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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
HOUSE BILL 2191 By: West (Kevin)
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to eminent domain; amending 27 O.S.
2021, Sections 5 and 17, which relate to local
governments and resale of surplu s property;
conforming language; defining terms; prohibiting
taking of private property unless for certain uses
and with compensation; requiring court to strictly
construe certain provisions; prohibiting expansion of
eminent domain powers absent statutory authority;
providing exception; providing for codification; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 27 O.S. 2021, Section 5, is
amended to read as fol lows:
Section 5. Any county, city, town, township, school district,
or board of education, or any board or official having charge of
cemeteries created and existing under the laws of this state, shall
have power to condemn lands in like manner as railroad companies,
for highways, rights -of-way, building sites, cemeteries, public
parks and other public purposes uses.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 27 O.S. 2021, Section 17, is
amended to read as follows:
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Section 17. A. In the event that a portion of the total amount
of real property taken by eminent domain under the procedures set
forth in Title 27 of the Oklahoma Sta tutes this title for a public
purpose use as described in Section 9 of Title 27 of the Oklahoma
Statutes this title is not used for the purposes uses for which it
was condemned or for another public use by the agency or other
entity which acquired the real property, the portion of the real
property that is not used shall be declared surplus and shall be
first offered for resale to the person from whom the property was
taken or the heirs of the person at the appraised valu e or the
original price at which the acquiring agency or entity purchased
that portion of the property, whichever is less.
B. For purposes of complying with sub section A of this section,
the agency or entity which acquired the real property by
condemnation shall notify the former landowner of the right of first
refusal by sending notice by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the last -known address of the person as provided by
the person. If the mail is returned as not subject to delivery or
the former landowner is deceased, notice of the right of first
refusal shall be provided by publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in the community where t he real property is located.
The notice shall contain the name of the former landowner and a
legal description of the surplus prop erty. If the offer to
repurchase is not accepted within ninety (90) days from the date of
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notice or if the offer to repurcha se is not accepted from the date
the resale price on the property is determined, the property m ay
then be sold at public sale.
C. This section shall not apply to conveyances for
redevelopment under Sections 38 -101 through 38-123 of Title 11 of
the Oklahoma Statutes.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 41 of Title 27, unle ss there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
For the purposes of this act:
1. "Abandoned property" means either of the following:
a. a property that has been substantially unoccupi ed or
unused for any commercial or residential purpose for
at least one (1) year by a person with a legal or
equitable right to occupy the property that has been
cited as a public nuisance in violation of a housing,
maintenance, building, or property code which has not
been remedied within a reasonable time a fter two
notices to cure the noncompliance and has had a public
hearing and a subsequent court proceeding m ade
available to the property owner, or
b. a property for which property taxes have not been pa id
for at least two (2) years;
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2. "Blighted property" means a structure that was inspected by
the appropriate government entity, cited for one or more enforceab le
housing, maintenance, building, or property code violations which by
reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence of the
structure threatens the health and safety of the occupants or the
public, has not been remedied within a reasonable t ime after two
notices to cure the noncompliance, and has had a public hearing and
a subsequent court proceeding made available to the property owner;
and
3. "Public use" means:
a. the possession, occupation, ownership, and enjoyment
of the land by the gen eral public, or by a government
entity for use as a public highway, road, easement or
a right-of-way, public building, public cemetery,
public park, or other public use,
b. the possession, occupation, and ownership of land
necessary for operations of a pub lic utility that
serves the general public,
c. the remediation of a blighted property, or
d. the possession of an abandoned property.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 42 of Title 27, unless there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
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A. Private property may not be taken or damaged by a condemning
authority unless the taking or damage is necessary for a public use
and with just compensation. The public pu rpose or public benefit of
economic development, including an increase in tax base, tax
revenues, employment, or general economic health, does not
constitute a public use.
B. Nothing in subsection A of this section shall be construed
to prohibit a taking of private property for public use as defined
in subparagraphs a, b, c, and d of paragraph 3 of Section 3 of this
act because the public use also provides ancillary ec onomic
benefits.
C. The court shall strictly construe eminent domain statutes in
favor of the property owner and against the condemning authority.
D. A governmental body subordinate to the state may not
exercise, create, extend, or expand a power of emin ent domain in the
absence of statutory authority. Additional procedures, remedies, or
limitations that do not deny or diminish the substantive and
procedural rights and protections of property owners under this
section may be provided by other law, ordina nce, or charter.
SECTION 5. This act shall become effective November 1 , 2023.
59-1-5188 JL 11/17/22