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Art, <br />The Uniform Act regulations at 49 CFR Party 24 and the Texas Property <br />Code <br />establish the actions that must occur if a State agency withdraws or <br />seeks <br />dismissal of an eminent domain action. <br />The Uniform Act regulations at 49 CFR Section 24.107, which would apply <br />to <br />any acquisition action under Federal funding or assistance, as in the <br />instant case, requires the owner of real property to be reimbursed for <br />"any <br />reasonable expenses, including reasonable attorney, appraisal, and <br />engineering fees, which the owner actually incurred because of a <br />condemnation proceeding, if: <br />(a). . <br />(b) The condemnation proceeding is abandoned by the Agency other than <br />under an agreed-upon settlement;...." <br />The Texas Property Code contains somewhat similar requirements at <br />Section <br />21.019, "Dismissal of Condemnation Proceedings." This section states <br />that, <br />(1) a party that files a condemnation petition may move to dismiss the <br />proceedings, and the court shall conduct a hearing on the motion; and <br />(2) a <br />court that hears and grants a condemnation dismissal motion under this <br />section of the Code "shall make allowance to the property owner for <br />reasonable and necessary fees for attorneys, appraisers, and <br />photographers <br />and for the other expenses incurred by the property owner to the date of <br />the hearing." <br />Thus, the Uniform Act regulations require an acquiring agency to <br />reimburse <br />a property owner for the described reasonable expenses if the owner <br />actually incurred them, and the Texas Property Code requires the court <br />hearing a dismissal motion to "make allowance" for such similar <br />expenses. <br />I am sure that "make allowance" means that the court would dismiss the <br />condemnation suit and it would require the acquiring agency to pay the <br />expenses outlined. In answer to your question, therefore, the cited <br />regulations and code allow for withdrawals from eminent domain taking <br />actions, but require the acquiring agency to pay certain expenses the <br />property owner incurred in defending the action. <br />An additional interesting question would be: If the City withdrew from <br />its effort to take the property because the Court's award was too high, <br />where would the money come from to pay the required expenses? <br />John Davis <br />11 /2/2001 <br />12:42 PM CST <br />