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ORS 35.235

Known as the General Condemnation Procedure Act

The act spans §§ 35–35 (68 sections).

Applied in 12 court decisions — leading case State Ex Rel. English v. Multnomah County (2010)

Most recently applied in 341 Or. App. 696 - Idaho Power Company v. Bean (July 2025)

1971 c.741 §6; 1973 c.579 §1

How often courts cite this section

19811990200020102020202520
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. 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.

(1) Subject to ORS 758.015 and 836.050, whenever in the judgment of the condemner it is necessary to acquire property for a purpose for which the condemner is authorized by law to acquire property, the condemner shall, after first declaring by resolution or ordinance such necessity and the purpose for which it is required, attempt to agree with the owner with respect to the compensation to be paid therefor, and the damages, if any, for the taking thereof.

(2) The resolution or ordinance of a public condemner is presumptive evidence of the public necessity of the proposed use, that the property is necessary therefor and that the proposed use, improvement or project is planned or located in a manner which will be most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury.

(3) The commencement of an action to condemn property by a private condemner creates a disputable presumption of the necessity of the proposed use, that the property is necessary therefor and that the proposed use, improvement or project is planned or located in a manner which will be most compatible with the greatest public good and the least private injury.

(4) The question of the validity of the disputable presumptions created in subsection (3) of this section, if raised, shall be determined by the court in a summary proceeding prior to trial.

(5) It is not a prerequisite to the exercise of the right of eminent domain by the condemner to attempt first to agree with an owner or to allege or prove any effort to agree with such owner as to reasonable value, when such owner is at the time concealed within the state or, after reasonable effort by condemner, cannot be found within the state.

Official source: Oregon State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Oregon statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.