Public Land Use Controls Flashcards
is the power of government to seize private property for public use. The government must pay the property owner just compensation. Just compensation means a fair value for the property that has been taken. The most common uses of property taken by eminent domain are for railroads, public utilities, and highways.
Eminent domain
To eminently domain a property, the government must sue the owner in what’s called a ? ? . Keep in mind that eminent domain is a last resort. If the government needs a property, it will first try to buy the property from its owner in the usual way, with the owner’s consent.
condemnation suit
is the governmental act of seizing private land through exercise of eminent domain.
Eminent domain is the right the government has to take property, and condemnation is the process by which they do it.
Condemnation
Inverse condemnation is when the government appropriates a private property without compensating the property owner.
In order to be compensated, the owner must then sue the government. In such cases, the owner is the plaintiff in the suit, and that is why the action is called inverse. In direct condemnation, the government is the plaintiff and sues a defendant-owner to take their property.
Inverse Condemnation
Both condemnation and inverse condemnation are forms of taking. “Taking” is the power of government to seize private property for public use. It’s defined in the “takings clause” of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which reads:
“Taking” as Defined by the Courts
is a charge on real estate that is used to pay for services provided by the government.
Taxation
Based on the value of the property being taxed.
Property taxes are ad valorem taxes. What does that mean?
Public Land-Use Controls: Escheat
The final E in PETE is for escheat. Say it with me now: escheat!
Escheat is the legal doctrine by which the decedent’s property will pass to the state without their consent if that individual dies without a will, a surviving spouse, lineal descendants, or other known heirs.
Escheat can also be used if a property is abandoned by the owner.
Dying Intestate
Dying without a will is called dying intestate, and it’s not great to do, because it means your estate will be settled by a slow, expensive process called probate. In fact, maybe that’s a way to remember it: Die intestate? That’s not great.
Probate Settles Estates
Probate is a process by which courts determine and grant the appropriate ownership interest of an estate to creditors, taxing entities, and heirs of an owner who dies intestate. Your heirs will likely not be pleased to have to go through probate, and you won’t get to determine which of them gets what.
Laws of Descent and Distribution
When a person dies intestate, their estate is settled according to the laws of descent and distribution. The laws of descent and distribution are a set of laws that sets out the process of passing an estate to heirs when the owner dies intestate.
Notes
The sale and lease of state trust lands (a type of public land) in Arizona is addressed by both the state constitution as well as the Enabling Act of 1910, which authorized the territory of Arizona to become a state. This legislation set aside over 10 million acres of land that could be sold or used in ways that would benefit the development of Arizona. These beneficial purposes include agricultural, commercial, residential, municipal, and school use.
Today, around nine million acres of these state trust lands remain that are managed by the Arizona State Land Department. The majority of it is currently leased for agricultural use. That’s a LOT of land, and a lot of money, too! The income generated from the sale and lease of these lands is deposited into a permanent fund, which is then distributed to the beneficiary related to that fund.
Public K-12 schools are the main benefactors of the funds generated by state trust land, however other state institutions that may benefit include:
Universities
State hospitals
Military schools
Executive and judicial buildings
Penitentiaries and reformatory institutions
State Trust Land in Arizona
