By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Associate Professor, Agricultural & Resource Law
An eminent domain revisions bill appears to be on hold after its removal from the committee agenda that would have provided the bill a third hearing. House Bill 64 was introduced by sponsors Rep. Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville) and Rep. Rodney Creech (R-W. Alexandria) on February 21. The bill had two hearings before the House Civil Justice Committee on March 7 and 14, but was removed from the committee’s March 21 meeting agenda.
House Bill 64 proposes quite a few major changes to Ohio eminent domain law:
- Voids an appropriation of property if the agency does not follow statutory procedures for the appropriation, such as procedures for appraisal of value, good faith offers of compensation, and negotiation with the landowner. Under the proposal, a landowner could bring a claim against the agency for violating any of these procedures and the appropriation would be invalid. The proposal is the opposite of current law, which states that procedural violations do not affect the validity of an appropriation of property.
- Increases an agency’s burden of proof in showing that a taking is for a public use and is necessary, that the agency has authority to appropriate the property, and that the parties are unable to agree on a voluntary purchase of the property. The agency would have to meet the “clear and convincing evidence” burden of proof rather than the “preponderance of evidence” standard stated in current law.
- Removes two presumptions the law currently makes in favor of an agency. The first is that an appropriation is necessary if the agency adopts a resolution or ordinance declaring its necessity and the second is that an appropriation for a public utility or common carrier is necessary upon the offering of evidence supporting the necessity. Removing these presumptions also affects the burden of proof the agency must meet regarding the necessity of a taking.
- Revises an irrebuttable presumption in current law that an appropriation is necessary if the agency is a common carrier or public utility and a state or federal regulatory authority has approved the appropriation. The proposal would allow a landowner to rebut this presumption and would limit the presumption only to the specific interests reviewed by the regulatory authority.
- Prohibits an agency from reducing or revoking the compensation made in an initial offer to a landowner or from later arguing or presenting evidence for a lower amount. Current law allows an agency to revise an offer if they discover new conditions after making an initial offer.
- Expands attorney fee, cost, and expense awards for landowners. Current law allows attorney fee and cost awards if an agency challenges a landowner’s appraisal and the final compensation awarded is less than 125% of the agency’s first offer. The bill would require reasonable attorney fees, expenses, and costs if an agency appeals and does not prevail, in whole or in part. It also removes a provision requiring a landowner to pay court costs if the landowner denies an agency’s offer and is later awarded less than the offer amount.
- Awards “coercive damages” to landowners who prove by a preponderance of evidence that an agency used coercive actions during the appropriation process. Coercive actions include, but are not limited to, advancing the time of a taking, deferring negotiations, deferring the deposit of funds with the court, and attempting to force an agreement on the compensation award.
- Provides landowners the right to an “inverse condemnation” action, which is a claim that an agency has taken property without filing a court proceeding. In that case, a landowner may file an inverse condemnation lawsuit in the court of common pleas. If the landowner proves by a preponderance of evidence that the agency has taken the property, the court can award the landowner compensation and damages for the taking as well as attorney fees, costs, and expenses. Currently, a landowner must file a “mandamus” action asking the court to order the agency to initiate an eminent domain proceeding and must offer clear and convincing evidence to the court that the agency has taken the property.
- Extends case timelines. The bill increases the minimum number of days for the court to set hearing dates. If a landowner files an answer denying an agency’s authority, the necessity of the taking, or that the parties were unable to agree, the hearing date on those issues would extend from 15 to 30 days after the answer was filed and the compensation hearing date, if the court settles in favor of the agency, would change from at least 60 to at least 90 days after the court settles the issue. If a landowner could have but failed to file an answer to an eminent domain action, the compensation hearing date would be at least 90 days rather than 20 days from the date the answer was due. If an owner appeals a court’s determination on authority, necessity, or inability to agree on an appropriation, the bill prohibits the court from setting a compensation hearing until the appeal is final.
- Removes recreational trails from eminent domain authority. The proposal states that the use of property for a recreational trail is not a valid “public use” for eminent domain purposes. Recreational trails, according to the proposal, are trails used for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, ski touring, canoeing, or other nonmotorized forms of recreational travel. The proposal also excludes the making or repairing of or access management to shared-use paths, bike paths, or recreational trails from the use of eminent domain for making and repairing roads.
In the March 14 committee hearing, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation testified in support of the bill. Committee members raised questions about the bill’s recreational trail prohibition, initial offer minimum, coercive action awards, and attorney fee awards. Although the committee chair suggested that a third hearing for opponent testimony would take place in the following week, the bill was later removed from that committee hearing agenda.