TEXAS PRIVATE REAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
PRESERVATION ACT
As you review the statute, please consider the following questions and be prepared to
discuss them in class.
1.
Are takings now easier for a landowner to establish? Why?
2.
Who decides whether there is a taking—judge or jury? Does the type of decisionmaker favor one party or another?
3.
How does the Act encourage the state to “look before it leaps” into new
regulations?
4.
If the state neglects to conduct a Takings Impact Assessment, what can a
landowner do?
5.
Does the law apply to the federal government? To all agencies of the state of
Texas? To Texas counties? To Texas cities?
6.
How many exceptions are there to the type of state action which can be
challenged as a taking? Can the owner of a nuisance sue for compensation when
he is no longer allowed to operate?
7.
Does the landowner who wins a suit under the Act have an absolute right to
monetary compensation?
8.
What if the landowner loses? Who pays the state’s legal costs?
9.
How quickly must a landowner bring suit for a regulation that allegedly violates
the Act? How will a landowner learn of the regulation?
10.
What has been the overall effect of the Act?