Bill Number: OK51RHB 1334 Filed: 01-18-2007
Author: Reynolds, Mike
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1 1st Session of the 51st Legislature (2007)
2 HOUSE BILL 1334 By: Reynolds
3 AS INTRODUCED
4 An Act directing the Secretary of State to refer to
5 the people for their approval or rejection a proposed
6 amendment to Sections 23 and 24 of Article 2 of the
7 Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, which relates
8 to takings of private property; providing that no
9 private property be taken for the benefit of another
10 private person or corporation; modifying definition
11 of just compensation; prohibiting condemning party
12 from entering property if taking is challenged;
13 providing for court determination of use; providing
14 right-of-first-refusal to owner to buy back property
15 if it is not used after three years; providing terms
16 of repurchase price; providing ballot title; and
17 directing filing.
18 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
19 SECTION 1. The Secretary of State shall refer to the people
20 for their approval or rejection, as and in the manner provided by
21 law, the following proposed amendment to Section 23 of Article II of
22 the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma to read as follows:
23 Section 23. No private property shall be taken or damaged for
24 private use, with or without compensation, unless by consent of the
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1 owner, except for private ways of necessity, or for drains and
2 ditches across lands of others for agricultural, mining, or sanitary
3 purposes[, in such manner as may be prescribed by law]. No private
4 property shall be taken for the benefit of another private person or
5 corporation, regardless of any economic or tax benefit from any
6 improvement proposed by such person or corporation.
7 SECTION 2. The Secretary of State shall refer to the people
8 for their approval or rejection, as and in the manner provided by
9 law, the following proposed amendment to Section 24 of Article II of
10 the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma to read as follows:
11 Section 24. Private property shall not be taken or damaged
12 for public use without just compensation. Just compensation shall
13 mean the value of the property taken, including loss of rental or
14 business income, when applicable, and in addition, any injury to
15 any part of the property not taken. [Any special and direct
16 benefits to the part of the property not taken may be offset only
17 against any injury to the property not taken.] Such compensation
18 shall be ascertained by a board of commissioners of not less than
19 three freeholders, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.
20 [Provided however, in no case shall the owner be required to make
21 any payments should the benefits be judged to exceed damages.] The
22 commissioners shall not be appointed by any judge or court without
23 reasonable notice having been served upon all parties in interest.
24 The commissioners shall be selected from the regular jury list of
25 names prepared and made as the Legislature shall provide. Whenever
26 an attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be
27 public, and the owner challenges the legality of the taking within
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1 sixty (60) days after service of the report of the Commissioners,
2 the condemning party shall not enter the subject property nor take
3 title. The question of whether the contemplated use be really
4 public shall be a judicial question, and determined as such without
5 regard to any legislative assertion that the use is public. Any
6 party aggrieved shall have the right of appeal, without bond, and
7 trial by jury in a court of record. [Until] If the legality of the
8 taking is not challenged, until the compensation shall be paid to
9 the owner, or into court for the owner, the property shall not be
10 disturbed, or the proprietary rights of the owner divested. When
11 possession is taken of property condemned for any public use, the
12 owner shall be entitled to the immediate receipt of the compensation
13 awarded, without prejudice to the right of either party to prosecute
14 further proceedings for the judicial determination of the
15 sufficiency or insufficiency of such compensation. The fee of land
16 taken by common carriers for right of way, without the consent of
17 the owner, shall remain in such owner subject only to the use for
18 which it is taken. [In all cases of condemnation of private
19 property for public or private use, the determination of the
20 character of the use shall be a judicial question.] If after three
21 (3) years from the date of taking, the condemning party has not used
22 the condemned property, or portion thereof, for the specific public
23 use alleged, and just compensation has been paid, the owner shall
24 have the first right-of-refusal to buy back the condemned property
25 for the same amount paid for it by the condemning party, regardless
26 of an increase in value. If the value of the condemned property has
27 decreased, the repurchase price shall be offset against such reduced
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1 value.
2 SECTION 3. The Ballot Title for the proposed Constitutional
3 amendments as set forth in SECTIONS 1 and 2 of this act shall be in
4 the following form:
5 BALLOT TITLE
6 Legislative Referendum No. ____ State Question No. ____
7 THE GIST OF THE PROPOSITION IS AS FOLLOWS:
8 This measure would amend the Oklahoma Constitution. It would
9 amend Sections 23 and 24 of Article 2. These sections will stop a
10 person or business from taking the private property of another. The
11 person or business cannot take the private property even if
12 improvements will be made. This measure will allow the owner to be
13 paid for loss of rental or business income. The owner can challenge
14 a taking for public use within sixty days. The party taking the
15 property cannot go onto the property nor have title to it. A court
16 will decide if the use of the property is a public use. The owner
17 must be paid for the property before the person or business taking
18 the property can use it. If the person or business has not used the
19 property in three years, the owner can buy back the property. The
20 owner may buy back the property for the same amount paid for it,
21 even if the property has increased in value. If the value has
22 decreased, the owner may buy the property at the decreased value and
23 be paid the difference.
24 SHALL THE PROPOSAL BE APPROVED?
25 FOR THE PROPOSAL YES _____________
26 AGAINST THE PROPOSAL NO _____________
27 SECTION 1. The Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives,
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1 immediately after the passage of this act, shall prepare and file
2 one copy thereof, including the Ballot Title set forth in SECTION 3
3 hereof, with the Secretary of State and one copy with the Attorney
4 General.
5 51-1-5120 MMP 01/14/07
6 Page 1
7 Req. No. 5120
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