Real Estate & Property Law

Mississippi Farm Bureau Attempts to Place Amendment on 2011 Statewide Ballot

By Alan Ackerman

    Governor Haley Barbour vetoed a relatively moderate proposal which somewhat restricted condemnation of land for economic purposes.  The Bill was not intended to be a total freeze on eminent domain proceedings, but offered the opportunity for some limitations on economic development and condemnation projects.
    After Governor Haley Barbour chose to veto the Bill, the Farm Bureau in Mississippi, as in so many other jurisdictions, is determined that to protect its members, some type of restriction had to be included in the Constitution or statutes of Mississippi.  Given the veto and the lack of likelihood of the issue being passed by the legislature and approved by the Governor, the Farm Bureau looked to its only alternative.  A ballot amendment proposal offers the citizens of the State the right to determine what and when property may be acquired for private purposes.

The Victoria Advocate

Mississippi government would be banned from taking private land for economic development ventures under a proposed state constitutional amendment that appears headed to the November 2011 statewide ballot.

Supporters say the plan would protect property rights, but opponents say it could squelch Mississippi's chances of winning big projects.

"The Founding Fathers of this country believed that there were three basic principles ... the freedom of religion, the right to own property and the right to bear arms," Waide said. "We in the Farm Bureau believe we don't want to compromise those three basic principles. I don't see where it's going to affect economic development."

In March 2009, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed a bill that would have almost eliminated the use of eminent domain to take land for private projects. Barbour said it was too broad and would've put Mississippi at a "catastrophic disadvantage in creating jobs and expanding our economy."

Barbour later asked lawmakers to consider a less restrictive proposal that still would have allowed the use of eminent domain to take private land for public use such as highway construction or installation of utility lines. That proposal died.

Waide said the ballot initiative is stricter than what Barbour wanted.

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on October 08, 2010 (boomark / email).