In Re Rapp

621 N.W.2d 781, 2001 WL 37850
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 16, 2001
DocketC4-00-1124
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 621 N.W.2d 781 (In Re Rapp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Rapp, 621 N.W.2d 781, 2001 WL 37850 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

621 N.W.2d 781 (2001)

In re the Award of Damages to Dennis RAPP for Condemnation of Land on County Road 61.

No. C4-00-1124.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

January 16, 2001.

*783 Christopher Daniel Karpan, Douglas County Courthouse, Alexandria, MN, (for appellant Douglas County).

Michael J. Dolan, Alexandria, MN, (for respondent).

Considered and decided by TOUSSAINT, Chief Judge, CRIPPEN, Judge and PETERSON, Judge.

OPINION

TOUSSAINT, Chief Judge.

Douglas County is appealing from an entry of summary judgment, holding Minn. Stat. §§ 163.11-.12 (1998) unconstitutional, and ordering the county to recondemn land owned by respondent Dennis Rapp under Minn.Stat. ch. 117 (1998). Because (1) the United States Constitution guarantees to property owners a right to judicial review of the public purpose of a taking; (2) the Minnesota Constitution guarantees to property owners a right to judicial review of both the public purpose and necessity of a taking prior to the actual taking; and (3) Minn.Stat. § 163.12, subds. 7, 10 (1998) do not provide for such review, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS

Appellant Douglas County (the county) passed a resolution on May 25, 1999 authorizing condemnation of four parcels of land for reconstruction and improvement of County Road 61. Respondent Dennis Rapp owned two and one-half acres of the land subject to condemnation.

Following the enactment of the resolution, the county proceeded with condemnation of the land under Minn.Stat. §§ 163.11-.12 (1998), and awarded Rapp $6,000 in damages. Thereafter, the county constructed the county road over Rapp's property.

Rapp filed suit in district court challenging the condemnation. The district court ruled that the condemnation procedures established in sections 163.11 and 163.12 were not preempted by those in Minn.Stat. ch. 117 (1998). However, the district court ruled that sections 163.11 and 163.12 effected an unconstitutional taking. As a result, the district court held that the county's actions pursuant to these sections were void. The county appeals.

ISSUES

Is the issue in this case moot because the property has been condemned and the highway constructed?

*784 Are Minn.Stat. §§ 163.11-.12 (1998) unconstitutional because they prevent judicial review of the public purpose and necessity of a condemnation occurring under Minn.Stat. ch. 163 (1998) prior to the actual taking?

ANALYSIS

"On an appeal from summary judgment, we ask two questions: (1) whether there are any genuine issues of material fact; and (2) whether the lower courts erred in their application of the law." State by Cooper v. French, 460 N.W.2d 2, 4 (Minn.1990) (citation omitted). Where, as here, the material facts are not in dispute, we need not defer to the district court's application of the law to the undisputed facts. Lefto v. Hoggsbreath Enters., Inc. 581 N.W.2d 855, 856 (Minn. 1998) (citing Wallin v. Letourneau, 534 N.W.2d 712, 715 (Minn.1995)).

I.

Neither party has briefed the issue of mootness to this court, but this court must address the issue as a prerequisite to exercising jurisdiction. See In re Minnegasco, 565 N.W.2d 706, 710 (Minn. 1997) (when an event occurs that makes decision unnecessary, the case should be dismissed as moot); In re Schmidt, 443 N.W.2d 824, 826 (Minn.1989) (same). An issue is not moot if a party could be afforded relief should the issues be resolved in that party's favor. Schmidt, 443 N.W.2d at 826. Although Rapp's land has been condemned and a highway constructed across it, Rapp still has relief in the form of the return of his property. See Blue Earth County v. Stauffenberg, 264 N.W.2d 647, 650 (Minn.1978) (if a court fails to find adequate public purpose and necessity to support a condemnation, the governmental body which took the disputed property could be compelled to return it to the previous owner). Therefore, the issue before this court is not moot.

II.

The issue before this court is whether Minn.Stat. §§ 163.11-.12 (1998) are unconstitutional because they provide for the condemnation of land without providing for a pre-taking judicial review of the public purpose and necessity of a condemnation occurring under Minn.Stat. ch. 163 (1998). "Minnesota statutes are presumed constitutional, and our power to declare a statute unconstitutional should be exercised with extreme caution and only when absolutely necessary." In re Haggerty, 448 N.W.2d 363, 364 (Minn. 1989) (citation omitted). "In evaluating challenges to the constitutionality of statutes, this court recognizes that the interpretation of statutes is a question of law." In re Blilie, 494 N.W.2d 877, 881 (Minn. 1993) (citation omitted); see also Estate of Jones by Blume v. Kvamme, 529 N.W.2d 335, 337 (Minn.1995). Accordingly, this court "is not bound by the lower court's conclusions." Blilie, 494 N.W.2d at 881 (quoting Sherek v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 699, 449 N.W.2d 434, 436 (Minn.1990)).

An analysis of whether the condemnation proceedings established in chapter 163 are constitutional starts with a review of the mandates imposed by the federal and state constitutions. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." The Taking Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution has been applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Chicago, B. & Q.R. Co. v. City of Chicago, 166 U.S. 226, 236, 17 S.Ct. 581, 584, 41 L.Ed. 979 (1897). Similarly, Minnesota Constitution, art. I § 13, provides that, "[p]rivate property shall not be taken, destroyed or damaged for public use without just compensation."

While the provisions of the state and federal constitutions are similar, a review of state and federal case law makes it clear that the Minnesota Constitution guarantees significantly broader rights than those *785 secured by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The United States Supreme Court, applying the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, has determined that a property owner has a right to judicial review of a condemnation to ensure that the taking is for a public use or purpose. See, e.g., Hawaii Housing Auth. v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229, 240, 104 S.Ct. 2321, 2329, 81 L.Ed.2d 186 (1984); Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26, 32-33, 75 S.Ct. 98, 102, 99 L.Ed. 27 (1954).

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Bluebook (online)
621 N.W.2d 781, 2001 WL 37850, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-rapp-minnctapp-2001.