I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 738 

To protect private property rights. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2019 

Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect private property rights. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Property 

5 Rights Protection Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY 

7 STATES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State or political subdivision 

9 of a State shall exercise its power of eminent domain, or 

10 allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity 

11 to which such power has been delegated, over property to 

12 be used for economic development or over property that 


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1 is used for economic development within 7 years after that 

2 exercise, if that State or political subdivision receives Fed3 eral economic development funds during any fiscal year 

4 in which the property is so used or intended to be used. 

5 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola6 tion of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision 

7 shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible 

8 for any Federal economic development funds for a period 

9 of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits 

10 by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection 

11 has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with 

12 distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2- 

13 year period, and any such funds distributed to such State 

14 or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by 

15 such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Fed16 eral agency or authority of the Federal Government, or 

17 component thereof. 

18 (c) OPPORTUNITY TO CURE VIOLATION.—A State or 

19 political subdivision shall not be ineligible for any Federal 

20 economic development funds under subsection (b) if such 

21 State or political subdivision returns all real property the 

22 taking of which was found by a court of competent juris23 diction to have constituted a violation of subsection (a) 

24 and replaces any other property destroyed and repairs any 

25 other property damaged as a result of such violation. In 


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1 addition, the State or political subdivision must pay any 

2 applicable penalties and interest to reattain eligibility. 

3 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE BY THE 

4 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

5 The Federal Government or any authority of the Fed6 eral Government shall not exercise its power of eminent 

7 domain to be used for economic development. 

8 SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

9 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any—(1) owner of private 

10 property whose property is subject to eminent domain who 

11 suffers injury as a result of a violation of any provision 

12 of this Act with respect to that property; or (2) any tenant 

13 of property that is subject to eminent domain who suffers 

14 injury as a result of a violation of any provision of this 

15 Act with respect to that property, may bring an action 

16 to enforce any provision of this Act in the appropriate 

17 Federal or State court. A State shall not be immune under 

18 the 11th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

19 States from any such action in a Federal or State court 

20 of competent jurisdiction. In such action, the defendant 

21 has the burden to show by clear and convincing evidence 

22 that the taking is not for economic development. Any such 

23 property owner or tenant may also seek an appropriate 

24 relief through a preliminary injunction or a temporary re25 straining order. 


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1 (b) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.—An action 

2 brought by a property owner or tenant under this Act may 

3 be brought if the property is used for economic develop4 ment following the conclusion of any condemnation pro5 ceedings condemning the property of such property owner 

6 or tenant, but shall not be brought later than 7 years fol7 lowing the conclusion of any such proceedings. 

8 (c) ATTORNEY’S FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any 

9 action or proceeding under this Act, the court shall allow 

10 a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney’s fee as part 

11 of the costs, and include expert fees as part of the attor12 ney’s fee. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY GEN14 ERAL. 

15 (a) SUBMISSION OF REPORT TO ATTORNEY GEN16 ERAL.—Any—(1) owner of private property whose prop17 erty is subject to eminent domain who suffers injury as 

18 a result of a violation of any provision of this Act with 

19 respect to that property; or (2) any tenant of property that 

20 is subject to eminent domain who suffers injury as a result 

21 of a violation of any provision of this Act with respect to 

22 that property, may report a violation by the Federal Gov23 ernment, any authority of the Federal Government, State, 

24 or political subdivision of a State to the Attorney General. 


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1 (b) INVESTIGATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Upon 

2 receiving a report of an alleged violation, the Attorney 

3 General shall conduct an investigation to determine wheth4 er a violation exists. 

5 (c) NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATION.—If the Attorney 

6 General concludes that a violation does exist, then the At7 torney General shall notify the Federal Government, au8 thority of the Federal Government, State, or political sub9 division of a State that the Attorney General has deter10 mined that it is in violation of the Act. The notification 

11 shall further provide that the Federal Government, State, 

12 or political subdivision of a State has 90 days from the 

13 date of the notification to demonstrate to the Attorney 

14 General either that: (1) it is not in violation of the Act; 

15 or (2) that it has cured its violation by returning all real 

16 property the taking of which the Attorney General finds 

17 to have constituted a violation of the Act and replacing 

18 any other property destroyed and repairing any other 

19 property damaged as a result of such violation. 

20 (d) ATTORNEY GENERAL’S BRINGING OF ACTION TO

21 ENFORCE ACT.—If, at the end of the 90-day period de22 scribed in subsection (c), the Attorney General determines 

23 that the Federal Government, authority of the Federal 

24 Government, State, or political subdivision of a State is 

25 still violating the Act or has not cured its violation as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H738.IH H738

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1 scribed in subsection (c), then the Attorney General will 

2 bring an action to enforce the Act unless the property 

3 owner or tenant who reported the violation has already 

4 brought an action to enforce the Act. In such a case, the 

5 Attorney General shall intervene if it determines that 

6 intervention is necessary in order to enforce the Act. The 

7 Attorney General may file its lawsuit to enforce the Act 

8 in the appropriate Federal or State court. A State shall 

9 not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Con10 stitution of the United States from any such action in a 

11 Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction. In such 

12 action, the defendant has the burden to show by clear and 

13 convincing evidence that the taking is not for economic 

14 development. The Attorney General may seek any appro15 priate relief through a preliminary injunction or a tem16 porary restraining order. 

17 (e) LIMITATION ON BRINGING ACTION.—An action 

18 brought by the Attorney General under this Act may be 

19 brought if the property is used for economic development 

20 following the conclusion of any condemnation proceedings 

21 condemning the property of an owner or tenant who re22 ports a violation of the Act to the Attorney General, but 

23 shall not be brought later than 7 years following the con24 clusion of any such proceedings. 


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1 (f) ATTORNEY’S FEE AND OTHER COSTS.—In any 

2 action or proceeding under this Act brought by the Attor3 ney General, the court shall, if the Attorney General is 

4 a prevailing plaintiff, award the Attorney General a rea5 sonable attorney’s fee as part of the costs, and include 

6 expert fees as part of the attorney’s fee. 

7 SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

8 (a) NOTIFICATION TO STATES AND POLITICAL SUB9 DIVISIONS.— 

10 (1) Not later than 30 days after the enactment 

11 of this Act, the Attorney General shall provide to the 

12 chief executive officer of each State the text of this 

13 Act and a description of the rights of property own14 ers and tenants under this Act. 

15 (2) Not later than 120 days after the enact16 ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall compile 

17 a list of the Federal laws under which Federal eco18 nomic development funds are distributed. The Attor19 ney General shall compile annual revisions of such 

20 list as necessary. Such list and any successive revi21 sions of such list shall be communicated by the At22 torney General to the chief executive officer of each 

23 State and also made available on the internet 

24 website maintained by the United States Depart25 ment of Justice for use by the public and by the auVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H738.IH H738

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1 thorities in each State and political subdivisions of 

2 each State empowered to take private property and 

3 convert it to public use subject to just compensation 

4 for the taking. 

5 (b) NOTIFICATION TO PROPERTY OWNERS AND TEN6 ANTS.—Not later than 30 days after the enactment of this 

7 Act, the Attorney General shall publish in the Federal 

8 Register and make available on the Internet website main9 tained by the United States Department of Justice a no10 tice containing the text of this Act and a description of 

11 the rights of property owners and tenants under this Act. 

12 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

13 (a) BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every subse15 quent year thereafter, the Attorney General shall transmit 

16 a report identifying States or political subdivisions that 

17 have used eminent domain in violation of this Act to the 

18 Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the 

19 Judiciary of the House of Representatives and to the 

20 Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the 

21 Judiciary of the Senate. The report shall— 

22 (1) identify all private rights of action brought 

23 as a result of a State’s or political subdivision’s vio24 lation of this Act; 


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1 (2) identify all violations reported by property 

2 owners and tenants under section 5(c) of this Act; 

3 (3) identify the percentage of minority residents 

4 compared to the surrounding nonminority residents 

5 and the median incomes of those impacted by a vio6 lation of this Act; 

7 (4) identify all lawsuits brought by the Attorney 

8 General under section 5(d) of this Act; 

9 (5) identify all States or political subdivisions 

10 that have lost Federal economic development funds 

11 as a result of a violation of this Act, as well as de12 scribe the type and amount of Federal economic de13 velopment funds lost in each State or political sub14 division and the Agency that is responsible for with15 holding such funds; and 

16 (6) discuss all instances in which a State or po17 litical subdivision has cured a violation as described 

18 in section 2(c) of this Act. 

19 (b) DUTY OF STATES.—Each State and local author20 ity that is subject to a private right of action under this 

21 Act shall have the duty to report to the Attorney General 

22 such information with respect to such State and local au23 thorities as the Attorney General needs to make the report 

24 required under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING RURAL AMERICA. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The founders realized the fundamental im4 portance of property rights when they codified the 

5 Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Con6 stitution, which requires that private property shall 

7 not be taken ‘‘for public use, without just compensa8 tion’’. 

9 (2) Rural lands are unique in that they are not 

10 traditionally considered high tax revenue-generating 

11 properties for State and local governments. In addi12 tion, farmland and forest land owners need to have 

13 long-term certainty regarding their property rights 

14 in order to make the investment decisions to commit 

15 land to these uses. 

16 (3) Ownership rights in rural land are funda17 mental building blocks for our Nation’s agriculture 

18 industry, which continues to be one of the most im19 portant economic sectors of our economy. 

20 (4) In the wake of the Supreme Court’s deci21 sion in Kelo v. City of New London, abuse of emi22 nent domain is a threat to the property rights of all 

23 private property owners, including rural land own24 ers. 

25 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con26 gress that the use of eminent domain for the purpose of 


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1 economic development is a threat to agricultural and other 

2 property in rural America and that the Congress should 

3 protect the property rights of Americans, including those 

4 who reside in rural areas. Property rights are central to 

5 liberty in this country and to our economy. The use of 

6 eminent domain to take farmland and other rural property 

7 for economic development threatens liberty, rural econo8 mies, and the economy of the United States. The taking 

9 of farmland and rural property will have a direct impact 

10 on existing irrigation and reclamation projects. Further11 more, the use of eminent domain to take rural private 

12 property for private commercial uses will force increasing 

13 numbers of activities from private property onto this Na14 tion’s public lands, including its National forests, National 

15 parks and wildlife refuges. This increase can overburden 

16 the infrastructure of these lands, reducing the enjoyment 

17 of such lands for all citizens. Americans should not have 

18 to fear the government’s taking their homes, farms, or 

19 businesses to give to other persons. Governments should 

20 not abuse the power of eminent domain to force rural 

21 property owners from their land in order to develop rural 

22 land into industrial and commercial property. Congress 

23 has a duty to protect the property rights of rural Ameri24 cans in the face of eminent domain abuse. 


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1 SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the policy of the United States to encourage, 

3 support, and promote the private ownership of property 

4 and to ensure that the constitutional and other legal rights 

5 of private property owners are protected by the Federal 

6 Government. 

7 SEC. 10. RELIGIOUS AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION ON STATES.—No State or political 

9 subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent 

10 domain, or allow the exercise of such power by any person 

11 or entity to which such power has been delegated, over 

12 property of a religious or other nonprofit organization by 

13 reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such orga14 nization, or any quality related thereto if that State or 

15 political subdivision receives Federal economic develop16 ment funds during any fiscal year in which it does so. 

17 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—A viola18 tion of subsection (a) by a State or political subdivision 

19 shall render such State or political subdivision ineligible 

20 for any Federal economic development funds for a period 

21 of 2 fiscal years following a final judgment on the merits 

22 by a court of competent jurisdiction that such subsection 

23 has been violated, and any Federal agency charged with 

24 distributing those funds shall withhold them for such 2- 

25 year period, and any such funds distributed to such State 

26 or political subdivision shall be returned or reimbursed by 


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1 such State or political subdivision to the appropriate Fed2 eral agency or authority of the Federal Government, or 

3 component thereof. 

4 (c) PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

5 Federal Government or any authority of the Federal Gov6 ernment shall not exercise its power of eminent domain 

7 over property of a religious or other nonprofit organization 

8 by reason of the nonprofit or tax-exempt status of such 

9 organization, or any quality related thereto. 

10 SEC. 11. REPORT BY FEDERAL AGENCIES ON REGULATIONS 

11 AND PROCEDURES RELATING TO EMINENT 

12 DOMAIN. 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the head of each Executive department 

15 and agency shall review all rules, regulations, and proce16 dures and report to the Attorney General on the activities 

17 of that department or agency to bring its rules, regula18 tions and procedures into compliance with this Act. 

19 SEC. 12. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that any and all pre21 cautions shall be taken by the government to avoid the 

22 unfair or unreasonable taking of property away from sur23 vivors of Hurricane Katrina who own, were bequeathed, 

24 or assigned such property, for economic development pur25 poses or for the private use of others. 


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1 SEC. 13. DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT. 

2 If the court determines that a violation of this Act 

3 has occurred, and that the violation has a disproportion4 ately high impact on the poor or minorities, the Attorney 

5 General shall use reasonable efforts to locate former own6 ers and tenants and inform them of the violation and any 

7 remedies they may have. 

8 SEC. 14. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

10 (1) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘economic development’’ means taking private prop12 erty, without the consent of the owner, and con13 veying or leasing such property from one private 

14 person or entity to another private person or entity 

15 for commercial enterprise carried on for profit, or to 

16 increase tax revenue, tax base, employment, or gen17 eral economic health, except that such term shall not 

18 include— 

19 (A) conveying private property— 

20 (i) to public ownership, such as for a 

21 road, hospital, airport, or military base; 

22 (ii) to an entity, such as a common 

23 carrier, that makes the property available 

24 to the general public as of right, such as 

25 a railroad or public facility; 


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1 (iii) for use as a road or other right 

2 of way or means, open to the public for 

3 transportation, whether free or by toll; and 

4 (iv) for use as an aqueduct, flood con5 trol facility, pipeline, or similar use; 

6 (B) removing harmful uses of land pro7 vided such uses constitute an immediate threat 

8 to public health and safety; 

9 (C) leasing property to a private person or 

10 entity that occupies an incidental part of public 

11 property or a public facility, such as a retail es12 tablishment on the ground floor of a public 

13 building; 

14 (D) acquiring abandoned property; 

15 (E) clearing defective chains of title; 

16 (F) taking private property for use by a 

17 utility providing electric, natural gas, tele18 communication, water, wastewater, or other 

19 utility services either directly to the public or 

20 indirectly through provision of such services at 

21 the wholesale level for resale to the public; and 

22 (G) redeveloping of a brownfield site as de23 fined in the Small Business Liability Relief and 

24 Brownfields Revitalization Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 9601(39)). 


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1 (2) FEDERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

2 FUNDS.—The term ‘‘Federal economic development 

3 funds’’ means any Federal funds distributed to or 

4 through States or political subdivisions of States 

5 under Federal laws designed to improve or increase 

6 the size of the economies of States or political sub7 divisions of States. 

8 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

9 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

10 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other terri11 tory or possession of the United States. 

12 SEC. 15. LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. 

13 Nothing in this Act may be construed to supersede, 

14 limit, or otherwise affect any provision of the Uniform Re15 location Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies 

16 Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 

17 SEC. 16. BROAD CONSTRUCTION. 

18 This Act shall be construed in favor of a broad pro19 tection of private property rights, to the maximum extent 

20 permitted by the terms of this Act and the Constitution. 

21 SEC. 17. SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 (a) SEVERABILITY.—The provisions of this Act are 

23 severable. If any provision of this Act, or any application 

24 thereof, is found unconstitutional, that finding shall not 


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1 affect any provision or application of the Act not so adju2 dicated. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 

4 upon the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, but shall not apply 

6 to any project for which condemnation proceedings have 

7 been initiated prior to the date of enactment. 

Æ 


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