Opinion ID: 2630700
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: BCB also claims that a district court conducting an apportionment hearing in a condemnation case has no jurisdiction to make an award for anything other than one for the fair market value of the real property interest condemned; damages for lost business and profits are excluded. Perhaps more specifically, it claims that [e]ven . . . where a private contract or lease is at issue, the district court must follow the [Eminent Domain Procedure] Act and may not deviate therefrom. As a result, according to BCB, the claim for lost profits is totally unrelated to just compensation for fair market value and such a claim by Payless must be brought in a lawsuit separate and apart from this eminent domain action. We reject BCB's arguments. As discussed previously, K.S.A. 26-517, a part of the Eminent Domain Procedure Act, expressly authorizes the court to resolve a dispute among parties as to apportionment of the award. It states: In any action involving the condemnation of real property in which there is a dispute among the parties in interest as to the division of the amount of the appraisers' award or the amount of the final judgment, the district court shall, upon motion by any such party in interest, determine the final distribution of the amount of the appraiser's award or the amount of the final judgment. (Emphasis added.) We have held that if various parties in interest cannot agree among themselves as to the division of that [appraisers' award], the court allocates the award pursuant to K.S.A. 26-517. City of Overland Park v. Dale F. Jenkins Revocable Trust, 263 Kan. at 472. Based upon the clear language of the statute and our interpretive case law, we conclude the district court had jurisdiction in the present proceeding to apportion the award in accordance with Section 14.03. To hold otherwise, as BCB argues, would require Payless to file a separate proceeding based upon contract. We have thoroughly reviewed other arguments by BCB and conclude they have no merit. Affirmed.