Both Proposition 98 and Proposition 99 deal with the subject of “eminent domain” as it pertains to the California Constitution. To better understand the issue, we are providing the following overview of the definitions and principles behind the use of eminent domain in California.

California’s state and local governments sometimes purchase private property in order to build public transportation, schools, parks and other public facilities. Most of these purchases are negotiated between private property owners and public agencies. But, when the owner does not want to sell or does not agree with the price offered, the public agency may use eminent domain to acquire the property.

Eminent domain is the power of governments to take private property for a public use as long as the government provides fair compensation to the property owner. In addition to building facilities for public use, governments occasionally take property for a variety of other public purposes—for example, to address “public nuisances” (such as hazardous buildings and criminal activity), to correct environmental problems, or to enhance tax revenues by developing new businesses in an economically depressed area.

Current law does not restrict how a public agency may use property acquired through eminent domain or require the agency to return property to its previous owner if it no longer uses the property for its original purpose. Although owners can challenge the government’s right to take their property, it is difficult for them to win and keep their land, in part because the courts give deference to a public agency’s eminent domain findings and usually limit their review to the information in the administrative record.