Case Name: STATE of Louisiana Through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS v. OLINKRAFT, INC.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1977-05-16
Citations: 350 So. 2d 865
Docket Number: No. 58451
Parties: STATE of Louisiana Through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS v. OLINKRAFT, INC.
Judges: SANDERS, C. J., dissents with written reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 350
Pages: 865–875

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana Through the DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS v. OLINKRAFT, INC.
No. 58451.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
May 16, 1977.
On Rehearing Sept. 19, 1977.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 21, 1977.
James H. Napper, II, Shotwell, Brown & Sperry, Monroe, for defendant-applicant.
William W. Irwin, Jr., Jerry F. Davis, Bernard L. Malone, Jr., Johnie E. Branch, Jr., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-respondent.
Edward B. Poitevent, Ernest A. Carrere, Jr. and Lucius F. Suthon, Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre, New Orleans, for amicus curiae.

Opinion:
SUMMERS, Justice.
On September 16, 1975 the Department of Highways instituted this expropriation suit by a declaration of taking — quick taking — procedure to acquire in full ownership three small parcels of property belonging to the defendant, Olinkraft, Inc. The taking is in connection with the Bayou Deloutre Bridge Project in Union Parish involving the construction of a new bridge and realignment of the highway to provide the necessary approaches.
Based upon the Department's petition and the annexed certificates, the trial judge signed an ex parte order of expropriation dated September 16, 1975, reciting that upon deposit of its estimated value the full ownership of the property, subject to a reservation of minerals in favor of Olinkraft, would be considered expropriated and taken for highway purposes.
Olinkraft filed a timely motion to dismiss alleging 1) that Sections 441 to 460, inclusive, of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes, upon which the expropriation suit is based, are unconstitutional in that they violate the due process provision of the State and Federal Constitutions; 2) the taking of the property in full ownership, rather than a servitude of right of way, was not for a public purpose or in the public interest; 3) alternatively, if it is held that taking in full ownership is a discretionary function of the Department, the taking is an abuse of that discretion; and 4) Olinkraft is entitled to a judicial determination of its rights under the State and Federal Constitutions.
A trial of the motion to dismiss resulted in a rejection of Olinkraft's contentions, and the judgment was affirmed on appeal to the Second Circuit. 333 So.2d 721. Cer-tiorari was granted on Olinkraft's application. La., 338 So.2d 292.
Constitutionality.
Section 2 of Article I of the Louisiana Constitution of 1921 declares that "private property shall not be taken or damaged except for public purposes and after just and adequate compensation is paid." (emphasis added). Section 15 of Article IV of that Constitution prohibited the divesting of vested rights "unless for purposes of public utility, and for just and adequate compensation previously paid." (emphasis added). These requirements of payment before taking of private property are embodiments of a principle long established in this State. Article 497 of the Civil Code required previous indemnity before one could be deprived of his property for a purpose of public utility. See also Police Jury of Jefferson v. D'Hemecourt, 7 Rob. 509 (La.1844) and State through the Sabine River Authority v. Phares, 245 La. 534, 159 So.2d 144 (1964).
Due process requirements mandated a judicial determination of the necessity for the taking and whether the payment offered was just and adequate compensation before the Department of Highways could enter upon and take possession of property needed for highway purposes. La.Const. art. I, § 6 (1921). Delays occasioned by these requirements undoubtedly retarded highway improvements resulting in the enactment of a constitutional amendment creating an exception to the restraints imposed by the due process and prior payment clauses of the Constitution. This amendment authorized a "taking of property for highway purposes by orders rendered ex parte in expropriation suits prior to judgment therein" with provisions for payment by a deposit in the registry of court of an estimated just and adequate compensation.
To implement this exception to the constitutional limitations on its power of expropriation, and to delegate the sovereign right of expropriation vested in it, the Legislature enacted Sections 441 to 460, inclusive, of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes in 1954. This legislation provided for expropriation by a "Declaration of Taking" permitting the taking, including possession and title, of property for highway purposes pri- or to judgment in the trial court.
Then in 1974, effective January 1, 1975, Louisiana adopted a new constitution. Section 4 of Article I is the provision pertinent to the contention that Sections 441 through 460 of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes are unconstitutional. Section 4 provides:
"Every person has the right to acquire control, own, use, enjoy, protect, and dispose of private property. This right is subject to reasonable statutory restrictions and the reasonable exercise of the police power. Property shall not be taken or damaged by the state or its political subdivisions except for public purposes and with just compensation paid to the owner or into court for his benefit. Property shall not be taken or damaged by any private entity authorized by law to expropriate [property], except for a public and necessary purpose and with just compensation paid to the owner [and], in such proceedings, [the issue of] whether the purpose is public and necessary shall be a judicial question. In [all] expropriations, [any party shall have] the right to trial by jury to determine compensation and the owner shall be compensated to the full extent of [the] loss. No business enterprise or any of its assets shall be taken for the purpose of [halting competition with government enterprises, except that municipalities may expropriate utilities within their jurisdiction]. Personal effects, other than contraband, shall never be taken. [The provisions of this] Section shall not apply to appropriation of property necessary for levee and levee drainage purposes."
The Legislature amended and reenacted the declaration of taking or quick taking statutes effective January 1, 1975. The major changes resulting from these amendments were additions of several sections (La.Rev.Stat. 48:451.1-451.23) detailing the trial procedure for suits by landowners questioning the State's expropriation. However, the amendments retained the substance of those sections which are pertinent to the issues before the Court in this case, viz:
Sec. 441: Where the department cannot amicably acquire property needed for highway purposes, the department, or its successor, may acquire same by expropriation.
In any suit for the expropriation of property, including both corporeal property and servitudes, the department, or its successor, may acquire the property prior to judgment in the trial court in the manner provided in this Part, (emphasis added).
Sec. 444: The petition shall conclude with a prayer that the property be de- dared taken for highway purposes. Upon presentation of the petition, the court shall issue an order directing that the amount of the estimate be deposited in the registry of the court and declaring that the property described in the petition has been taken for highway purposes at the time of the deposit, (emphasis added).
Sec. 447: Any defendant desiring to contest the validity of the taking on the ground that the property was not expropriated for a public purpose may file a motion to dismiss the suit within ten days after the date on which the notice was served on him. .
Failure to file the motion within the time provided constitutes a waiver of all defenses to the suit except claims for compensation, (emphasis added).
Sec. 460: The plaintiff shall not be divested by court order of any title acquired under these provisions except where such court finds that the property was not taken for a public purpose. In the event of such findings, the court shall enter such judgment as is necessary to compensate the defendant for the period during which the property was in the possession of the plaintiff and to recover for the plaintiff any award paid.
It is seen from Section 4 of Article I of the Constitution of 1974 that prior payment of just compensation is no longer a constitutional requirement to be fulfilled before the Department may take possession. The pertinent language reads: "Property shall not be taken or damaged by the state or its political subdivisions except for public purposes and with just compensation paid to the owner or into court for his benefit." It is now permitted, therefore, as it was in Section 19.1 of Article VI of the 1921 Constitution, to expropriate if there is a deposit of the just compensation into court for the owner's benefit.
The plan of the quick taking statutes requires that just compensation be "paid to the owner or into court for his benefit" before the taking, the provisions of Section 447 of Title 48 give the owner an opportunity to contest the validity of the taking within ten days, and the provisions of Section 460 of Title 48 authorize the court to set aside the taking and compensate the owner if the taking is not found to be for a public purpose.
In this context the initial expropriation under the quick taking statutes "prior to judgment in the trial court" is in a sense only temporary. La.Rev.Stat. 48:441. The divestiture is contingent. In the meantime the owner is compensated by being paid or the estimate is deposited into the registry of court to his account. Id. Sec. 444. The owner is then given the opportunity to contest the validity of the taking. Id. Sec. 447. And, should this court decide that the taking was not for a public purpose, the department is divested of title and the owner is compensated for the period during which the property was in the Department's possession. Id. Sec. 460. In the interim the owner has the use of the property's estimated value.
Judgment in the trial court is not rendered until the owner is heard and after inquiry and a trial. If the owner is satisfied with the compensation offered, makes no motion to dismiss, and accepts the compensation, the bargain is struck and the Department's title to the property or rights taken is complete.
Considered in the light of the public interest in expediting the construction of highways, the protections against abuse afforded the owner of private property by the quick taking statutes, and the presumption of constitutionality attached to Legislative enactments, these are reasonable statutory implementations of the constitutional authority to expropriate private property and the procedure prescribed does not deny due process. U.S.Const.Amends. 5, 14; La. Const, art. I, § 2 (1974).
Judicial review and necessity for taking.
In State of Louisiana, Through the Department of Highways v. Jeanerette Lumber & Shingle Co., Ltd., La., 350 So.2d 847 (Nos. 58,437 and 58,438, 1977), the decision in State Through the Department of High ways v. Guidry, 240 La. 516, 124 So.2d 531 (1960) was reversed. The Guidry decision had stood for the proposition that when the Department expropriates property under the quick taking statute courts may only determine the adequacy of the compensation and whether the property was taken for a public purpose. On this premise the Guidry court held that it was within the Department's discretion to determine whether there was a necessity to expropriate full ownership or merely a servitude affecting the land. The implication from the Guidry decision was that courts could not review the Department's determination.
In Jeanerette we held to the contrary saying, in effect, that courts could always inquire into the validity of the taking. Jeanerette found that the rights to a permanent servitude of right of way were not for a necessary highway purpose and the order of expropriation was modified accordingly.
The issue is the same in the instant case, and this Court will determine from this record whether the full ownership of the property or a servitude is required by the Department for the highway purposes to which the property is to be put.
At the outset it is noted that only a right of way or servitude was acquired for the existing highway to which the three small parcels involved in this case will be added. Negotiations prior to filing suit disclosed that the Department would accept a servitude if Olinkraft would donate the right of way. When Olinkraft refused to donate the servitude, this suit was filed and full ownership is demanded. Also the certificate of the Board of Highways authorizes the taking of either a servitude or full ownership. This evidence convincingly demonstrates that a servitude would have sufficed to serve the highway purposes for which this property is being taken.
But the Department asserts that full ownership is required in order that the Department may control the right of way corridor and grant permits to electric utilities, pipe lines and the like on and across its rights of way. At times electricity is needed to light the rights of way or provide power for electric pumps at rest areas and power for other unnamed facilities. On occasions in the past, it is said, the Department's right to grant permits has been questioned when only a servitude of right of way was acquired. However, the Court's attention has been called to Section 381 of Title 48 of the Revised Statutes which authorizes the director of the Department, when not inconsistent with the purposes of state highways, to issue permits for the use and occupancy of the rights of way of state highways. Inasmuch as the cited Section 381 gives the Department the right to grant permits whether its right of way is in full ownership or a servitude, its argument for full ownership instead of a servitude is unimpressive.
In addition to the foregoing, the Department's evidence is to the effect that appraisers value a servitude at eighty percent of the full ownership value, thus effecting a twenty percent saving for the Department when servitudes are acquired instead of full ownership. Although this is the theory, the witness observed that it was not always the result in practice. In any event, there is no disadvantage to a servitude pricewise; in fact, a saving is more likely.
On this record there is no showing which would support a taking of full ownership instead of a servitude. Thus, no highway purpose is served by insisting on the more onerous taking. The owner's right of property is not to be unduly violated when the highway purpose can be served with a modified taking.
For the reasons assigned, the judgments appealed from are reversed and set aside and the order of expropriation is modified to vest in the Department a servitude of right of way to the property expropriated in lieu of full ownership.
SANDERS, C. J., dissents with written reasons.
TATE, J., dissents for reasons assigned in State Through Dept, of Highways v. Jeanerette Lumber & Shingle Co., La., 350 So.2d 847 (Docket Nos. 58,437 & 58,438).
CALOGERO, J., dissents for reasons assigned by the Chief Justice.
. La.Const. art. VI, § 19.1.