Eminent domain

Legal power of a government to take private property for public use

Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and transfer ownership of private property from one property owner to another private property owner without a valid public purpose and the payment of just compensation. This power can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized to exercise the functions of a public character.

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