ISSUES POLICY S
Share Your Eminent Domain
Experiences By Leslie Kinsel, TSCRA Legislative and Tax Committee chair, with Laramie Adams, TSCRA director of public affairs
TORIES ABOUND OF CITIZENS’ LAND BEING CONDEMNED BY PUBLIC OR PRIVATE ENTITIES US- ing the power of eminent domain, and the stories are generally not good. When we go to ranch gatherings, we hear from members who have had a
pipeline or power line cross their place. Many have been unfairly treated and not justly compensated. We have just started the Ranch Gathering season for this year, and I expect to hear more of these stories. While successful efforts in the past have helped to improve the laws that gov-
ern the use of eminent domain in Texas, many landowners are still experiencing abuses by the entities that exercise this extreme power. We are asking members of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) to complete an Eminent Domain Survey at
tscra.org, to share your experiences and to help us prepare for the 2017 session of the Texas Legislature. In this interim between sessions, the Senate State Affairs Committee is charged
with gathering and reviewing data on the compensation provided to private property owners in cases of eminent domain condemnation. We are working with other landowner organizations to gather this information. Our family has had more than one experience where an entity condemned our property and did not act in good faith to take our land. In one case, a court awarded compensation that was over 600 percent more than the condemning entity’s fi rst offer. In another, the condemning entity settled for ap- proximately 10 times its fi rst offer, but only after we had incurred tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses to challenge. In one case, more than two years have passed and the condemning entity has taken possession and begun construction, but we have yet to receive any money because the court process is still ongoing. I share our story to raise awareness about
what takes place too often for many Texas landowners. TSCRA continuously hears sto- ries from ranchers and landowners who have been presented with lowball offers for their property from condemning entities.
80 The Cattleman May 2016
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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