Joe Parker Jr., a rancher and president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, called the 82nd Legislative session a success in regards to private property rights.
“There is nothing more sacred to Texas landowners than their private property rights,” Parker said in a May 23 TSCRA press release. “Thanks to our legislature and statewide leaders, those rights are now better protected.”
Parker praised two pieces of recently passed legislation, one of which state Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, coauthored, the other of which he voted in support of.
“TSCRA and other landowner associations have worked long and hard to strengthen private property rights in Texas, especially reforming eminent domain laws and reinforcing groundwater ownership rights,” Parker said. “TSCRA’s hard work has paid off, and while there will always be more work to do, Texas landowners have stronger private property rights after this legislative session.”
Gov. Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 18, also known as the Eminent Domain Reform Bill, into law on May 23. Orr coauthored the bill in the House.
The bill requires a public and record vote to initiate eminent domain proceedings. It also requires condemning entities to make a bona fide offer in writing. Should they fail to do so, the bill requires them to pay the landowner’s expenses and attorney fees.
The bill also levels the playing field, Orr and Parker said, by requiring that a condemning entity compensate landowners for damages from a loss of access to their property as well as providing relocation assistance if a landowner is moved off his or her property because of the eminent domain process.
The law gives landowners the right to repurchase their condemned land at the original price if it is not used for the intended public use within 10 years.
SB 18 also makes it clear that land condemned using eminent domain may only be used for public use.
SB 332, also known as the Groundwater Ownership Bill, clarifies that landowners own the groundwater below their land as real property. The bill protects the rule of capture and entitles landowners to drill for and produce the groundwater below their land without waste. The bill recognizes that groundwater can continue to be conserved while ensuring fair and impartial regulation of landowners’ ownership rights.
Orr said he voted in support of the bill in its House version.
“Both of these bills improve property rights for individual and business owners,” Orr said.