This text of North Dakota § 61-24.8-06 (Condemnation of land and rights of way for special improvements - Taking of possession - Trial - Appeal - Vacation of judgment) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Taking of possession - Trial - Appeal - Vacation of judgment.
When property required to make any improvement authorized by this chapter is to be taken
by condemnation proceedings, the court, upon request by resolution of the board of the district
making the improvement, shall call a special term of court for the trial of the proceedings and
may summon a jury for the trial. The proceedings must be instituted and prosecuted in
accordance with chapter 32-15, except that when the interest sought to be acquired is a right of
way for the laying of any main, pipe, ditch, canal, aqueduct, or flume for conducting water,
whether within or without the district, the district may make an offer to purchase the right of way
and may deposit the amount of the offer with the clerk of the district court of t
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Taking of possession - Trial - Appeal - Vacation of judgment.
When property required to make any improvement authorized by this chapter is to be taken
by condemnation proceedings, the court, upon request by resolution of the board of the district
making the improvement, shall call a special term of court for the trial of the proceedings and
may summon a jury for the trial. The proceedings must be instituted and prosecuted in
accordance with chapter 32-15, except that when the interest sought to be acquired is a right of
way for the laying of any main, pipe, ditch, canal, aqueduct, or flume for conducting water,
whether within or without the district, the district may make an offer to purchase the right of way
and may deposit the amount of the offer with the clerk of the district court of the county in which
the right of way is located, and may then take possession of the right of way. The offer must be
made by resolution of the board of the district, and a copy of the resolution must be attached to
the complaint filed with the clerk of court in accordance with section 32-15-18. The clerk shall
immediately notify the owners of the land on which the right of way is located of the deposit by
causing a notice to be appended to the summons when served and published in the
proceedings as provided in the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure stating the amount
deposited or agreed in the resolution to be deposited. The owner may then appeal to the court
by filing an answer to the complaint in the manner provided in the North Dakota Rules of Civil
Procedure and may have a jury trial, unless a jury is waived, to determine the damages.
However, upon due proof of the service of the notice and summons and upon deposit of the
aggregate sum agreed in the resolution, the court without further notice may make and enter an
order as authorized by section 16 of article I of the Constitution of North Dakota. If under laws of
the United States proceedings for the acquisition of any right of way are required to be instituted
in or removed to a federal court, the proceedings may be taken in that court in the same manner
and with the same effect as provided in this section and the clerk of the district court of the
county in which the right of way is located shall perform any and all of the duties set forth in this
section if the clerk is directed to do so by the federal court. The proceedings must be
determined as speedily as practicable. An appeal from a judgment in the condemnation
proceedings must be taken within sixty days after the entry of the judgment and appeal must be
given preference by the supreme court over all other civil cases except election contests. No
final judgment in the condemnation proceedings awarding damages to property used by the
district for irrigation or other purposes may be vacated or set aside if the district pays to the
defendant, or into court for the defendant, the amount awarded in cash. The district may levy
special assessments within the district to pay all or part of the judgment. To provide funds for the
payment of the judgment or for the deposit of the amount offered for purchase of a right of way,
the district may issue bonds on the fund of the improvement district as provided in
section 61-24.8-09 in anticipation of the levy and collection of special assessments or revenues
to be appropriated to the fund in accordance with this chapter. The bonds may be issued upon
or after the commencement of the condemnation proceedings. Upon the failure of the district to
make payment in accordance with this section, the judgment in the condemnation proceedings
may be vacated.