Section 2 Authority to Exercise Power of Eminent Domain

• Library: Condemnation Practice 2009

The right to exercise the power of eminent domain does not naturally inhere in counties, municipalities, or public service corporations. State ex rel. Mo. Cities Water Co. v. Hodge, 878 S.W.2d 819 (Mo. banc 1994). Rather, the legislature is the sole source of and has the exclusive role of delegating the power of eminent domain to various public and private entities, subject to limitations found in the United States and Missouri Constitutions and other Missouri statutes. U.S. Const. amends. V and IV; Mo. Const. art. I, §§ 26 and 28; Hodge, 878 S.W.2d 819; Osage Water Co. v. Miller County Water Auth., Inc., 950 S.W.2d 569 (Mo. App. S.D. 1997). When promulgated by the legislature...