Florida Law
The bodies that may condemn, the purposes they may condemn for, and the limits the legislature imposed.
The power to take private property rests with the state and with the bodies the legislature has authorised to exercise it. In Florida that list includes the Department of Transportation, counties, municipalities, school boards, water management districts, expressway and transportation authorities, and certain utilities.
Authority is not general. Each body holds it for defined purposes, and Article X section 6 requires that any taking serve a public purpose.
The short answer
Authority must be granted, and the purpose must be public. Florida narrowed both after 2005, closing the blight route and restricting the transfer of condemned land to private parties.
FDOT right of way acquisition.
Read moreRail, transit, airport and port authorities.
Read moreWater, sewer, power and pipeline.
Read moreCounties, cities, school boards and districts.
Read moreWhere Florida placed express limits.
Read moreCoastal and shoreline work.
Read moreArticle X section 6 permits a taking only for a public purpose. This is the threshold question, not a formality.
Section 73.014 prohibits the use of eminent domain to eliminate nuisance, slum or blight conditions and declares those purposes invalid.
Section 73.013 restricts conveying property taken by eminent domain to private entities, with defined exceptions such as utilities, public infrastructure and transportation.
Under chapter 74 a private entity using the order of taking procedure must deposit twice the estimate of value that a public body would deposit.
Municipalities hold condemnation authority for purposes the legislature has granted. The taking must still serve a public purpose under Article X section 6.
Certain utilities hold condemnation authority for defined purposes. Chapter 74 requires a private entity using the order of taking procedure to deposit double the amount a public body would.
Florida responded to that debate by prohibiting blight based takings under section 73.014 and restricting private conveyance under section 73.013.
It is a question for the court. Article X section 6 sets the requirement and a condemnor must operate within it.
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