Fall 2023
5258 Eminent Domain and Private Property Rights - HODGE/STOREY- 15964
Professor(s):
Justin Hodge (ADJUNCT)
Judge Linda Storey (ADJUNCT)
Credits: 2
Course Areas: Real Property, Trusts and Estates
Time: 1:00p-3:00p W Location: 222
Course Outline: Texas is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. This growth is not a new phenomenon. Texas has added more residents than any other state since 2000. But what happens when the infrastructure growth associated with the Texas population boom impacts private property owners?
An inherent tension exists between public projects needed to accommodate Texas’s expansive growth and fundamental property rights protected by the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. Eminent domain—the power of a governmental entity (or those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use for just compensation—is designed to balance public and private property interests. Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity; and (2) “just” compensation (including evidentiary and procedural issues that impact value).
Course Syllabus: Syllabus Updated 08/07/2023
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. After student registration opens, there may be instruction mode changes to this course up through two weeks before the first day of classes for the term, but notice of such changes will be sent to then-registered students. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule: 12/13/20231-3pm
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Available
Course Materials
No book required for this course
Course Packet will be distributed electronically.
