking alleged by the property owners? The culling of the deer population was tantamount to a taking of private property by eminent domain

What happened in the lawsuit? TPWD claimed sovereign Immunity & the state district judge non-suited the case.

San Antonio Express News via the Chronic Wasting Disease Blog | Texas Deer-breeder drops suit against state over Chronic Wasting Disease CWD disease tactics

Legal Trend at SCOTUS: Regulatory Takings. 3 Key Informed Intel.

What case before the U.S. Supreme Court is about regulatory takings? Murr v. Wisconsin, No. 15-214

What happened to the property owner to spark this lawsuit?

  • Property owners owned 2 adjacent, but separate, 1 acre lots
  • A County Ordinance prohibits the sale or development of adjacent lots, if 1 lot is less than an acre
  • The Property Owners said it prevented them from enjoying and using their land, and prohibited the sale of 1 of the acres
  • The Court said, we have to consider both lots as 1 piece of property, and sided with the County 

In Amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court CATO and Owners Counsel of America urge the Court to:

  • Set a bright line rule that separate pieces of property shouldbe considered seprarately regardless of common ownership
  • Regulatory takings  have an economic impact on the property tantamount to an exercise of the government’s eminent domain power. “In this area of law, the size of the property often dictates the severity of the impact – the smaller the property, the more severe the impact.”

OCA | Cato and OCA File Amici Brief in Regulatory Takings Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court

TREND: New Eminent Domain Target. High Pressure Gas Lines. 3 Points Informed Intel.

What state passed new eminent domain restrictions this week? New Hampshire. Freedom loving libertarian types, sound familiar?

What was the primary target of the NH eminent domain reform? gas pipelines, with some legislators laser focused on “outlawing” high pressure gas lines

What specific reforms happened in NH’s HB 1660? 

  • eminent domain will now trigger a land use change tax in NH
  • for high pressure gas lines, an entire piece of property must be acquired by eminent domain
  • requires a public vote by a governmental body on the taking of property by a pipeline

Bedford Patch | Sanborn: NH Needs Stronger Landowner Protections

Private Property Rights. 4 Ways TX Drone Law Unconstitutional?

Who is arguing that Texas drone law is unconstitutional? A former federal judge

Is the Texas drone law being challenged in court as unconstitutional? Yes.

What are the issues taken with the Texas Drone Law?

  • Violates Privacy of Texans on the Border by not applying privacy to 25 miles from the border
  • Treats Texans on the Border different from other Texans violating Equal Protection
  • No legitimate Texas law enforcement purpose for treating the border differently for privacy purposes
  • Violates the supremacy clause under the U.S. Constitution

Texas Lawyer | Former District Judge Alleges Texas Drone Law Unconstitutional

 

Interim Sharing Economy. Property Rights. Deal Made in Western Legislature. 4 Key Elements of the Legislation. Read the Bill. Strategize Accordingly.

Which state legislature  is negotiating a deal on home sharing taxes? California

Which tax options were rejected? a statewide system for collecting tourist taxes

What does SB 1102 require?

  • ​Sharing company (AirBnB, HomeAway, et. al) would collect a local hotel tax
  • Deals with local governments would not be preempted, allowing for local government opt out
  • compliance would occur with the state controller
  • retains privacy for property owners, who would not be disclosed to the state

The Recorder | Deal Taking Shape for Home-Sharing Taxes

INTERIM. Editorial. TX City Changes Eminent Domain Process. Gets it Right in 3 ways.

What good acts did Dallas City Council do on eminent domain?

  • After hearing from a constituent that could not afford to relocate based on the city’s offer, the city paused the project to find a better solution.
  • City Council members also forced a review of the city’s eminent domain procedures
  • City Council returned to a 2 step eminent domain process.
    • Step 1: Try to reach an agreement with the land owner
    • Step 2: When no agreement is reached, City Council must separately approve eminent domain procedures

Dallas Morning News | Editorial: Contrary to national headlines, Dallas council gets property cases right