Opinion ID: 864895
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the special court erred in

Text: FINDING THAT ELLER MEDIA DID NOT HAVE A COMPENSABLE INTEREST. ¶13. We have answered this issue affirmatively in Lamar Corp. v. State Hwy. Comm’n, 684 So. 2d 601 (Miss. 1996). There, we held: This issue may be decided by referring to the clear language of the statutes involved. Any structure which is adversely affected by an acquisition “shall be acquired” and is compensable “notwithstanding the right or obligation of the tenant . . . to remove such” structure or improvement. Miss. Code Ann. § 4337-11 (1972). The sign is clearly a structure under any ordinary meaning of that term. 684 So. 2d at 604. ¶14. Therefore, the special court erred when it found that Eller Media did not have a compensable interest. Mississippi precedent holds that a contract is not an arms’ length transaction when the landowner has knowledge that the purchaser has the power of eminent domain. Miss. State Hwy. Comm’n v. Taylor, 293 So. 2d 9, 10-11 (Miss. 1974). 6