By Bill Keffer
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Private ownership of property is one of the Big Three" freedoms that formed the
foundation of this country. In fact Thomas Jeffersons original phrase in the Declaration of Independence was life liberty and the pursuit of property." As a result one could argue that a synonym for happiness" is the ability to own property."
But in 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Kelo case that a government can take someones private property for the purpose of economic development an interpretation of the Constitution that would effectively allow government to take your property at any time for any purpose under the guise of improving the economy.
To limit such efforts the Texas Senate passed legislation that restores the protections intended for private property owners. Not a single no" vote got recorded in the Senate where the bill (SB18) originated. Witnesses favoring the bill outnumbered opponents four or five to one.
The bill went then to the House. No objections there either on the contrary back-pats and praises for the whole idea.
Under this bill any government attempting to take someones private property would have to do the following:
A written offer must be based on an appraisal;
- If rejected a subsequent final offer of a higher amount must be made;
- If rejected the government must petition a court to condemn the property and specifically state the intended public use; and
- A three-person panel appointed by the county judge would then determine the amount of compensation to be paid to the property owner.
Additionally should the property end up not being used for the stated purpose the property owner would have the option of buying back the property. The operative phrase in this bill is public use" rather than the phrase public purpose" which was the phrase at issue in Kelo and was considered to be a broader grant of discretionary authority to government.
Texas where growth continues even during a miserable time for the American economy as a whole understands private property rights as the basis of economic freedom hence of the prosperity and job creation that inevitably accompany economic freedom.
Whether for public use" or public purpose" private-property owners in Texas should be protected against the greedy hands of government. A Texan whose property is protected from government is a happy" Texan.
Jefferson would certainly understand.
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Todays Texbytes was written by Bill Keffer a Dallas attorney who served in the Texas legislature from 2003-6 and IPI Research Fellow Bill Murchison.
