Court Opinion

ID: 9522316
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:22:19.978193+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:02:30.794584
License: Public Domain

PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK, J.
¶ 1. This case requires us to decide whether Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3) (b) (2003-04)1 entitles a successful condemnee to litigation expenses when the basis for the circuit court ruling in its favor is that the condemnor failed to negotiate in good faith before issuing the jurisdictional offer.2 Good faith negotiation prior to issuing a jurisdictional offer to purchase3 is not merely a technical obligation, but rather, it is a fundamental, statutory requirement necessary to validly commence condemnation and confer jurisdiction on the condemnation commission and the courts. Therefore, because it is uncontested that the Department of Transportation (DOT) did not negotiate in good faith prior to issuing the jurisdictional offer, the DOT did not commence a statutorily sufficient condemnation. As condemnation is a purely statutory procedure, the DOT lacked the right under the statutes to condemn Warehouse II, LLC's (Warehouse) property. Accordingly, Warehouse is entitled to litigation expenses pursuant to § 32.28(3)(b), as set out in § 32.28(1). Therefore, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and remand to the circuit court to determine reasonable litigation expenses.
*86I. BACKGROUND
¶ 2. The facts are undisputed. The DOT commenced condemnation proceedings against property-owned by Warehouse. After the DOT issued its jurisdictional offer to purchase, Warehouse challenged the condemnation under Wis. Stat. § 32.05(5) in the Winnebago County Circuit Court,4 asserting that because the DOT had failed to negotiate in good faith prior to issuing the jurisdictional offer, it lacked the right to condemn Warehouse's property.
¶ 3. The circuit court held an evidentiary hearing; ruled that the DOT had not negotiated in good faith; and concluded that the DOT'S jurisdictional offer to purchase was invalid and all subsequent DOT actions were null and void.5 It awarded Warehouse litigation expenses pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b). Warehouse submitted an itemization of litigation expenses to the DOT and the DOT refused to pay. Warehouse then moved the circuit court to order the DOT to pay. However, after consideration of the parties' positions, the circuit court accepted the DOT's contention that the circumstances of the case did not fall under § 32.28(3)(b), so no *87litigation expenses were due. Warehouse appealed; the court of appeals affirmed; and we granted Warehouse's petition for review.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
¶ 4. Our review requires us to construe a statute and apply it to the facts of the case. Statutory interpretation and the application of a statute to the facts found are questions of law that we review without deference to the circuit court. State v. Reed, 2005 WI 53, ¶ 13, 280 Wis. 2d 68, 695 N.W.2d 315. However, we benefit from the analyses of the previous courts' decisions. State v. Cole, 2003 WI 59, ¶ 12, 262 Wis. 2d 167, 663 N.W.2d 700. Whether a defect in failing to follow a statutory directive is fundamental or technical is also a question of law for our independent review. Schaefer v. Riegelman, 2002 WI 18, ¶ 25, 250 Wis. 2d 494, 639 N.W.2d 715.
B. Jurisdictional Offer
¶ 5. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.05(2a)6 requires that a condemnor negotiate with the property owner in good faith before issuing a jurisdictional offer to purchase. It is not contested for purposes of this review that the DOT did not do so.
*88¶ 6. In Arrowhead Farms, Inc. v. Dodge County, 21 Wis. 2d 647, 124 N.W.2d 631 (1963), we discussed the effect of failing to negotiate in good faith before making a jurisdictional offer to purchase. Id. at 651-52. We explained that "such negotiation is a necessary condition of conferring jurisdiction upon the administrative body and the court to determine just compensation . . . ." Id. at 652. We grounded the requirement of good faith negotiation in a primary purpose of statutory condemnation: to provide just compensation to the property owner. Id. at 651.
¶ 7. In Herro v. Natural Resources Board, 53 Wis. 2d 157, 192 N.W.2d 104 (1971), we reaffirmed that a failure to negotiate before issuing the jurisdictional offer is "a jurisdictional defect." Id. at 171 (citations omitted). We explained the nexus between good faith negotiation prior to issuing a jurisdictional offer and the ability to exercise the power of eminent domain:
[ U]nless there is a bona fide attempt on the part of the condemnor to induce the owner to sell the land at a reasonable figure, the condition under which the power is granted is not fulfilled, and in such case any attempted exercise of eminent domain is unauthorized and consequently void and of no effect....
Id. (quoting 6 Nichols, Eminent Domain § 24.62(1) at 85 (3d ed.).
¶ 8. In examining the negotiation efforts made in Herró, we reiterated that ch. 32 provides the exclusive procedure in condemnation actions, including the requirement to negotiate before making a jurisdictional offer to purchase. Herro, 53 Wis. 2d at 171. We explained that we strictly construe the portions of ch. 32 that apply to condemnation by requiring that the condemnor complete all of the statutory steps because *89condemnation is in derogation of the common law. Id. (citing City of Madison v. Tiedeman, 1 Wis. 2d 136, 83 N.W.2d 694 (1957) and Schroedel Corp. v. State Highway Comm'n, 34 Wis. 2d 32, 148 N.W.2d 691 (1967)).
¶ 9. It cannot be disputed that the DOT must issue a jurisdictionally sufficient jurisdictional offer to purchase before it has the statutory right to proceed with the condemnation of property. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.05(4) establishes that requirement. It states, in relevant part:
How notice of jurisdictional offer is given. The giving of such notice is a jurisdictional requisite to a taking by condemnation. ... Such notice shall be called the "jurisdictional offer."
¶ 10. However, not every defect in a jurisdictional offer to purchase is a jurisdictional defect. Jurisdictional defects are fundamental defects. Schaefer, 250 Wis. 2d 494, ¶ 25. Other defects in a jurisdictional offer to purchase may be merely technical defects. See id. In order to rise to the level of a fundamental defect, the error must go to the "primary purpose" underlying the statute that required the action. See id., ¶¶ 26, 28 (citing Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Royal Ins. Co. of Am., 167 Wis. 2d 524, 533, 481 N.W.2d 629 (1992); Schlumpf v. Yellick, 94 Wis. 2d 504, 288 N.W.2d 834 (1980)). In contrast to a fundamental defect, a technical defect does not go to the primary purpose underlying the statutory process, and if it does not prejudice the opposing party, it is insufficient to cause dismissal of the action. Schaefer, 250 Wis. 2d 494, ¶ 27 (citing Gaddis v. La Crosse Prods., Inc., 198 Wis. 2d 396, 407, 542 N.W.2d 454 (1996)).
*90¶ 11. The analysis of whether a defect is fundamental or technical is important to our consideration of the DOT's argument that Wieczorek v. City of Franklin, 82 Wis. 2d 19, 260 N.W.2d 650 (1978), controls the outcome in this case. In Wieczorek, the property owners contested the city's right to condemn their property. Id. at 20. After they had presented their case, the circuit court granted judgment in the property owners' favor because of a defect in the jurisdictional offer to purchase. Id. at 20-21. The defect was the failure to include a "proposed date of occupancy," as Wis. Stat. § 32.05(3)(c) requires. Id. at 21. The Wieczoreks claimed the right to litigation expenses based on that defect. Id. at 22. The city argued that the jurisdictional offer to purchase had only a "procedural defect" that could be cured by issuing an amended jurisdictional offer and therefore, the Wiec-zoreks had no right to attorney fees. Id. at 22. While we did not directly state that the failure to indicate a proposed date of occupancy was a procedural defect, we quoted United States v. 4.18 Acres of Land, 542 F.2d 786 (9th Cir. 1976) with approval where a procedural error was held to be insufficient to sustain an award of attorney fees under a federal condemnation statute. Wieczorek, 82 Wis. 2d at 25.
¶ 12. In City of Racine v. Bassinger, 163 Wis. 2d 1029, 473 N.W.2d 526 (Ct. App. 1991), the court of appeals explained that it was possible to have a variety of procedural defects in condemnation proceedings, some of which were jurisdictional and some of which were not. The court of appeals quoted the circuit court with approval as saying:
The procedural steps which [in other cases] have been found to be jurisdictional in condemnation proceedings *91all have two significant features in common. The first is that they are contained within the particular statute [that] sets forth the condemnation procedure, that is, the things [that] must be done to have and to exercise the power to acquire property by eminent domain in each particular case. The second is that the statute expressly or impliedly denies the power of the condem-nor to act unless the particular step is taken, and no other statutory remedy is provided for a failure to perform the particular step. The only remedy [that] exists is to challenge the condemnation itself under Sec. 32.05(5) or 32.06(5), Wis. Stats.
Id. at 1036-37 (footnote omitted; emphasis in original). This reasoning is persuasive. When we apply it to the procedural error in Wieczorek, we conclude that failing to include a proposed date of occupancy is not a jurisdictional defect. While Wis. Stat. § 32.05(3)(c) requires the jurisdictional offer to indicate a proposed date of occupancy, that task relates only to stating a "proposed date." Indicating a proposed date of occupancy goes to neither the condemnor's power to act nor to a primary purpose of the condemnation procedure, providing just compensation to the property owner. See Arrowhead Farms, 21 Wis. 2d at 651-52.
¶ 13. Therefore, failing to state a proposed date of occupancy is not comparable to failing to enter into good faith negotiation before issuing a jurisdictional offer. As we have explained, a primary purpose of negotiation is to achieve a consensual sale of the property with fair compensation to the property owner. See Herro, 53 Wis. 2d at 171-73. Good faith negotiation facilitates sales that are not forced by a court decision based on the power of eminent domain, but rather, consensual sales arrived at through negotiation. Be*92cause achieving fair compensation for the property owner is the driving force behind the condemnation statutes, failing to negotiate prior to issuing a jurisdictional offer strikes at the heart of that legislative purpose. By contrast, failing to list a proposed date of occupancy does not undermine the primary legislative purpose that drives the condemnation statutes: achieving just compensation for the property owner. Furthermore, the Wieczoreks were not prejudiced by the lack of a proposed date of occupancy in the jurisdictional offer. Accordingly, we conclude that the defect in the jurisdictional offer to purchase in Wieczorek was only a technical, procedural defect. As such, it had no effect on the statutory right to condemn the property and does not control our decision in this matter.
C. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.28(3)(b)
¶ 14. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.28(3)(b) is a fee-shifting statute. We interpret it to determine whether a successful jurisdictional challenge to a jurisdictional offer to purchase entitles the property owner to litigation expenses under § 32.28(3)(b). To ascertain the meaning of a statute, we employ well-known principles of statutory interpretation. Our purpose is to "faithfully give effect to the laws enacted by the legislature." State ex rel. Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County, 2004 WI 58, ¶ 44, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110. We defer to the policy choices of the legislature and we assume that the legislature's intent is expressed in the statutory language it chose. Id., ¶ 44.
¶ 15. "Statutory language is given its common, ordinary, and accepted meaning, except that technical *93or specially-defined words or phrases are given their technical or special definitional meaning." Id., ¶ 45. If the meaning of the language used in a statute is plain, we ordinarily stop our inquiry. Id.
¶ 16. Context and the structure of a statute in which the operative language appears are important to determining a statute's plain meaning. Therefore, statutory language is interpreted in relation to the surrounding language of the statute. Id., ¶ 46. Statutory language also should be read "to give reasonable effect to every word, in order to avoid surplusage." Id. If this analysis yields a plain and clear statutory meaning, then the statute is unambiguous, and we apply it according to this ascertained meaning. Id.
¶ 17. However, a statute is ambiguous if the statutory language reasonably gives rise to two or more different meanings. Id., ¶ 47. A statute that is plain on its face may also be made ambiguous by its interaction with other statutes. State v. White, 97 Wis. 2d 193, 198, 295 N.W.2d 346 (1980). If a statute is ambiguous, we may turn to extrinsic sources, such as legislative history, to ascertain the meaning of the statute. Kalal, 271 Wis. 2d 633, ¶ 48.
¶ 18. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.28(3)(b) states in relevant part:
In lieu of costs under ch. 814, litigation expenses shall be awarded to the condemnee if:
(b) The court determines that the condemnor does not have the right to condemn part or all of the property described in the jurisdictional offer or there is no necessity for its taking.
*94Section 32.28(3)(b) provides for litigation expenses when a property owner prevails in proving either that the condemnor does not have "the right to condemn" or that "there is no necessity for its taking." Whether Warehouse has proven that the DOT did not have the "right to condemn" is at issue here.
¶ 19. We begin by assessing the positions of both parties. We conclude that it is reasonable to interpret the fee-shifting provisions of Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b), as Warehouse advocates, as requiring a court determination that the condemnor does not have the "right to condemn" a particular property at that time. Under Warehouse's interpretation, a successful condemnee challenging a particular condemnation could receive litigation expenses, even when the condemnor could eventually issue a jurisdictional offer that is sufficient to condemn the property. This interpretation turns on the concept that only a jurisdictional offer issued after good faith negotiation is statutorily sufficient to support the power of eminent domain. Stated otherwise, good faith negotiation is itself a prerequisite to a condemnor's statutory right to condemn.
¶ 20. We also conclude that it is reasonable to interpret the "right to condemn," as the DOT advocates, to require a court determination that the condemnor permanently lacks the ability to condemn a particular property, before litigation expenses can be awarded. Under that interpretation, the only types of claims for which successful parties would receive litigation expenses under Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b) would be those in which a court determined the condemning authority permanently lacked some prerequisite to an eminent domain taking, e.g., an invalid purpose for the taking or an inability to condemn the property in question. *95Accordingly, we conclude that the term "right to condemn" of § 32.28(3)(b) is ambiguous because it can reasonably be interpreted both ways. However, we also conclude that these two interpretations are not necessarily mutually ^exclusive. In our view, the effect of the claimed deficiency in the procedure controls the analysis.
¶ 21. It is undisputed that Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b) is a fee-shifting statute. When we examine the context in which the legislature placed § 32.28(3)(b), we can better ascertain the meaning of "the right to condemn." Section § 32.28(1) states:
In this section, "litigation expenses" means the sum of the costs, disbursements and expenses, including reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees necessary to prepare for or participate in actual or anticipated proceedings before the condemnation commissioners, board of assessment or any court under this chapter.
It sets out a more expansive list of expenses that a condemnee could incur than those listed in § 32.28(2). Section 32.28(2) states:
Except as provided in sub. (3), costs shall be allowed under ch. 814 in any action brought under this chapter. If the amount of just compensation found by the court or commissioners of condemnation exceeds the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer, the condemnee shall be deemed the successful party under s. 814.02(2).
¶ 22. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.28(2) permits only the usual ch. 814 costs. However, paras. (3)(a)-(i) of § 32.28 list circumstances when the general rule of awarding only ch. 814 costs to the prevailing party is not applied *96and the litigation expenses set out in § 32.28(1)7 are awarded. The occasions where the property owner is awarded more expenses incurred in contesting an ac*97tion taken by a condemnor are all directed at actions that significantly short-change the property owner in some respect. For example, in paras. (3)(d)-(i), if the compensation offered by the condemnor was at least $700 and 15% too low, the condemnee "shall" be awarded the reasonable litigation expenses incurred. In paras. (3)(a) and (3)(c), litigation expenses are awarded when the condemnor either started a condemnation it later determined it should not have begun or the condemnor did not commence condemnation proceedings when it should have done so. Paragraph (3)(b) is part of that legislative decision to fee-shift, but it sets out circumstances that trigger fee-shifting in more general terms, e.g., when the court concludes that the condemnor lacks "the right to condemn" or that there is "no necessity for its taking." These paragraphs of sub-sec. (3) level the playing field by shifting the obligation to pay expenses that may have been unnecessary if the condemnor had shouldered its responsibilities properly.
¶ 23. The right to condemn that is at issue here is also used in Wis. Stat. §§ 32.05(5) and 32.06(5). There, the legislature established claims for relief when the condemnor does not have the right to condemn. Section 32.05(5) pertains to the right to condemn for sewers and transportation facilities, the circumstances in which Warehouse's claim arises. All of these rights are statutory rights.
¶ 24. Wisconsin Stat. § 32.05(5) states in relevant part:
If an owner desires to contest the right of the condem-nor to condemn the property described in the jurisdictional offer, for any reason other than that the amount of compensation offered is inadequate, the owner may ... commence an action in the circuit court....
*98Section 32.05(5) uses terms identical to that of Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3) (b) regarding the right to condemn, i.e., the "right" of the condemnor to condemn the property described in the jurisdictional offer. It permits a con-demnee to challenge that statutory right for reasons other than an offer of inadequate compensation. As we explained above, paras. (3)(d)-(i) of § 32.28 all involve inadequate compensation. Paragraphs (3)(a)-(c) do not. The general statement "for any reason other than" in § 32.05(5), must be read to exclude from claims that may be brought under § 32.05(5) those claims described in paras. (3)(d)-(i). That leaves para. (3)(a), abandonment, and para. (3)(b), the lack of the "right to condemn," that could fall within the claims permitted by § 32.05(5).8 We note the parallel wording in the "right" to condemn in § 32.05(5) and the "right" to condemn in § 32.28(3)(b). They are both part of a common statutory scheme, and therefore we assume they refer to the same quality. See City of Milwaukee v. Milwaukee County, 27 Wis. 2d 53, 59, 133 N.W.2d 393 (1965). This right appears to us to be a statutory right that cannot be invoked without jurisdiction.
¶ 25. We now turn to legislative history underlying the eminent domain statutes to see if it sheds further light on whether Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b) provides litigation expenses when the jurisdictional offer is invalid due to a failure to negotiate in good faith prior to issuing it. The legislative history, particularly in regard to the 1977 revision to ch. 32, demonstrates that *99one of the legislature's purposes in that revision was to increase the types of circumstances in which con-demnees would receive litigation expenses.
¶ 26. We begin with the pre-1977 version of the statute relating to litigation expenses in condemnation actions. The final sentence of Wis. Stat. § 32.05(5) (1973), was added by ch. 244, Laws of 1971. It had limited applicability as it provided:
If the final judgment of the court is that the condemnor cannot condemn the property described in the jurisdictional offer, the judgment shall also award the owner such sum as will in the opinion of the court reimburse the owner for his reasonable costs, disbursements and expenses including reasonable attorney and engineering fees actually incurred because of the action of the condemnor, but the judgment shall not, in addition thereto, award the owner taxable costs and disbursements pursuant to ch. 271.
(Emphasis added.) In November of 1977, Assembly Bill 1077 was introduced. It removed the above sentence from § 32.05(5) and created Wis. Stat. § 32.28, "Costs." The new section specified what was to be included in litigation costs, § 32.28(1), and that generally costs in eminent domain proceedings were to follow the usual rules for costs set out in ch. 814, § 32.28(2).
¶ 27. The 1977 revisions also created nine exceptions to the general rule that only ch. 814 costs are allowed. They closely parallel the nine paragraphs of Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3) that exist today. The exceptions to the general rule on costs expanded the opportunities for condemnees to be made whole when they were successful in condemnation disputes. For example, the legislature expanded fee-shifting to condemnees' challenges in other than transportation matters, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 32.06(5), as a note that appeared in the body of *100the original bill indicates.9 Additionally, while the former provision in Wis. Stat. § 32.05(5) granted discretion to the circuit court to award litigation expenses, the revised provision established a mandate10 that those expenses be paid when the circumstances in any paragraph of subsec. (3) of § 32.28 are met. Furthermore, the former provision in § 32.05(5) required a "final judgment" before the circuit court had the discretion to award litigation expenses. In contrast, the revised statutory language of § 32.28(3)(b) provides for litigation expenses if "[t]he court determines that the condemnor does not have the right to condemn part or all of the property described in the jurisdictional offer or there is no necessity for its taking," thereby eliminating the requirement that the judgment be final before the right to litigation expenses arises. The version of § 32.28(3)(b) created under the 1977 revision is not different in any material respect from the current statute.11
¶ 28. The legislature recognized that its expansion of fee-shifting opportunities would have a fiscal impact on those entities that had the power of eminent *101domain. The drafting record indicates the legislature considered the following:
Litigation. Local governments may also incur significant increased costs as a result of the changes which specify four circumstances in which a condemnee may receive reasonable "litigation expenses." Most of this cost increase is likely to occur from appealed cases where the condemnee receives an award from either the condemnation commission or circuit court that exceeds the jurisdictional offer by at least 10%. The size of this increase is not possible to determine. ...
In addition, the broader coverage of the sections relating to abandoned condemnation proceedings and litigation which challenges either the condemnor's authority to condemn or the necessity of the taking also is likely to increase local government litigation costs. ...
The increase in litigation costs for the Division of Highways, Department of Transportation is estimated in excess of $2,000,000. This calculation is based on increased payments to owners and increased payments for owners' attorneys and appraisers. As a result of discussions with members of the Wisconsin Attorney General's staff, we believe that a substantial increase in litigation activity should be anticipated.
DOT Fiscal Estimate to 1977 A.B. 1077, at 6, 9.
¶ 29. The 1977 amendments demonstrate a legislative policy choice to encourage condemnors to take seriously commencing a condemnation action, to make fair jurisdictional offers and to carefully follow the condemnation statutes. We have previously recognized these policies that underlie eminent domain legislation. Redevelopment Auth. of Green Bay v. Bee Frank, Inc., 120 Wis. 2d 402, 411-12, 355 N.W.2d. 240 (1984).
*102¶ 30. In Bee Frank, we held that under Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(d) the tenant-owner of immovable fixtures that were taken during the condemnation of the property owner's building was entitled to litigation expenses when the condemnation commission's award for immovable fixtures exceeded the tenant's immovable fixtures portion of the jurisdictional offer. Bee Frank, 120 Wis. 2d at 412-13. In Bee Frank, we broadly interpreted para. (3)(d), holding that the legislature had a dual intent in enacting that paragraph: "(1) to discourage the condemnor from making inequitably low jurisdictional offers and (2) to make the condemnee, who meets the statutory requirements, whole." Id. at 411.
¶ 31. In Bee Frank, we relied heavily on Standard Theatres, Inc. v. DOT, 118 Wis. 2d 730, 349 N.W.2d 661 (1984), in which we reversed the court of appeals' reduction of the circuit court's award of attorney fees under Wis. Stat. § 32.28. In explaining our decision, we said:
When the owner is deprived of property against his or her will, it is obvious that the owner is not justly compensated for his or her property if the owner must initially be forced to litigate in order to obtain the full value of the land, and then must pay for his or her attorney fees from this full value. The attorney fees incurred here were, after all, necessitated by the owner's attempt to get the fair value of the owner's real estate. Therefore, one must start from the premise that the owner is to be compensated for the attorney fees. In other words, the purpose behind the statute is to make the owner "whole," through compensating the owner for the value of the property taken and for the attorney fees incurred in attempting to obtain this value.
Id. at 744-45.
*103¶ 32. The Bee Frank decision expanded that explanation:
While Standard Theatres specifically dealt with attorney fees, its holding is clearly applicable to the other litigation expenses, enumerated in sec. 32.28(1), Stats. In permitting recovery of litigation expenses, the legislature sought to provide the condemnee with just compensation by ensuring that he or she would not be forced to use part of the award to pay for litigation expenses after a successful appeal.
Bee Frank, 120 Wis. 2d at 412. Bee Frank also reinforced our decision to liberally construe statutory provisions regarding compensation for eminent domain takings to favor the property owner whose property is taken against his or her will. Id. at 409-10 (citing Aero Auto Parts, Inc. v. DOT, 78 Wis. 2d 235, 241, 253 N.W.2d 896 (1977)). Our liberal construction of condemnation statutes in areas favoring property owners is grounded in our concern for the property owner when an entity exercises the "extraordinary power" of eminent domain. Bee Frank, 120 Wis. 2d at 409.
¶ 33. Accordingly, we conclude that the overall purpose of the 1977 amendments was to provide more specific and concrete opportunities to recover litigation expenses for condemnees with legitimate challenges to the actions of condemnors. This purpose is driven by the legislative decision to make condemnees whole through lightening the financial burden of successful challenges and to discourage inequitable jurisdictional offers during the exercise of the extraordinary power of condemnation.12
*104¶ 34. Therefore, we conclude that Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b) applies when the condemnor's jurisdictional offer to purchase was not made after good faith negotiations, thereby causing a jurisdictional defect in the jurisdictional offer to purchase. This jurisdictional defect causes the condemnor to lack the statutory right to condemn. We note that if. a condemnee were denied litigation expenses for a successful challenge to the negotiation requirement, there would be little to discourage a condemnor from making a low-ball offer to save money. When the property owner filed a court action claiming that the condemnor did not have the "right to condemn" the property, the condemnor could then negotiate with the property owner and make a fair offer, with no added expense to the condemnor, but with a cost to the property owner. The obligation to negotiate with the property owner before making a jurisdictional offer is a valuable right of the property owner, Kultgen v. Mueller, 3 Wis. 2d 346, 349, 88 N.W.2d 687 (1958), for which the property owner should not be forced to incur unrecoverable attorney fees and other court costs to actualize. And finally, were we to conclude, as the DOT requests, we would not be complying with a primary purpose of the 1977 revision to ch. 32.13
*105III. CONCLUSION
¶ 35. In sum, we conclude that good faith negotiation prior to issuing a jurisdictional offer to purchase is not merely a technical obligation, but rather, it is a fundamental, statutory requirement necessary to validly commence condemnation and confer jurisdiction on the condemnation commission and the courts. Therefore, because it is uncontested that the DOT did not negotiate in good faith prior to issuing the jurisdictional offer, the DOT did not commence a statutorily sufficient condemnation. As condemnation is purely a statutory procedure, the DOT lacked the right under the statutes to condemn Warehouse's property. Accordingly, Warehouse is entitled to litigation expenses pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(b), as set out in § 32.28(1). Therefore, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and remand to the circuit court to determine reasonable litigation expenses.
By the Court. — The decision of the court of appeals is reversed and the cause remanded.

 All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2003-04 version unless otherwise indicated.

 This part of the circuit court's ruling is not contested.

 We sometimes refer to the document that is our central focus as the "jurisdictional offer to purchase," as Wis. Stat. § 32.05(3) does, and sometimes we refer to it simply as the "jurisdictional offer," as Wis. Stat. § 32.05(4) and (5) do.

 Judge William H. Carver presided.

 The pertinent language from the circuit court's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order for Judgment is as follows:
1. Prior to the issuance of the Jurisdictional Offer, Defendant did not enter into good faith negotiations, as required by sec. 32.05(2a), Stats.
2. Because required good faith negotiations are a jurisdictional prerequisite to the exercise of eminent domain power under sec. 32.05, Stats., the absence of such negotiations causes the Jurisdictional Offer and all actions undertaken thereafter by Defendant, including the Award of Damages, to be null and void.

 Wisconsin Stat. § 32.05(2a) states in relevant part:
Before making the jurisdictional offer ... the condemnor shall attempt to negotiate personally with the owner or one of the owners or his or her representative of the property sought to be taken for the purchase of the same.

 The other sections of subsection (3) identify the following particular types of actions and circumstances for which fee-shifting occurs:
(a) The proceeding is abandoned by the condemnor;
(c) The judgment is for the plaintiff in an action under s. 32.10;
(d) The award of the condemnation commission under s. 32.05(9) or 32.06(8) exceeds the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer by at least $700 and at least 15% and neither party appeals the award to the circuit court;
(e) The jury verdict as approved by the court under s. 32.05(11) exceeds the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer by at least $700 and at least 15%;
(f) The condemnee appeals an award of the condemnation commission which exceeds the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer by at least $700 and at least 15%, if the jury verdict as approved by the court under s. 32.05(10) or 32.06(10) exceeds the award of the condemnation commission by at least $700 and at least 15%;
(g) The condemnor appeals the award of the condemnation commission, if the jury verdict as approved by the court under s. 32.05(10) or 32.06(10) exceeds the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer by at least $700 and at least 15%;
(h) The condemnee appeals an award of the condemnation commission which does not exceed the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer by 15%, if the jury verdict as approved by the court under s. 32.05(10) or 32.06(10) exceeds the jurisdictional offer or the highest written offer prior to the jurisdictional offer by at least $700 and at least 15%; or
(i) The condemnee appeals an assessment of damages and benefits under s. 32.61(3), if the judgment is at least $700 and at least 15% greater than the award made by the city.

 We do not address Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(c) actions for inverse condemnation that are brought under Wis. Stat. § 32.10, but we note the court of appeals has concluded that actions under § 32.10 are to receive litigation expenses under § 32.28(3)(c). Maxey v. Redevelopment Auth. of Racine, 120 Wis. 2d 13, 20, 353 N.W.2d 812 (Ct. App. 1984).

 "Present s. 32.05(5) requires the award of reasonable costs, disbursements and expenses including attorney and engineering fees in such cases. This [bill] extends the rule to actions under s. 32.06 .. .." Legislative Reference Bureau Drafting Record for 1977 A.B. 1077.

 The word "shall" is normally understood to be mandatory. C.A.K. v. State, 154 Wis. 2d 612, 621-622, 453 N.W.2d 897 (1990) (citation omitted).

 The only difference between the language in the 1977 version and the current version is the change in the wording from subsec. (3): "the court shall award litigation expenses" (1977) to subsec. (3): "litigation expenses shall be awarded," pursuant to 1995 Wis. Act 140.

 This policy choice also is evidenced by the abandonment provision, Wis. Stat. § 32.28(3)(a), where a condemnor could later commence an action to condemn the same property.

 The dissent contends that because we interpreted the phrase "cannot condemn" to mean "has no right to condemn" in Wieczorek v. City of Franklin, 82 Wis. 2d 19, 260 N.W.2d 650 (1978), Wieczorek controls the outcome of this case. Dissent, ¶ 42. We disagree. First, the defect in Wieczorek was merely a technical defect, not a jurisdictional defect, as is present here. Second, we interpreted a different statute in Wieczorek, as we have explained above. Third, the Legislative Reference Bureau's Analysis anticipated an increase in litigation costs due to the increased number of circumstances under which a property owner could contest the right to condemn under the 1977 *105revisions. Our decision is consistent with that legislative policy choice.