New Mexico lawmakers look at protecting private property rights of citizens
by Allie Martin
February 14, 2007
(OneNewsNow.com) - - During a special hearing today, New Mexico lawmakers will look at proposed legislation protecting the private property rights of citizens. An attorney in Arizona says one of the pieces of legislation would the power of eminent domain from the state's redevelopment laws.New Mexico -- the "Land of Enchantment" -- is one of a growing number of states studying ways to curb eminent domain abuse. Eminent domain allows a government entity to condemn property and pay the owner fair market value when land is needed for public use. That privilege is usually invoked for projects such as roads and utility lines. But a Supreme Court ruling in 2005 said that a community in Connecticut was within its rights when it used eminent domain to take land to make way for a new commercial development.
Jennifer Perkins, a staff attorney at the Arizona chapter of the Institute for Justice, says New Mexico's House Judiciary Committee will consider several pieces of legislation that would curb eminent domain abuse. She explains that one bill in particular would remove the power of eminent domain from the state's redevelopment laws.
"That is, it would make it impossible for a city to use its power of eminent domain for the purpose of private economic development," says Perkins. Such a law, for example, would prevent a city from taking a large piece of property from its owner for the sole purpose of building a large shopping mall or new houses or condominiums, she says.
"The state lawmakers have the opportunity to say [to communities], 'No, we will not give you that authority,'" the attorney says. And if such a statute goes into effect, "when somebody buys a piece of property in New Mexico, they can be assured that they own that piece of property," says Perkins.
The recommendations from the House Judiciary Committee will go to the full Legislature.
