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Tex. Prop. Code § 21.012

CONDEMNATION PETITION

Applied in 59 court decisions — leading case Exxon Pipeline Co. v. Zwahr (2002)

Most recently applied in City of Rosenberg v. State (October 2015)

Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3498, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

198920002010201590
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.

(a) If an entity with eminent domain authority wants to acquire real property for public use but is unable to agree with the owner of the property on the amount of damages, the entity may begin a condemnation proceeding by filing a petition in the proper court.

(b) The petition must:

(1) describe the property to be condemned;

(2) state with specificity the public use for which the entity intends to acquire the property;

(3) state the name of the owner of the property if the owner is known;

(4) state that the entity and the property owner are unable to agree on the damages;

(5) if applicable, state that the entity provided the property owner with the landowner's bill of rights statement in accordance with Section 21.0112; and

(6) state that the entity made a bona fide offer to acquire the property from the property owner voluntarily as provided by Section 21.0113.

(c) An entity that files a petition under this section must concurrently provide a copy of the petition to the property owner by certified mail, return receipt requested, and first class mail. If the entity has received written notice that the property owner is represented by counsel, the entity must also concurrently provide a copy of the petition to the property owner's attorney by first class mail, commercial delivery service, fax, or e-mail.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.