Vol. 2, No. 23
.jpg)
October 1, 2005
Nevada's Online State News Journal
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . | |||||||
 |
CRIMINAL DEFENSE |
COPYWRITING
|
|
Top News Story:
Eminent Domain To Be 2006 Hot Issue -- Petition For Changes In Nevada's Law
This Following Suspect Supreme Court Decision: Petition Filed By Former State Judge
by Johnny Gunn
Back in the days when there were civics classes in high school we learned what eminent domain was, what governments could and could not do. But then in June of this year, we discovered thanks to a Supreme Court 5-4 ruling that we didn't know very much. The court ruled that a government entity can take private property for the use of another private party. We thought we had learned government entities could take private property for public use, for the public good way back then. There has been outrage across the country, and in Nevada that affront has culminated in an initiative petition to change the state's law to even more protect the rights of the private property owner.
Former Nevada District Judge Don Chairez (R) filed the petition that will need 83,157 valid signatures to put it on the General Election ballot in 2006. By law, the petition will have to receive a majority of votes in two elections in order to become law.
The petition is called the People's Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land (PISTOL) and makes some strong statements as far as private property rights are concerned. For instance, in an eminent domain case, the transfer of property from one private party to another private party is not a public use. Eminent domain will be defined as the taking of private property for public use only.
Chairez's petition says, "only current elected judges may issue eminent domain decisions. It also says that when taking property, the property must be valued at the use which yields the highest value.
In the Supreme Court decision, the case centered on a New London, Connecticut case. The city was allowed to take property from owners and turn it over to developers of office complexes and condo builders. According to Chairez, the case allowed a government entity to take private property for use by private commercial interests.
There have been similar cases in Nevada, particularly in southern Nevada where private property was taken by way of eminent domain and it became part of what is called the Fremont Experience in downtown Las Vegas. In northern Nevada, Washoe County, in a case slightly different, is attempting to take a large ranch and turn it into a regional park.
The Las Vegas incident involving property owned by the Pappas family led to a new law written by Senator Terry Care (D-Las Vegas). Senate Bill 326 took effect in June and requires that two-thirds of a redevelopment area needs to be considered blighted before any of the property can be taken by a government entity.
Another part of SB 326 calls for the property to revert to the original owner if the land is not used for redevelopment within 15 years. The PISTOL initiative would reduce that to five years. According to Chairez, property owners are also often assessed court and attorney fees if they challenge an eminent domain taking. The petition would abolish that practice and would set the property's value above just the assessed valuation but would include the value of the use of the property and how much income the property owner might lose by losing the property.
•••