Modifies provisions relating to condemnation proceedings

EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1698
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR SCHROER.
7286S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 523.001, 523.020, 523.030, 523.039, 523.040, 523.250, 523.253, 523.256, and
523.265, RSMo, and section 523.061 as enacted by house bill no. 1606, one hundred
first general assembly, second regular session, and section 523.061 as enacted by house
bill no. 1944, ninety-third general assembly, second regular session, and to enact in lieu
thereof ten new sections relating to condemnation proceedings, with penalty
provisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 523.001, 523.020, 523.030, 523.039, 1
523.040, 523.250, 523.253, 523.256, and 523.265, RSMo, and 2
section 523.061 as enacted by house bill no. 1606, one hundred 3
first general assembly, second regular session, and section 4
523.061 as enacted by house bill no. 1944, ninety-third general 5
assembly, second regular session, are repealed and ten new 6
sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 7
523.001, 523.015, 523.030, 523.039, 523.040, 523.061, 523.250, 8
523.253, 523.256, and 523.265, to read as follows:9
523.001. For the purposes of this chapter, the 1
following terms shall mean: 2
(1) "Beginning farmer or rancher", an individual or 3
entity who: 4
(a) Has not operated a farm or ranch, or who has 5
operated a farm or ranch for not more than ten consecutive 6
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years. The requirement of this paragraph applies to all 7
members of an entity; 8
(b) Participates in the operation of the farm or 9
ranch; and 10
(c) Is a resident of this state; 11
(2) "Beginning farmer taking", any taking of any 12
agricultural or horticultural property owned by a property 13
owner qualified as a beginning farmer or rancher; 14
(3) "Fair market value", the value of the property 15
taken after considering comparable sales in the area, 16
capitalization of income, and replacement cost less 17
depreciation, singularly or in combination, as appropriate, 18
and additionally considering the value of the property based 19
upon its highest and best use, using generally accepted 20
appraisal practices. If less than the entire property is 21
taken, fair market value shall mean the difference between 22
the fair market value of the entire property immediately 23
prior to the taking and the fair market value of the 24
remaining or burdened property immediately after the taking, 25
including consideration of the damage the condemning 26
authority's proposed use of the condemned property shall 27
cause to the remaining or burdened property if such proposed 28
use of the condemned property shall reduce the value of the 29
remaining or burdened property. The term "fair market 30
value" shall not include any increase in the value of the 31
remaining or burdened property caused by the condemning 32
authority's proposed use of the condemned property; 33
[(2)] (4) "Heritage value", the value assigned to any 34
real property, including but not limited to real property 35
owned by a business enterprise with fewer than one hundred 36
employees, that has been owned within the same family for 37
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[fifty] twenty or more years, such value to be fifty percent 38
of fair market value; 39
[(3)] (5) "Homestead taking", any taking of a dwelling 40
owned by the property owner and functioning as the owner's 41
primary place of residence or any taking of the owner's 42
property within three hundred feet of the owner's primary 43
place of residence [that prevents the owner from utilizing 44
the property in substantially the same manner as it is 45
currently being utilized]. 46
523.015. 1. Any corporation, political subdivision, 1
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 2
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 3
law shall give the owner of any property at least fifteen 4
days written notice that surveyors employed by the 5
condemning corporation, political subdivision, cooperative, 6
or person will enter the property proposed to be condemned 7
for any surveying. 8
2. If any corporation, political subdivision, 9
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 10
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 11
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 12
or by condemnation, such corporation, political subdivision, 13
cooperative, or person shall give at least five days written 14
notice that such corporation, political subdivision, 15
cooperative, or person, or its agents or employees, will 16
enter upon the easement before entering such easement, 17
unless such corporation, political subdivision, cooperative, 18
or person has to enter onto such property in an emergency to 19
make repairs to avoid or remedy disruptions of utility 20
service, or to prevent any threat to the life or property of 21
any person. 22
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3. If any corporation, political subdivision, 23
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 24
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 25
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 26
or by condemnation, and subsequently cuts or destroys any 27
trees or vegetation upon or within the easement, such 28
corporation, political subdivision, cooperative, or person 29
shall, at its own expense, entirely remove all such trees or 30
vegetation from the easement, unless otherwise agreed in 31
writing with the owner of the fee over which the easement 32
exists. 33
4. If any corporation, political subdivision, 34
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 35
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 36
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 37
or by condemnation, and subsequently cuts or destroys any 38
trees or vegetation upon or within the easement, such 39
corporation, political subdivision, cooperative, or person 40
shall, at its own expense, remove or grind all stumps in the 41
easement to at least three inches in depth below the ground 42
surface, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the owner 43
of the fee over which the easement exists. 44
5. If any corporation, political subdivision, 45
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 46
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 47
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 48
or by condemnation, and subsequently disturbs, causes damage 49
by equipment or machinery, or removes any tree, vegetation, 50
grass, earthwork, or terrace within the easement, or creates 51
or causes any ruts, such corporation, political subdivision, 52
cooperative, or person shall, at its own expense, repair and 53
reseed any barren area utilizing best practices for erosion 54
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control as set forth by the Missouri soil and water 55
commission, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the 56
owner of the fee over which the easement exists. 57
6. If any corporation, political subdivision, 58
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 59
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 60
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 61
or by condemnation, and subsequently abandons or ceases to 62
utilize or maintain any plant, pipe, line, tower, or any 63
other facility built upon such easement, such corporation, 64
political subdivision, cooperative, or person shall, at its 65
own expense, remove from the property all above ground 66
components of such plant, pipe, line, tower, or any other 67
facility, and shall repair and reseed any barren area 68
utilizing best practices for erosion control as set forth by 69
the Missouri soil and water commission, unless otherwise 70
agreed in writing with the owner of the fee over which the 71
easement exists. 72
7. If any corporation, political subdivision, 73
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 74
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 75
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 76
or by condemnation, and subsequently abandons or ceases to 77
utilize or maintain any plant, pipe, line, tower, or any 78
other facility built upon such easement, such corporation, 79
political subdivision, cooperative, or person shall, at its 80
own expense, remove from the property all components of such 81
plant, pipe, line, tower, or any other facility located at 82
three feet of depth or less below ground, and shall repair 83
and reseed any barren area utilizing best practices for 84
erosion control as set forth by the Missouri soil and water 85
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commission, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the 86
owner of the fee over which the easement exists. 87
8. If any corporation, political subdivision, 88
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 89
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 90
law acquires any easement in this state by voluntary means 91
or by condemnation, and subsequently disturbs, causes damage 92
to, or removes any fence, or portion thereof, owned by the 93
property owner to access the easement area, such 94
corporation, political subdivision, cooperative, or person 95
shall, at its own expense, repair the fence to a lawful 96
state to comply with chapter 272, unless otherwise agreed in 97
writing with the owner of the fee over which the easement 98
exists. 99
9. Any corporation, political subdivision, 100
cooperative, or person with the authority to condemn 101
property pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of 102
law that violates in any material respect the provisions of 103
this section shall be liable to the owner of the property 104
over which such corporation, political subdivision, 105
cooperative, or person holds an easement for a civil penalty 106
of up to one thousand dollars for each violation for each 107
day such violation persists, except that the maximum penalty 108
for violation of the provisions of this section shall not 109
exceed one hundred thousand dollars for any related series 110
of violations. An action to recover such civil penalty may 111
be brought by any aggrieved owner of the property over which 112
an easement exists, or by the attorney general or by a 113
prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney on behalf of any 114
aggrieved owner of the property over which an easement 115
exists, in the circuit court of the county where such 116
property is located. 117
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10. Any aggrieved owner of the property over which an 118
easement exists, or the attorney general or a prosecuting 119
attorney or circuit attorney, may bring an action in the 120
circuit court of the county where such property is located 121
for equitable relief to redress or restrain a violation by 122
any corporation, political subdivision, cooperative, or 123
person of any provision of this section. The court may 124
grant such relief as is necessary or appropriate, including 125
mandatory or prohibitive injunctive relief, temporary or 126
permanent. 127
11. As used in this section, the term "political 128
subdivision" means: 129
(1) Any agency or unit of this state; 130
(2) Any county of this state; 131
(3) Any municipality of this state; 132
(4) Any agency or unit authorized to levy taxes or 133
empowered to cause taxes to be levied which now is, or 134
hereafter shall be, authorized to acquire property by 135
eminent domain; 136
(5) Townships, cities, towns, villages, school, road, 137
drainage, sewer, and levee districts, and any other public 138
subdivision, public corporation, or public quasi-corporation 139
having the power to tax; or 140
(6) Any other entity empowered to exercise eminent 141
domain authority pursuant to this chapter or any other 142
provision of law. 143
523.030. 1. Upon the filing of the petition, a 1
summons shall be issued, giving such owner at least [ten] 2
sixty days' notice from the date of the service of such 3
petition of the time when said petition will be heard, which 4
summons shall be served by the sheriff of the county, in the 5
same manner as writs of summons are or may be by law 6
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required to be served. Such petition shall not be heard 7
less than sixty days from the date such summons is served. 8
If the name or residence of the owner is unknown, or if the 9
owners, or any of them, do not reside within the state, 10
notice of the time of hearing the petition, reciting the 11
substance of the petition and the day fixed for the hearing 12
thereof, shall be given by publication once each week for 13
three consecutive weeks prior to the time of hearing the 14
petition, in a newspaper published in the county in which 15
the proceedings are pending, if one is published in the 16
county, or if no newspaper is published in the county, or 17
the publisher shall refuse to publish the same on tender of 18
his usual charges for advertising, then by posting up said 19
notice for three consecutive weeks at the door of the 20
courthouse of the county wherein the lands or any portion of 21
them lie. 22
2. Upon service of the summons as set forth in 23
subsection 1 of this section, the owner served shall have 24
thirty days after the date of service of the summons to 25
answer the petition by affirmation or denial of the 26
assertions set forth therein and assert all available 27
affirmative defenses. The owner may assert affirmative 28
defenses for fraud, bad faith, lack of statutory authority 29
and against any ultra vires or legally unauthorized act or 30
omission by the condemning authority and shall have the 31
standing to assert and prosecute claims for the same. If 32
the owner answers or sets forth affirmative defenses to the 33
petition, all rights of full discovery shall be afforded to 34
the parties as those set forth for civil cases under the 35
Missouri supreme court rules of civil procedure. 36
3. Failure of the owner to answer the petition 37
pursuant to subsection 2 of this section within thirty days 38
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of service of the summons shall not be deemed a default of 39
the owner's rights to a hearing pursuant to this section and 40
section 523.040. 41
4. At the initial hearing of the petition as set forth 42
in the summons required by this section, the condemning 43
authority shall have the burden to prove by clear and 44
convincing evidence that the condemning authority has the 45
statutory authority to condemn the property at issue in such 46
petition and that such condemning authority has followed its 47
own enacting and empowering statutes, rules, and bylaws in 48
pursuing condemnation of the owner's property. 49
5. It is the public policy of this state that the 50
rights of private property owners be protected against 51
unlawful or abusive exercises of condemnation authority. 52
This chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of the 53
private property owner and against condemning authorities. 54
523.039. 1. In all eminent domain proceedings filed 1
after December 31, 2006, just compensation for condemned 2
property shall be determined under one of the [three] four 3
following subdivisions, whichever yields the highest 4
compensation, as applicable to the particular type of 5
property and taking: 6
(1) An amount equivalent to the fair market value of 7
such property, plus compensation equal to the amount of any 8
federal, state, or local taxes owed by owner of the 9
condemned property as a consequence of the eminent domain 10
proceeding, including, but not limited to, all capital gains 11
tax; 12
(2) For condemnations that result in a homestead 13
taking, an amount equivalent to the fair market value of 14
such property multiplied by one hundred twenty-five percent, 15
plus compensation equal to the amount of any federal, state, 16
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or local taxes owed by owner of the condemned property as a 17
consequence of the eminent domain proceeding, including, but 18
not limited to, all capital gains tax; [or] 19
(3) For condemnations of property [that result in any 20
taking that prevents the owner from utilizing property in 21
substantially the same manner as it was currently being 22
utilized on the day of the taking and] involving property 23
owned within the same family for [fifty] twenty or more 24
years, an amount equivalent to the sum of the fair market 25
value and heritage value, plus compensation equal to the 26
amount of any federal, state, or local taxes owed by owner 27
of the condemned property as a consequence of the eminent 28
domain proceeding, including, but not limited to, all 29
capital gains tax. For the purposes of this subdivision, 30
family ownership of property may be established through 31
evidence of ownership by children, grandchildren, siblings, 32
or nephews or nieces of the family member owning the 33
property [fifty] twenty years prior to the taking; and in 34
addition, may be established through marriage or adoption by 35
such family members. If any entity owns the real property, 36
members of the family shall have an ownership interest in 37
more than fifty percent of the entity in order to be within 38
the family line of ownership for the purposes of this 39
subdivision. The property owner shall have the burden of 40
proving to the commissioners or court that the property has 41
been owned within the same family for [fifty] twenty or more 42
years; or 43
(4) For condemnations that result in a beginning 44
farmer taking, an amount equivalent to the fair market value 45
of such property multiplied by one hundred twenty-five 46
percent plus compensation equal to the amount of any 47
federal, state, or local taxes owed by the owner of the 48
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condemned property as a consequence of the eminent domain 49
proceeding, including, but not limited to, all capital gains 50
tax. 51
2. For eminent domain proceedings of any agricultural 52
or horticultural property by an electrical corporation as 53
defined in section 386.020, except for an electrical 54
corporation operating under a cooperative business plan as 55
described in section 393.110, for the purposes of 56
constructing an electric plant subject to a certificate of 57
convenience and necessity under subsection 1 of section 58
393.170 just compensation shall be an amount equivalent to 59
fair market value multiplied by one hundred fifty percent, 60
as determined by the court, plus compensation equal to the 61
amount of any federal, state, or local taxes owed by owner 62
of the condemned property as consequence of the eminent 63
domain proceeding, including, but not limited to, all 64
capital gains tax. The provisions of this subsection shall 65
not apply to applications filed pursuant to section 393.170 66
prior to August 28, 2022. 67
523.040. 1. The court, or judge thereof in vacation, 1
on being satisfied that due notice of the pendency of the 2
petition has been given, and that the condemning authority 3
has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the 4
condemning authority has the statutory authority to condemn 5
the property at issue in such petition and that such 6
condemning authority has followed its own enacting and 7
empowering statutes, rules, and bylaws in pursuing 8
condemnation of the owner's property as set forth in section 9
523.030, shall appoint three disinterested commissioners, 10
who shall be residents of the county in which the real 11
estate or a part thereof is situated, and in any city not 12
within a county, any county with a charter form of 13
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government and with more than one million inhabitants, or 14
any county with a charter form of government and with more 15
than six hundred thousand but fewer than seven hundred 16
thousand inhabitants at least one of the commissioners shall 17
be either a licensed real estate broker or a state-licensed 18
or state-certified real estate appraiser, to assess the 19
damages which the owners may severally sustain by reason of 20
such appropriation, who, within forty-five days after 21
appointment by the court, which forty-five days may be 22
extended by the court to a date certain with good cause 23
shown, after applying the definition of fair market value 24
contained in subdivision (1) of section 523.001, and after 25
having viewed the property, shall return to the clerk of 26
such court, under oath, their report in duplicate of such 27
assessment of damages, setting forth the amount of damages 28
allowed to the person or persons named as owning or claiming 29
the tract of land condemned, and should more than one tract 30
be condemned in the petition, then the damages allowed to 31
the owner, owners, claimant or claimants of each tract, 32
respectively, shall be stated separately, together with a 33
specific description of the tracts for which such damages 34
are assessed; and the clerk shall file one copy of said 35
report in his office and record the same in the order book 36
of the court, and he shall deliver the other copy, duly 37
certified by him, to the recorder of deeds of the county 38
where the land lies (or to the recorder of deeds of the City 39
of St. Louis, if the land lies in said city) who shall 40
record the same in his office, and index each tract 41
separately as provided in section 59.440, and the fee for so 42
recording shall be taxed by the clerk as costs in the 43
proceedings; and thereupon such company shall pay to the 44
clerk the amount thus assessed for the party in whose favor 45
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such damages have been assessed; and on making such payment 46
it shall be lawful for such company to hold the interest in 47
the property so appropriated for the uses prescribed in this 48
section; and upon failure to pay the assessment, the court 49
may, upon motion and notice by the party entitled to such 50
damages, enforce the payment of the same by execution, 51
unless the said company shall, within ten days from the 52
return of such assessment, elect to abandon the proposed 53
appropriation of any parcel of land, by an instrument in 54
writing to that effect, to be filed with the clerk of the 55
court, and entered on the minutes of the court, and as to so 56
much as is thus abandoned, the assessment of damages shall 57
be void. 58
2. Prior to the issuance of any report under 59
subsection 1 of this section, a commissioner shall notify 60
all parties named in the condemnation petition no less than 61
ten days prior to the commissioners' viewing of the property 62
of the named parties' opportunity to accompany the 63
commissioners on the commissioners' viewing of the property 64
and of the named parties' opportunity to present information 65
to the commissioners. 66
3. The commissioners shall view the property, hear 67
arguments, and review other relevant information that may be 68
offered by the parties. 69
4. In any eminent domain proceeding involving 70
agricultural or horticultural property, for purposes of 71
constructing an electric plant subject to a certificate of 72
convenience and necessity under subsection 1 of section 73
393.170 at least one of the disinterested commissioners 74
appointed by the court shall be a farmer who has been 75
engaged in farming, as defined in section 350.010, for a 76
minimum of ten years in the county where such property is 77
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situated. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply 78
to applications filed pursuant to section 393.170 prior to 79
August 28, 2022. 80
[523.061. After the filing of the 1
commissioners' report pursuant to section 2
523.040, the circuit judge presiding over the 3
condemnation proceeding shall apply the 4
provisions of section 523.039 and shall 5
determine whether a homestead taking has 6
occurred and shall determine whether heritage 7
value is payable and shall increase the 8
commissioners' award to provide for the 9
additional compensation due where a homestead 10
taking occurs or where heritage value applies, 11
in accordance with the just compensation 12
provisions of section 523.039. If a jury trial 13
of exceptions occurs under section 523.060 and 14
the circuit judge presiding over the 15
condemnation proceeding has determined that a 16
homestead taking has occurred or heritage value 17
is payable, the circuit judge presiding over the 18
condemnation proceeding shall apply the 19
provisions of section 523.039 and shall increase 20
the jury verdict to provide for the additional 21
compensation due where a homestead taking occurs 22
or where heritage value applies, in accordance 23
with the just compensation provisions of section 24
523.039. Notwithstanding any other provision of 25
law in sections 523.001 to 523.286 to the 26
contrary, a circuit judge who determines that 27
heritage value is payable as provided in this 28
section shall not increase the commissioners' 29
award or jury verdict to provide for the 30
additional compensation due where heritage value 31
applies if the plaintiff is a city, town, or 32
village that is incorporated in accordance with 33
the laws of this state and the plaintiff moves 34
for exclusion of the heritage value and shows 35
after an evidentiary hearing by a preponderance 36
of the evidence that the property taken has been: 37
(1) Abandoned; 38
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(2) Declared a nuisance and been ordered 39
to be vacated; 40
(3) Demolished or repaired after notice 41
and hearing; or 42
(4) Materially and negatively contributed 43
to a blighted area as that term is defined in 44
section 99.805.] 45
523.061. After the filing of the commissioners' report 1
pursuant to section 523.040, the circuit judge presiding 2
over the condemnation proceeding shall apply the provisions 3
of section 523.039 and shall determine whether a homestead 4
taking or beginning farmer taking has occurred and shall 5
determine whether heritage value is payable and shall 6
increase the commissioners' award to provide for the 7
additional compensation due where a homestead taking or 8
beginning farmer taking occurs or where heritage value 9
applies, in accordance with the just compensation provisions 10
of section 523.039. If a jury trial of exceptions occurs 11
under section 523.060 and the circuit judge presiding over 12
the condemnation proceeding has determined that a homestead 13
taking or beginning farmer taking has occurred or that the 14
heritage value is payable, the circuit judge presiding over 15
the condemnation proceeding shall apply the provisions of 16
section 523.039 and [shall determine whether a homestead 17
taking has occurred and shall determine whether heritage 18
value is payable and] shall increase the jury verdict to 19
provide for the additional compensation due where a 20
homestead taking or beginning farmer taking occurs or where 21
heritage value applies, in accordance with the just 22
compensation provisions of section 523.039. 23
523.250. 1. At least sixty days before filing of a 1
condemnation petition seeking to acquire an interest in real 2
property, the condemning authority shall provide the owner 3
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of record of such property with a written notice concerning 4
the intended acquisition. Such notice shall include: 5
(1) Identification of the interest in real property to 6
be acquired and a statement of the legal description or 7
commonly known location of the property; 8
(2) The purpose or purposes for which the property is 9
to be acquired; 10
(3) A statement that the property owner has the right 11
to: 12
(a) Seek legal counsel at the owner's expense; 13
(b) Make a counteroffer and engage in further 14
negotiations; 15
(c) Obtain such owner's own appraisal of just 16
compensation; 17
(d) Have just compensation determined preliminarily by 18
court-appointed condemnation commissioners and, ultimately, 19
by a jury; 20
(e) Seek assistance from the office of the ombudsman 21
for property rights created under section 523.277; 22
(f) Contest the right to condemn in the condemnation 23
proceeding; [and] 24
(g) Exercise the rights to request vacation of an 25
easement under the procedures and circumstances provided for 26
in section 527.188; 27
(h) Seek an award for heritage value, a homestead 28
taking, or a beginning farmer taking pursuant to sections 29
523.001, 523.039, and 523.061; and 30
(i) Seek attorney's fees pursuant to section 523.253 31
if the amount awarded to the property owner by the 32
commissioners or jury is greater than the offer made by the 33
condemning authority; and 34
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(4) A copy of section 523.015 and the list of 35
obligations and remedies set forth in section 523.015. 36
An owner may waive the requirements of this subsection 37
prescribed above in a writing executed by the owner. 38
2. The written notice required by this section shall 39
be deposited in the United States mail, certified or 40
registered, and with postage prepaid, addressed to the owner 41
of record as listed in the office of the city or county 42
assessor for the city or county in which the property is 43
located. The receipt issued to the condemning authority by 44
the United States Post Office for certified or registered 45
mail shall constitute proof of compliance with this notice 46
requirement; provided, however, that nothing in this section 47
shall preclude a condemning authority from proving 48
compliance with this notice requirement by other competent 49
evidence. 50
523.253. 1. A condemning authority shall present a 1
written offer to all owners of record of the property. The 2
offer must be made at least thirty days before filing a 3
condemnation petition and shall be held open for the thirty- 4
day period unless an agreement is reached sooner. The 5
written offer presented pursuant to this section shall also 6
include a notice that all owners of record may seek an award 7
for heritage value, a homestead taking, or a beginning 8
farmer taking pursuant to sections 523.001, 523.039, and 9
523.061, a notice that all owners of record have the right 10
to pursue attorney's fees pursuant to subsection 3 of this 11
section, and a copy of section 523.015 and the list of 12
obligations and remedies set forth in section 523.015. The 13
offer shall be deposited in the United States mail, 14
certified or registered, and with postage prepaid, addressed 15
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to the owner of record as listed in the office of the city 16
or county assessor for the city or county in which the 17
property is located. The receipt issued to the condemning 18
authority by the United States [Post Office] Postal Service 19
for certified or registered mail shall constitute proof of 20
compliance with this requirement; provided, however, that 21
nothing in this section shall preclude a condemning 22
authority from proving compliance with this requirement by 23
other competent evidence. Nothing in this section shall 24
prohibit the parties from negotiating during the thirty-day 25
period. 26
2. (1) Any condemning authority shall, at the time of 27
the offer, provide the property owner with an appraisal or 28
an explanation with supporting financial data for its 29
determination of the value of the property for purposes of 30
the offer made in subsection 1 of this section. 31
(2) Any appraisal referred to in this section shall be 32
made by a state-licensed or state-certified appraiser using 33
generally accepted appraisal practices. 34
3. In any condemnation proceeding, if the amount 35
awarded by the commissioners or jury is greater than the 36
offer made by the condemning authority pursuant to this 37
section, the court shall award attorney's fees to the 38
property owner in addition to the award in such proceeding. 39
523.256. Before a court may enter an order of 1
condemnation, the court shall find that the condemning 2
authority engaged in good faith negotiations prior to filing 3
the condemnation petition. A condemning authority shall be 4
deemed to have engaged in good faith negotiations if: 5
(1) It has properly and timely given all notices to 6
owners required by this chapter; 7
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(2) Its offer under section 523.253 was no lower than 8
the amount reflected in an appraisal performed by a state- 9
licensed or state-certified appraiser for the condemning 10
authority, provided an appraisal is given to the owner 11
pursuant to subsection 2 of section 523.253 or, in other 12
cases, the offer is no lower than the amount provided in the 13
basis for its determination of the value of the property as 14
provided to the owner under subsection 2 of section 523.253; 15
(3) For condemnation of any agricultural or 16
horticultural property for the construction of an electrical 17
transmission line [designed to transmit electricity at three 18
hundred forty-five kilovolts or greater], but not for 19
condemnation of such property by an electrical corporation 20
operating under a cooperative business plan as described in 21
section 393.110, for the purposes of constructing an 22
electric plant subject to a certificate of convenience and 23
necessity under subsection 1 of section 393.170, the total 24
compensation package offered was no lower than the amount 25
reflected in an appraisal performed by a state-licensed or 26
state-certified appraiser for the condemning authority 27
multiplied by one hundred fifty percent. The provisions of 28
this subdivision shall not apply to applications filed 29
pursuant to section 393.170 prior to August 28, 2022; 30
(4) The owner has been given an opportunity to obtain 31
his or her own appraisal from a state-licensed or state- 32
certified appraiser of his or her choice; and 33
(5) Where applicable, it has considered an alternate 34
location suggested by the owner under section 523.265. 35
If the court does not find that good faith negotiations have 36
occurred, the court shall dismiss the condemnation petition, 37
without prejudice, and shall order the condemning authority 38
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to reimburse the owner for his or her actual reasonable 39
attorneys' fees and costs incurred with respect to the 40
condemnation proceeding which has been dismissed. 41
523.265. With regard to property interests acquired by 1
condemnation or negotiations in lieu of the exercise 2
thereof, within thirty days of receiving a written notice 3
sent under section 523.250, the landowner may propose to the 4
condemning authority in writing an alternative location for 5
the property to be condemned, which alternative location 6
shall be on the same parcel of the landowner's property as 7
the property the condemning authority seeks to condemn. The 8
proposal shall describe the alternative location in such 9
detail that the alternative location is clearly defined for 10
the condemning authority. The condemning authority shall 11
consider all such alternative locations. This section shall 12
not apply to takings of an entire parcel of land. A written 13
statement by the condemning authority to the landowner that 14
it has considered all such alternative locations, and 15
[briefly stating] setting forth with specificity why they 16
were rejected or accepted, is conclusive evidence that 17
sufficient consideration was given to the alternative 18
locations. Any rejection of the landowner's suggested 19
alternative location shall not be arbitrary or capricious or 20
induced by fraud, collusion, or bad faith and shall be 21
supported by substantial evidence. A condemning authority 22
or the affected landowner may seek a determination as to 23
whether these standards have been met by a court of 24
competent jurisdiction in any condemnation action filed to 25
acquire the owner's property or in an action seeking a 26
declaratory judgment. 27
[523.020. Any number of owners, residents 1
in the same county or circuit, may be joined in 2
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one petition, and the damages to each shall be 3
separately assessed by the same commissioners.] 4
✓