16 U.S.C. § 831X
Section 831x · Condemnation proceedings; institution by Corporation; venue
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 45 court decisions — leading case United States v. Reynolds (1970)
Most recently applied in Ramos v. Estate of Elsenbach (October 2015)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Corporation may cause proceedings to be instituted for the acquisition by condemnation of any lands, easements, or rights-of-way which, in the opinion of the Corporation, are necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. The proceedings shall be instituted in the United States district court for the district in which the land, easement, right-of-way, or other interest, or any part thereof, is located, and such court shall have full jurisdiction to divest the complete title to the property sought to be acquired out of all persons or claimants and vest the same in the United States in fee simple, and to enter a decree quieting the title thereto in the United States of America.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1968—Pub. L. 90–536 repealed six paragraphs following initial paragraph which provided as follows: appointment of three commissioners, oath as to absence of interest, and per diem for services and subsistence, and transportation expenses; duties of commissioners as to valuation of lands, conduct of hearings, taking of evidence, administration of oaths, subpoena of witnesses, submission of report as to value of land, and notice of award to parties; hearing de novo of exceptions to award by three Federal district judges and judicial award; disposition upon record after appeal from decision of judges; passage of title and possession to property and enforcement by writ of dispossession; and legal representatives for minors, insane or incompetents, and estates of deceased, or guardians ad litem for wards.
1952—Act July 12, 1952, increased the commissioners’ per diem from $15 to $30, their sustenance from $5 to $10 a day, and allowed them 7 cents mileage.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Section 2 of Pub. L. 90–536 provided that: “The amendment made by this Act [amending this section] shall be effective only with respect to condemnation proceedings initiated after thirty days following the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 28, 1968].”
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Procedure in condemnation proceedings, see rule 71A, Title 28, Appendix, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Effect of this rule upon this section, see Advisory Committee note under such rule.