HF 2522 (LSB 5692HV (2) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2522

BY  COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 608)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to procedures to review the exercise of the power of eminent domain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 476.13, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  a.  Notwithstanding the Iowa administrative procedure Act, chapter 17A, prior to final board action, an applicant before the board under this chapter or a person whose real property is subject to an eminent domain taking claim arising from an application before the board may petition the district court for an eminent domain declaratory review.
   b.  The district court for Polk county shall have exclusive venue for the judicial review under this subsection.
   c.  Relief under this subsection is limited to a declaration of the parties’ rights, status, and other legal matters relating to the constitutional and statutory provisions governing eminent domain takings.
   d.  The court may combine several substantially similar petitions into one review or relief order at its own discretion or upon the application of any party.
   e.  All orders or judgments under this subsection may be reviewed as other judgments, orders, or decrees.
   f.  This subsection does not limit the authority of the board to proceed with an application under consideration at the time of the petition.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  a.  A person may commence a new action under subsection 4 if any of the following conditions apply:
   (1)  More than eighteen months have passed after the commencement of an action described in subsection 4 involving the person.
   (2)  The person is an applicant before the board under this chapter or the person’s real property is subject to an eminent domain taking claim arising from an application before the board and the person determines in good faith that facts and circumstances as presented in a previous proceeding under subsection 4 materially differ from the facts and circumstances at the time of the commencement of the new action.
   b.  Notwithstanding subsection 4, paragraph “b”, the new proceeding must be in a district court of a county other than Polk county, and the district judge assigned to the matter must be a district judge other than the judge who presided in the previous action under subsection 4. The court shall make all determinations of fact and law in the new action de novo, giving no precedential value to determinations in the earlier action.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill allows an applicant before the Iowa utilities board (IUB) under Code chapter 476 or a person whose real property is subject to an eminent domain taking claim arising from an application before IUB to file a petition seeking declaratory review from the Polk county district court. Relief by the court is limited to a declaration of the parties’ rights, status, and other legal matters relating to eminent domain. The bill does not limit IUB’s authority to proceed with an application that was under consideration at the time of such a petition.
   The bill allows a person to commence a new action in a district court of a county other than Polk county with a different district court judge if more than 18 months have passed since the commencement of a prior action or the facts and circumstances presented in the prior proceeding have changed. In such a proceeding, the bill requires the court to review the issues without giving precedential weight to the findings in the prior action.