Driving along the interstate, or within your county, you will notice construction projects from the installation of new bridges, widening roads, and more. Have you ever stopped to consider that those construction projects require attorneys – specifically, government and public sector attorneys?

The North Carolina General Assembly grants the Department of Transportation the power to acquire private land to create transportation infrastructure. This includes acquiring easements or fee simple title to land, and land improvements, as necessary for road construction, maintenance, and repair, or other transportation projects deemed appropriate. An acquisition of land by the state is most commonly known as eminent domain.

The North Carolina Department of Justice’s Condemnation Section represents the North Carolina Department of Transportation in such matters before North Carolina Superior Courts. Condemnation proceedings are instituted by the Department of Transportation’s filing of a Complaint and Declaration of Taking. Upon those filings, along with filing a “deposit,” which is a sum estimated by the Department of Transportation to be just compensation, title to the property and the right to immediate possession vests in the Department of Transportation. The landowner has twelve months to file an Answer. If they do not, then the deposit is deemed to have been accepted as just compensation and a final judgment may be entered. If an Answer is filed, then the deposit amount is in dispute, and the case may be negotiated, mediated, and/or litigated.

You can learn more about the condemnation powers granted to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Understand the Right of Way Process by accessing this guide.

September 17, 2024/by GovernmentandPublicSector