Court Opinion

ID: 9578639
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:47:00.87107+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:06.071666
License: Public Domain

Hill, Chief Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I join Division 1 of the majority opinion but dissent to parts of Divisions 2 and 3.
Article I, Sec. III, Par. I of our Constitution provides that private property shall not be “taken or damaged” without just and adequate compensation “being first paid.”
I agree that a prospective condemnor is not required to institute a condemnation proceeding in order to make preliminary surveys and inspections (Division 2). However, in view of the fact that trees and underbrush will necessarily be cut to facilitate the surveys, in order to satisfy the constitutional requirement that private property not be *648damaged without compensation being first paid, I would require the condemnor to estimate the damage to be caused by the preliminary entry and to pay such sum into court in advance of the order allowing entry. In this way, the property owners can be reasonably assured that they will be compensated for the actual damage to their property caused by the entry without the necessity of their filing suit for damages, particularly if the condemnor does not thereafter condemn the damaged property.