80R389 EJI-D

By: Jackson H.B. No. 217

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a landowner's repurchase of real property previously acquired by a governmental entity through eminent domain.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 21.0121(a), Property Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) In addition to the contents prescribed by Section 21.012(b), a condemnation petition filed by a political subdivision of this state for the purpose of acquiring rights to groundwater or surface water must state that the facts to be proven are that the political subdivision has:

(1) prepared a drought contingency plan;

(2) developed and implemented a water conservation plan that will result in the highest practicable levels of water conservation and efficiency achievable in the political subdivision's jurisdiction;

(3) made a bona fide good faith effort to obtain practicable alternative water supplies to the water rights the political subdivision proposes to condemn;

(4) made a bona fide good faith effort to acquire the rights to the water the political subdivision proposes to condemn by voluntary purchase or lease; and

(5) made a showing that the political subdivision needs the water rights to provide for the domestic needs of the political subdivision within the next 20-year [10-year] period.

SECTION 2. (a) Section 21.023, Property Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.023. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION REQUIRED AT TIME OF ACQUISITION. A governmental entity shall disclose in writing to the property owner, at the time of acquisition of the property through eminent domain, that:

(1) the owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns may be [are] entitled to repurchase the property under Subchapter E [if the public use for which the property was acquired through eminent domain is canceled before the 10th anniversary of the date of acquisition]; and

(2) the repurchase price is the price paid to the owner by the governmental entity at the time the governmental entity acquired the property through eminent domain [fair market value of the property at the time the public use was canceled].

(b) Section 21.023, Property Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.023. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION REQUIRED AT TIME OF ACQUISITION. A governmental entity shall disclose in writing to the property owner, at the time of acquisition of the property through eminent domain, that:

(1) the owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns may be [are] entitled to repurchase the property under Subchapter E [if the public use for which the property was acquired through eminent domain is canceled before the 10th anniversary of the date of acquisition]; and

(2) the repurchase price is the fair market value of the property at the time the property becomes eligible for repurchase under Section 21.101 [public use was canceled].

SECTION 3. Section 21.101(a), Property Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A person from whom [Except as provided in Subsection (b), this subchapter applies only to] a real property interest is acquired by a governmental entity through eminent domain for a public use or that person's heirs, successors, or assigns are entitled to repurchase the property as provided by this subchapter if:

(1) that public use was canceled before the 20th [10th] anniversary of the date of acquisition;

(2) no actual progress, as defined by Section 21.104(b), is made toward that public use during the five-year period between:

(A) the date of acquisition and the fifth anniversary of that date;

(B) the fifth anniversary of that date and the 10th anniversary of that date;

(C) the 10th anniversary of that date and the 15th anniversary of that date; or

(D) the 15th anniversary of that date and the 20th anniversary of that date;

(3) the property becomes unnecessary for that public use before the 20th anniversary of the date of acquisition; or

(4) a right of repurchase is established under Section 21.106.

SECTION 4. (a) Section 21.103, Property Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.103. RESALE OF PROPERTY; PRICE. (a) Not later than the 180th day after the date of the postmark on the notice sent under Section 21.102, 21.104, or 21.105, the property owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns must notify the governmental entity of the person's intent to repurchase the property interest under this subchapter.

(b) As soon as practicable after receipt of a [the] notification under Subsection (a) or a right to repurchase a property interest is established under Section 21.106, the governmental entity shall offer to sell the property interest to the person for the price paid to the owner by the governmental entity at the time the governmental entity acquired the property through eminent domain [fair market value of the property at the time the public use was canceled]. The person's right to repurchase the property expires on the 90th day after the date on which the governmental entity makes the offer.

(b) Section 21.103, Property Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.103. RESALE OF PROPERTY; PRICE. (a) Not later than the 180th day after the date of the postmark on the notice sent under Section 21.102, 21.104, or 21.105, the property owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns must notify the governmental entity of the person's intent to repurchase the property interest under this subchapter.

(b) As soon as practicable after receipt of a [the] notification under Subsection (a) or a right to repurchase a property interest is established under Section 21.106, the governmental entity shall offer to sell the property interest to the person for the fair market value of the property at the time the property becomes eligible for repurchase under Section 21.101 [public use was canceled]. The person's right to repurchase the property expires on the 90th day after the date on which the governmental entity makes the offer.

SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 21, Property Code, is amended by adding Sections 21.104, 21.105, and 21.106 to read as follows:

Sec. 21.104. NOTICE TO PREVIOUS PROPERTY OWNER OF ACTUAL PROGRESS. (a) Not later than the 180th day after the fifth, 10th, 15th, and 20th anniversaries of the date on which real property was acquired through eminent domain by a governmental entity, the governmental entity shall send by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the property owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns, a notice containing:

(1) an identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property that was acquired;

(2) an identification of the public use for which the property had been acquired;

(3) an itemized description of the actual progress made toward that public use during the relevant five-year period or a statement that no actual progress has been made toward that use during that period, as applicable; and

(4) a description of the person's right under this subchapter to repurchase the property if no actual progress has been made during the five-year period preceding the fifth, 10th, 15th, or 20th anniversary of the date on which the property was acquired.

(b) Actual progress includes:

(1) any labor done to develop the property or other property acquired for the same public use project for which the property owner's property was acquired;

(2) furnishing materials to develop the property or other property acquired for the same public use project for which the property owner's property was acquired;

(3) hiring an architect, engineer, or surveyor to prepare a plan or plat that includes the property or other property acquired for the same public use project for which the property owner's property was acquired;

(4) applying for state or federal funds to develop the property or other property acquired for the same public use project for which the property owner's property was acquired; and

(5) acquiring a tract or parcel of real property adjacent to the property for the same public use project for which the owner's property was acquired.

Sec. 21.105. (a) NOTICE TO PREVIOUS PROPERTY OWNER REGARDING NECESSITY. If, before the 20th anniversary of the date real property was acquired through eminent domain, the property becomes unnecessary for the public use for which the property was acquired, the governmental entity shall, not later than the 180th day after the date the property becomes unnecessary, send by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the property owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns, a notice containing:

(1) an identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property that was acquired;

(2) an identification of the public use for which the property had been acquired;

(3) a statement that the property is no longer necessary for the public use for which the property was acquired; and

(4) a description of the person's right under this subchapter to repurchase the property.

(b) For the purposes of this subchapter, real property acquired through eminent domain is necessary if any part of the tract or parcel of the real property is required to accomplish the public use described in the condemnation petition required under Section 21.012.

Sec. 21.106. PETITION FOR REPURCHASE. (a) After the 20th anniversary of the date on which property was acquired through eminent domain, a property owner or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns may file a petition in a court having proper jurisdiction under this chapter to require the governmental entity that acquired the owner's property through eminent domain to sell the property interest to the person as specified by Section 21.103(b) if the governmental entity does not prove that the property is necessary for the public use for which the property was acquired.

(b) The petition must contain:

(1) an identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property that was acquired;

(2) an identification of the public use for which the property had been acquired;

(3) a statement that the property is no longer necessary for the public use for which the property was acquired; and

(4) a description of the person's right under this subchapter to repurchase the property.

(c) The governmental entity that acquired the property through eminent domain has the burden of establishing that the property is necessary for the public use for which the property was acquired.

(d) If a court grants the property owner the right to repurchase property acquired through eminent domain under this section, the court shall award the owner reasonable and necessary attorney's fees.

SECTION 6. Section 21.101(b), Property Code, is repealed.

SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after the effective date of this Act and to any property condemned through the proceeding. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed before the effective date of this Act and any property condemned through the proceeding is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 8. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.

(b) Sections 2(a) and 4(a) of this Act, amending Sections 21.023 and 21.103, Property Code, take effect on the date on which the constitutional amendment proposed by the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, allowing a governmental entity to sell property acquired through eminent domain back to the previous owners at the price the entity paid to acquire the property takes effect. If that amendment is not approved by the voters, Sections 2(a) and 4(a) of this Act have no effect. Sections 2(b) and 4(b) of this Act, amending Sections 21.023 and 21.103, Property Code, take effect only if the proposed constitutional amendment described by this subsection does not take effect, and the effective date of Sections 2(b) and 4(b) is January 1, 2008.