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Senate approves preconditions for condemnation proceedings in Senate Bill 198
Summary
The South Dakota Senate passed Senate Bill 198 after a reconsideration motion and an amendment. The bill requires developers seeking easements to offer mediation at the developer’s expense, obtain a Public Utilities Commission permit before pursuing eminent domain, and give 60 days' notice — including a color aerial map — to affected landowners.
The South Dakota Senate on a reconsideration vote passed Senate Bill 198, a measure that places preconditions on a prospective condemner before it may commence condemnation proceedings.
The bill adds requirements that developers seeking easements must (1) offer mediation at the developer’s expense and provide mediator options, (2) hold a permit from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) before pursuing eminent domain, and (3) provide landowners 60 days’ notice prior to filing for a required permit that will include a description and a color aerial map of the property and the proposed facility (amendment 198E).
Senator Melhoff, the bill’s prime sponsor, described the changes as protections that “strengthen the landowner's hand” and said the bill sets preconditions that do not exist in law today. On the bill’s mediation provision, Melhoff said the developer must offer mediation and “offer 3 different mediators. And if the landowner does not agree to any of those 3, they have the option to provide a fourth, which both agree to, but it is not a forced mediation.”
Opponents said the measure could place new costs and pressure on landowners. Senator Hoehn said in debate that the measure would add legal costs and press older landowners, arguing “I will be voting no on, Senate Bill 198.” Concerned senators also warned a judge might view a landowner’s refusal to mediate unfavorably and that mediation could become a de facto requirement in practice even if the text does not force it.
The amendment added on the floor, labeled 198E, requires a 60‑day certified‑mail notice to landowners before a permit application is filed with the PUC and requires that notice include a color aerial map showing the intended location of the proposed facility.
Following a successful motion to reconsider the earlier defeat of SB 198 (the reconsideration motion carried, 19 yeas to 16 nays), the Senate adopted amendment 198E and then voted on final passage. The final roll call for SB 198 as amended recorded 18 yeas and 17 nays; the president declared the bill passed.
During debate sponsors and opponents repeatedly referenced the Summit Carbon Pipeline as an example of a large developer and project implicated by eminent domain law; Senator Melhoff said the Summit Carbon Pipeline developers “have spent” large sums and referenced payout figures to landowners in easements. A later attempt to amend the bill’s title from the floor was ruled out of order.
The bill’s provisions are procedural: they require notice, an offer of mediation with mediator options, and the existence of a PUC permit before eminent domain may be used. The bill does not give a landowner a unilateral veto over a multi‑state linear infrastructure project; several senators explicitly said it does not grant a right to “kill” a project unilaterally. The transcript shows senators remained divided about whether the added steps will meaningfully protect landowners or will instead create additional litigation costs and pressure.
SB 198 now proceeds to enrollment as an enacted measure (paperwork and interchamber steps follow the floor passage).
