SEN. KOLKHORST FILES EMINENT DOMAIN REFORM LEGISLATION

  

State Senator Lois Kolkhorst has announced the filing of a bill which calls for a major strengthening of property rights in Texas.

Kolkhorst joined several statewide property rights advocates to announce the filing of Senate Bill 421, which Kolkhorst said would create a much more transparent and fair eminent domain process.

Eminent domain is a controversial legal power granted to governments to take private property for public use. In Texas, many private for-profit entities can also use the same governmental power while being subject to minimal public oversight.

Kolkhorst said she filed the bill so that the eminent domain process used by private groups can be fair and transparent, and so those entities will be held accountable when they take private land.

Senate Bill 421 features several statutory changes, including: mandating a public meeting so that property owners understand the process and can have their questions answered, requiring minimum protections in the contract, and holding entities accountable if they offer property owners less compensation than what they are owed.

Several state organizations have come out in support of Kolkhorst’s filing of the bill, including the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), Texas Farm Bureau, and Texas Wildlife Association.

TSCRA President Robert McKnight, Jr. thanked Kolkhorst for her commitment to fixing a system that is “often abused and designed to favor private companies who subsidize their profits with the power of condemnation”.

Farm Bureau President Russell Boening said the bureau is appreciative of Kolkhorst’s efforts on eminent domain reform, which he called “the property rights issue of our time”.

Wildlife Association Board President J. David Anderson stated the association is proud to support this legislation that looks to treat Texas landowners fairly, which he said is “simply the right thing to do”.