Section 23 Presumption of Validity

• Library: Condemnation Practice 2009

Although statutes and ordinances delegating the power of eminent domain will be strictly construed, the statutes and ordinances themselves are presumptively valid. Parking Sys., Inc. v. Kansas City Downtown Redevelopment Corp., 518 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. 1974); State ex rel. City of Creve Coeur v. Weinstein, 329 S.W.2d 399 (Mo. App. E.D. 1959). To overcome this presumption, the defendant must show that the enactment of the ordinance resulted from fraud, collusion, or bad faith, or that the legislative body...