Opinion ID: 849272
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The History of the Private Roads Act

Text: Both the Michigan and federal constitutions prohibit the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. [1] U.S. Constitution, Am. V; Const. 1963, art. 10, § 2. The Taking Clause of the state constitution is substantially similar to that of the federal constitution. City of Kentwood v. Sommerdyke Estate, 458 Mich. 642, 656, 581 N.W.2d 670 (1998). Const. 1963, art. 10, § 2 provides: [P]rivate property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation therefor being first made or secured in a manner prescribed by law. Compensation shall be determined in proceedings in a court of record. The private roads act arose from language at art. 18, § 14 of the Michigan Constitution of 1850. This predecessor of art. 10, § 2 of the 1963 Constitution provided: The property of no person shall be taken for public use without just compensation therefor. Private roads may be opened in the manner to be prescribed by law; but in every case the necessity of the road and the amount of all damages to be sustained by the opening thereof, shall be first determined by a jury of freeholders; and such amount, together with the expenses of the proceedings, shall be paid by the person or persons to be benefitted. A similar provision is found in the Michigan Constitution of 1908, art. 13, §§ 1 and 3. However, the current Michigan constitution eliminated the express reference to private roads. More than eighty years before that change, the Michigan Legislature enacted the private roads act. It allows a private landowner to petition the township supervisor to open a private road across another landowner's property. MCL 229.1; MSA 9.281. A jury consisting of property owners determines whether the road is necessary. MCL 229.2; MSA 9.282. If a private road is authorized, the jury then sets a dollar amount that the petitioner must pay to compensate the owner of the land where the road is built. MCL 229.3; MSA 9.283, M.C.L. § 229.5; MSA 9.285.