Via Gov Watch South Dakota:https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18MuozaRUz/
I’ve seen this going around, including Christopher Reder for SD House-District 1 talking about it in a post of his! Governor Larry Rhoden worked to pass eminent domain legislation back in 2006!! The law itself reads:
ENTITLED, An Act to restrict the use of eminent domain under certain circumstances and to protect certain private property rights from acquisition by the use or threat of eminent domain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section 1. No county, municipality, or housing and redevelopment commission, as provided for in chapter 11-7, may acquire private property by use of eminent domain:
(1) For transfer to any private person, nongovernmental entity, or other public-private business entity; or
(2) Primarily for enhancement of tax revenue.
Section 2. No county, municipality, or housing and redevelopment commission, as provided for in chapter 11-7, may transfer any fee interest in property acquired by the use or threat of eminent domain within seven years of acquisition to any private person, nongovernmental entity, or public- private business entity without first offering to sell such fee interest back to the person who originally owned the property, or such person’s heirs or assigns, at current fair market value, whether the property has been improved or has remained unimproved during the interval, or at the original transfer value, whichever is less.
An Act to restrict the use of eminent domain under certain circumstances and to protect certain private property rights from acquisition by the use or threat of eminent domain.”
An article written about this monumental moment says:
“This is the first state bill signed into law that gets right at the heart of the issue,” said Chip Mellor, president and general counsel of the Institute for Justice, which is the nation’s leading legal advocates against eminent domain abuse. “It addresses the most fundamental question: whether it is right for the government to take property from one person and give it to another private party. South Dakota lawmakers hit the answer right on the mark: it is wrong and should be prohibited.” IJ Senior Attorney Dana Berliner, who authored Public Power, Private Gain, the first-ever national report on eminent domain, which documented more than 10,000 instances of eminent domain abuse, said, “Because lawmakers passed a broad restriction on the use of eminent domain for private development, and did so without any loopholes or exceptions, every home, business and ranch in the Mount Rushmore state should finally be safe from the government’s wrecking ball.”
Finding this out makes me think that Rhoden was hopefully ahead of his time, maybe saw the writing on the wall and worked to protect Constitutional property rights 20 years ago and will do so again by signing HB1052 into law now. It is my hope that he will be known as the Governor who worked to protect our rights after the disaster Noem helped make happen with SB201.
Thanks in advance, Governor Rhoden!
