Charles v. Big Sandy & Cumberland Railroad

129 S.E. 384, 142 Va. 512, 1925 Va. LEXIS 355
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedSeptember 17, 1925
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 129 S.E. 384 (Charles v. Big Sandy & Cumberland Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Charles v. Big Sandy & Cumberland Railroad, 129 S.E. 384, 142 Va. 512, 1925 Va. LEXIS 355 (Va. 1925).

Opinion

Campbell, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The defendant in error filed its petition in the Circuit Court of Buchanan county for the purpose of condemning for its use lands of the plaintiff in error.

On the 3rd day of October, 1923, the company (as the defendant in error will hereafter be called) gave notice to the plaintiff in error that on the 15th day of October, 1923, it would apply to the judge of the circuit court, in vacation, for the appointment of commissioners to ascertain what would be a just compensation for the land proposed to be taken, and to award damages, etc.

The petition filed by the company conforms to the requirements of the statute in its allegations. On the day fixed in the notice, plaintiff in error appeared by counsel and filed his answer to the petition.

This answer specifically sets forth “that it is not true that petitioner has made a bona fide effort to agree with your respondent as to the purchase of the land sought to be condemned and cannot agree.”

Section 4363, Code of 1919,provides: “No proceeding shall be taken to condemn land or other property, nor any interest therein, until a bona fide, but ineffectual; [516]*516effort has been made to acquire the same from the owner thereof by purchase, except where such consent cannot be obtained because of the incapacity of the owners or one or more of them, or because such owner is unknown or cannot with reasonable diligence be found within this State.”

Without compelling a joinder of issue upon this denial the judge, over the protest and objection of the plaintiff in error, appointed the commissioners pursuant to the prayer of the petition and refused to hear any evidence on the question prior to the appointment of said commissioners.

This action constitutes the first assignment of error. Under the language of section 4363, which we hold to be mandatory, it was incumbent upon the judge, acting in vacation, to ascertain whether or not jurisdiction had been acquired of both the parties and the subject matter.

The language of the statute is plain; that no proceeding shall be taken to condemn land until a bona fide effort has been made to acquire the same by purchase. The reason for the existence of the statute is likewise plain.

A landowner should not be put to the trouble and possible expense of counsel fees upon the mere whim or caprice of the condemnor, when a bona fide effort to purchase his land would in all probability terminate the transaction. Without first determining the question of a bona fide offer having been made by the company, the judge was without jurisdiction to entertain the petition of the company, and hence without jurisdiction to appoint the commissioners.

In Core v. Norfolk, 99 Va. 191, 37 S. E. 845, Judge Buchanan, delivering the opinion of the court, said: “By section 1074 of that chapter (46 of Code) it' is provided [517]*517that ‘if * * * the council of a city * * * cannot agree on the terms of purchase with those entitled to lands wanted’ for its purposes, it may institute condemnation proceedings in the proper courts. Under the provisions of that section, the council of the city of Norfolk had no authority to institute, and the court had no jurisdiction to entertain, any proceedings to condemn the lands wanted, until after the council had made an attempt to purchase them from the plaintiff in error, and the parties had been unable to agree upon terms of purchase. This is conceded by counsel for the defendant in error, but if it were not, it is well settled that such provisions are regarded as in the nature of conditions precedent, which are not only to be observed and complied with before the courts can exercise their compulsory powers to deprive the owner of his l§,nd, but the party instituting such proceedings must show affirmatively such compliance. Cooley on Con. Lim. (6th ed.), 648-9; Lewis on Eminent Domain, section 301; Mills on Eminent Domain, section 105. See Charlottesville v. Maury, 96 Va. 383, 386 [31 S. E. 520]; Painter v. St. Clair, 98 Va. 85 [34 S. E. 989].”

In Painter v. St. Clair, 98 Va. 88, 34 S. E. 989, it is held that statutes conferring the power of eminent domain are strictly construed and the authority conferred in such statutes must be carefully observed and followed.

In concluding the opinion in Core v. Norfolk, supra, Judge Buchanan further said: “It was the duty of the council, after determining to open and extend the street, to make a bona fide effort to agree upon terms of purchase with the plain tiff in error for the lands wanted. Having failed to do this, the corporation court was without jurisdiction, and should have sustained the objection of the plaintiff in error to the appointment of commissioners, and dismissed the proceedings.”

[518]*518In Richmond v. Childrey, 127 Va. 268, 103 S. E. 631, Judge Burks said: “The courts everywhere hold that acts conferring the power of eminent domain shall be strictly construed against the grant, and that one claiming the power must bring himself strictly within the grant, both as to the extent and manner of its exercise. As said in Brewster v. Peru, 180 Ill. 124, 128, 54 N. E. 233, 234, ‘there must be a close, straightforward and honest compliance with every substantial requirement of the law.’ The requirement of the law must be fulfilled whether reasonable or unreasonable. As said in Carson v. City of Richmond, 113 Va. 527, 529, 75 S. E. 119, ‘the power conferred must be strictly construed and the manner of executing it carefully observed;’ and in Ches. & O. Ry. Co. v. Walker, 100 Va. 69, 40 S. E. 633, 914, grants of power, especially the right of eminent domain, are to be strictly construed. To the same effect is Painter v. St. Clair, 98 Va. 85, 34 S. E. 989. These principles have been applied in eases too numerous to be cited.”

The judge, in the instant case, should have heard the evidence before appointing commissioners, and in the event the company failed to affirmatively show that it had made a bona fide effort to agree upon terms of purchase with the plaintiff in error, he should have dismissed the proceedings.

The second assignment of error is that the company is neither a public service corporation nor an internal improvement company, and therefore not authorized by its charter to exercise the powers of eminent domain.

The allegation contained in the petition of the company that it was “authorized by its charter under the laws of the State of Virginia, for its uses and purposes, to condemn and otherwise acquire land and other prop[519]*519erty or any interest or estate therein,” is specifically denied in his answer by the plaintiff in error. This question was also reserved for decision by the judge until after the coming in of the report of the commissioners.

Without deciding whether or not this action on the part of the judge was error, we are of the opinion that the whole case on this point was fully developed by the evidence introduced upon the hearing on the exceptions to the Commissioner’s report, and that the question involved in the second assignment of error should be disposed of on this writ of error.

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Bluebook (online)
129 S.E. 384, 142 Va. 512, 1925 Va. LEXIS 355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/charles-v-big-sandy-cumberland-railroad-va-1925.