Florida Eminent Domain, Amendment 8 (2006)
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The Florida Eminent Domain Amendment, also known as Amendment 8, was a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment on the November 7, 2006 election ballot in Florida, where it was approved.
- The amendment modified Article X, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution to require that if the state government, or a local government within Florida, takes property through the process of eminent domain, the government must retain that property for at least 10 years before it can transfer the property to a private owner. Amendment 8 includes a provision that allows the Florida State Legislature to legislate exceptions; for this to happen, the exception must be approved by both houses of the legislature by a 60% supermajority vote.[1]
- The proposal was one of 12 eminent domain-related ballot measures throughout the country on the 2006 ballot.
Election results
| Florida Amendment 8 (2006) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 3,047,420 | 69.05% | ||
| No | 1,365,950 | 30.95% | ||
Results via: the Florida Department of State, Division of Elections
Text of measure
The ballot title read:
| “ | EMINENT DOMAIN[1] | ” |
The ballot read:
| “ | Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to prohibit the transfer of private property taken by eminent domain to a natural person or private entity; providing that the Legislature may by general law passed by a three-fifths vote of the membership of each house of the Legislature permit exceptions allowing the transfer of such private property; and providing that this prohibition on the transfer of private property taken by eminent domain is applicable if the petition of taking that initiated the condemnation proceeding was filed on or after January 2, 2007.[1] | ” |
Constitutional changes
The text of the amendment read:
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SECTION 6.Eminent domain.— (a)No private property shall be taken except for a public purpose and with full compensation therefor paid to each owner or secured by deposit in the registry of the court and available to the owner. (b)Provision may be made by law for the taking of easements, by like proceedings, for the drainage of the land of one person over or through the land of another. (c) Private property taken by eminent domain pursuant to a petition to initiate condemnation proceedings file donor after January 2, 2007, may not be conveyed to a natural person or private entity except as provided by general law passed by a three-fifths vote of the membership of each house of the Legislature.[1] |
Support
Arguments
- "The decision as to whether a taking for economic development purposes is permissible in Florida lies with the state's courts, and will remain so unless the constitution or statutes are amended to restrict such takings. Unless the Florida Constitution is amended, the question of whether a city or a county may take property for purposes of economic development will remain unanswered."[2]
Opposition
Arguments
- "A constitutional amendment is not needed to address any eminent domain issues. This proposed constitutional amendment would place strict limits on the circumstances under which private property taken by eminent domain may be transferred to another party."[2]
Campaign contributions
The campaign in favor of Amendment 8 was run by a committee called the "Stop Taking Our Property Committee". It raised $5,000. There was no donor-supported campaign against the measure.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Florida Constitution
- Proposed Amendment 8 was referred to the ballot by a vote of both chambers of the Florida State Legislature on HJR 1569 (2006 session). It was sponsored by then-State Senator Rep. Marco Rubio (R-Miami).[2]
See also
- 2006 ballot measures
- Florida 2006 ballot measures
- List of Florida ballot measures
- Florida State Senate
- Florida House of Representatives
External links
- Summary of text and election results
- Full text
- State of Florida booklet describing the 2006 constitutional amendments
- Vote Smart Florida description of proposed amendment
- Sample ballot (Monroe County)
References
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