Your Situation
How an acquisition begins in Florida, who holds the power, and the limits the state places on its use.
The power to take private property sits with the state and with the bodies the legislature has authorised to use it. In Florida that includes the Department of Transportation, counties, municipalities, school boards, water management districts and certain utilities.
Article X section 6 of the Florida Constitution allows a taking only for a public purpose, and requires full compensation paid to the owner or secured by deposit in the registry of the court.
The short answer
An acquisition must serve a public purpose and must be paid for in full. Florida narrowed what counts as a public purpose after 2005, and its statutes now expressly bar takings aimed at clearing blight and restrict passing condemned land to private parties.
FDOT and local authorities acquiring right of way for roads and transit.
In preparationWater, sewer, power and pipeline corridors.
In preparationDrainage, stormwater, schools and civic facilities.
In preparationCommunity redevelopment, and the limits Florida now imposes.
In preparationCoastal resilience and shoreline work.
In preparationWidening, interchanges and new alignments.
In preparationDesign and funding settle what land is needed.
Your property is mapped against the proposed footprint.
The agency obtains a valuation of what it intends to take.
Section 73.015 requires a good faith attempt to negotiate before suit, with the offer and appraisal provided.
You review, question the assumptions, and may present your own valuation.
The matter moves to court under chapter 73.
Under chapter 74 the authority may take possession and title in advance of final judgment by depositing a sum that secures compensation.
A jury decides value, severance damages and business damages where they apply, under section 73.071.
Florida responded to the national debate over economic development takings by restricting the conveyance of condemned property to private entities under section 73.013, and by prohibiting the use of eminent domain to eliminate nuisance, slum or blight conditions under section 73.014.
The constitutional standard in Florida is full compensation. In practice that reaches beyond the value of the strip acquired, particularly on partial takings.
Certain utilities and similar entities hold condemnation authority for defined purposes. Chapter 74 also requires a private entity using the order of taking procedure to deposit double the estimate of value that a public body would deposit.
Section 73.014 prohibits the use of eminent domain to eliminate nuisance, slum or blight conditions. This is one of the clearest changes Florida made after 2005.
Section 73.013 restricts conveying property taken by eminent domain to private entities, with defined exceptions for matters such as utilities, public infrastructure and transportation.
Explore Florida resources matched to your property type, the project affecting it, and the stage you have reached.
Get Help