ART. I, SECTION 17. RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN
April 8, 2008 – 12:19 am(a) Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without just compensation as provided by law. Such compensation shall be determined by a jury as provided by law.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the burden of proof shall be on the government agency initiating an eminent domain action.
(c) For the purposes of this section, Property owners shall be entitled to a jury trial to determine a finding that a property constitutes “blight,” or any other similar description.
(d) Definitions pertaining to this section;
(1)”Public use” shall be defined as resulting in public ownership for an express public purpose. Enhancement of revenues for government agencies shall be insufficient as a “public use.”
(2)“Damaged” shall include any substantial diminution of value through regulation by a government agency.
(e) Only real property may be taken via eminent domain action and any property so taken must be held by the governing body for a period of no less than 50 years before which it cannot be transferred, sold or leased to any private body.
(f) Just compensation shall be computed by a jury on the real property by determining the fair market value of the property before eminent domain action was contemplated and adding 10% to cover relocation costs. If the eminent domain action takes over 12 months to complete, a jury shall also add in inflation and a reasonable estimate of appreciation of the market value for the time it takes to complete such action.
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