Eminent Domain and Economic Growth by Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III

Author:Joaquin Jay Gonzalez, III
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2018-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

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*Originally published as Richard Thorpe, “Call Your State Leaders to Support Eminent Domain Reform,” The Cattleman, May 2017. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.

33. Eminent Domain Reform: What We Want in a Bona Fide Offer*

RICHARD THORPE

Your Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association needs your help with eminent domain reform—tell your legislators to support your private property rights.

When you defend a philosophy and try to create change for the better, there will be opposition from those who have a different philosophy and from those who like things the way they are.

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) leaders and our friends at a number of landowner groups have taken an aggressive, offensive approach to eminent domain reform in the 2017 session of the Texas Legislature. Opponents of eminent domain reform have taken note and are organizing their opposition.

Pipeline and powerline companies and cities are among our opponents and are pushing the message that eminent domain reform will increase litigation across Texas. They seem to be worried that eminent domain reform will result in more lawsuits, making trial lawyers’ dreams come true. I’m sorry to burst the dream, but our eminent domain reform goals are well-considered, reasonable and are not designed to increase lawsuits.

The eminent domain reform effort is designed to provide fairness to landowners who are at a huge disadvantage when dealing with the condemnation process.

It’s harder to play offense than it is defense. We have more than doubled our work on this issue because we are talking to legislators about supporting the change, educating them on why eminent domain reform is necessary, and answering opponents’ allegations with sound solutions and examples of real-life landowner problems. To see some of those real-life problems, just turn the page to read comments from landowners in response to our Eminent Domain Survey. Landowners face intimidation tactics by condemnors.

We need your help to get this message to the legislators. Call your state representative and state senator today and let them know you support eminent domain reform and private property rights.

We urge you to remind legislators that landowners, and not the pipeline and power line companies, voted them into office.

Let’s take a look at one of the issues we’re working on under the eminent domain reform umbrella—the bona fide offer.

Although current law requires a bona fide offer, we think it is important to better specify in statute what exactly this should include.

A true bona fide offer should require the condemning entity to provide minimum property rights protection and delineate all uses or restrictions for the condemned property. We believe terms to ensure the condemning entity will maintain the surface of the property throughout the life of the easement should also be required.

In 2011, the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 18, which included a provision in Sec. 21.0111 of the Property Code that an entity with eminent domain authority that wants to acquire real property for a public use must make a “bona fide offer” to acquire the property from the property owner voluntarily.

While the provisions

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