Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Eminent Domain topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee backs bill narrowing eminent-domain authority to truly blighted parcels
Summary
House Bill 444 would replace the term “blighted area” with “blighted property,” require two notices and allow property owners to present their case to a judge before a housing authority or community development agency may exercise eminent domain; the subcommittee moved the bill forward unanimously.
Chairman Hoseley explained to the Cities & Counties Subcommittee on Feb. 19, 2025, that House Bill 444 amends existing language in Tennessee Code Annotated §29-17-102 to limit the use of eminent domain by housing authorities and community development agencies to specific blighted properties rather than an entire geographic “blighted area.”
Under current law, Hoseley said, agencies sometimes interpreted the statute to allow taking a large area—including non-blighted properties—if a portion of it was deemed blighted. The bill would change the statutory wording from “blighted area” to “blighted property,” require that property owners receive two notices before a taking and give owners an opportunity to appear before a judge to contest the designation.
The sponsor said the change still preserves authorities’ ability to acquire individual blighted properties or to take property for public-purpose projects, but prevents sweeping takings of entire neighborhoods where only a few parcels are blighted. The committee voted 5–0 to send the bill to the next available State and Local Government calendar.
