Recent matters in Western Virginia and in the Roanoke Valley have renewed the public's interest in the subject of eminent domain. The new gas transmission line, AEP's transmission line, the construction of I-73 and Roanoke's Riverside Centre for Research Technology have all reminded us of the right of the government to take private property for public purposes upon making just compensation. Private property ownership has always been subject to certain limitations. The right of eminent domain is based on the premise that the sovereign government had the original and absolute ownership of the entire property and that current owners of the property hold title subject to an implied reservation that it may be taken by condemnation for a public purpose. There is a distinction in the terms eminent domain and condemnation.
Eminent domain is the right to take while condemnation is the act of doing so.
The power of eminent domain has been delegated by the General Assembly to the State Corporation Commission in order that quasi-public companies whose operations are strictly controlled by the State such as utility and railroad companies can condemn property for their purposes if public convenience and necessity require the exercise of such right and privilege. Our Founding Fathers recognized that there would be times when an individual's right to hold property free from governmental intrusion must be balanced with the fact that a particular public improvement was important to the overall public good. In such instances, private property should be made available for such purpose in exchange for just compensation. This power of the government, while well established in the common law, is now entirely controlled by statute. That statutory scheme has in the past several years been the subject of much debate in Virginia's General Assembly.