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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Wednesday, October 08, 2008 11:11 AM

File photo/The Ottawa Herald

A home is moved down U.S. 59 in May 2006. Many homes have been relocated because of construction of a new highway.

‘Eminent domain’ makes projects like U.S. 59 possible

By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer

Kansas used the power of “eminent domain” to get the land for the new U.S. 59 expressway in Franklin and Douglas counties.

Eminent domain is the right of the government to take private property for public use. However, state and federal laws also require that property owners receive just compensation, Ron Kaufman, chief of KDOT’s Bureau of Public Involvement, said.

The Kansas Department of Transportation has an established procedure it uses when it seeks property, which is described in its booklet “Real Property Acquisition for Kansas Highways, Roads, Streets and Bridges.”

Once KDOT notifies property owners it wants land, it appraises the tracts and makes written offers of just compensation.

The just compensation can include additional payments if the purchase impairs other property not taken but affected by the purchase.

Most of the owners of the 46 tracts taken by KDOT in Franklin County agreed to settlements, Kaufman said.

If KDOT and the property owner can’t settle on a price, KDOT can still take the property in a process called “condemnation.” The procedure is followed by other government agencies as well.

In condemnation proceedings, KDOT files legal paperwork in the district court of the county were the property is located, Kaufman said.

A judge conducts a “consideration hearing” and decides if the taking is necessary and legal.

Then the judge appoints three disinterested residents from the county in which the land is being condemned to appraise the properties and decide what is just compensation. The panel has an appraisers’ hearing, at which property owners can present information to the court-appointed appraisers.

The appraisers’ panel then issues a report on what its members believe to be just compensation.

If either the agency or landowner remain dissatisfied, either can file an appeal in district court, Kaufman said.

However, the only matter that the appeals court can rule on is the issue of just compensation, he said.

Four properties were condemned in Franklin County, he said.

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‘Eminent domain’ makes projects like U.S. 59 possible

By CLEON RICKEL, Herald Senior Writer

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.