Texas Eminent Domain: What Landowners Need to Know

Most Texans first meet eminent domain in the mailbox: a letter about a pipeline, a transmission line, a road widening, a water project, or a survey crew that wants onto the land. The letter usually arrives with a map, sometimes with an offer, and almost always with questions. This guide walks through the Texas condemnation process in plain language — organized around the questions a landowner is likely to have the day that letter arrives. It is educational information based on the current Texas Constitution and statutes; it is not legal advice, and it cannot calculate any person’s deadline or evaluate any specific offer.

Eminent domain versus condemnation — and the other terms in the letter

Eminent domain is the power to take private property for public use, with adequate compensation. Condemnation is the legal procedure used to exercise that power when the owner and the entity do not reach a voluntary agreement. In everyday use the words overlap, but the distinction matters: a letter can discuss eminent domain long before — or without — any condemnation case being filed.

Three more distinctions come up constantly:

• Voluntary acquisition versus condemnation. Most property that entities acquire is purchased by negotiated deed or easement, not condemned. A negotiated sale is a contract; a condemnation is a legal proceeding with its own statutory protections, procedures, and deadlines. What an owner agrees to voluntarily is largely a matter of the written agreement.
• Fee-simple acquisition versus an easement. An entity may seek full ownership (fee simple) of a strip or tract, or only an easement — a right to use part of the land for a defined purpose while the owner keeps title. Easements can be permanent (a pipeline or transmission corridor) or temporary (construction workspace). The interest sought changes what the owner gives up, what remains, and how compensation is analyzed.
• Inverse condemnation. When a landowner claims that a governmental action has taken, damaged, or destroyed property without a condemnation proceeding — flooding caused by a public project is a classic example — the owner may bring an inverse-condemnation claim under Article I, §17 of the Texas Constitution. Whether particular facts amount to a compensable taking is a fact-specific legal question for a court.

The constitutional foundations: public use and adequate compensation

Article I, §17 of the Texas Constitution provides that a person’s property may not be taken, damaged, or destroyed for or applied to public use without adequate compensation, and only if the taking is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property by the State, a political subdivision, the public at large, or an entity granted the power of eminent domain under law, or for the elimination of urban blight as provided by law. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution imposes a parallel federal requirement of just compensation for takings for public use.

Texas has also placed statutory limits on takings that primarily benefit private parties. Government Code §2206.001 provides that a governmental or private entity may not take private property through eminent domain if the taking confers a private benefit on a particular private party through the use of the property, is for a public use that is merely a pretext to confer such a private benefit, or is for economic-development purposes except in the narrow circumstances the statute describes. The section contains its own list of uses it does not affect — including transportation projects, utilities, water supply, and pipelines — so whether a particular project falls inside or outside these limits depends on the facts and the statute’s exact terms.

Government Code §2206.053 adds a procedural requirement for governmental entities: before initiating a condemnation, the governing body must generally authorize it by a record vote at a public meeting, using the language and procedure the statute prescribes.

Does homestead status prevent condemnation?

This question matters on a site about Texas homestead law, so it deserves a direct answer: Texas homestead protections against many forced sales and creditor claims do not create a blanket exemption from a valid exercise of eminent domain. A residence, farm, ranch, family property, or other homestead may still be affected if the entity has legal condemnation authority, the acquisition is for a permitted public use, the required procedures are followed, and adequate compensation is provided.

Homestead status, agricultural-appraisal status, family history, and emotional attachment may be extremely important to the owner — but they do not independently decide whether condemnation authority exists or establish the amount of compensation. What homestead and family-land status do affect is who must sign, whose interests are in the case, and how proceeds may be treated — questions covered in the checklist and family-land sections below.

Who may possess eminent-domain authority — and how to check

Eminent-domain authority in Texas is granted by law. Depending on the statute involved, it may be held by the State and its agencies, counties, municipalities, and many special districts, and by certain private entities — including common-carrier pipelines, gas and electric utilities, and others to whom the Legislature has delegated the power. No entity has condemnation authority merely because it says so in a letter: the authority must come from a constitutional or statutory grant, and the entity must follow the procedures that condition it.

To investigate a condemning entity, a landowner can:

• ask the entity, in writing, to identify the specific law it claims grants its eminent-domain authority (the condemnation petition must eventually state this — see below);
• search the Texas Comptroller’s Eminent Domain Database, described next;
• read the cited statute on the official Texas Statutes site;
• check the county clerk’s real-property records for recorded instruments naming the entity; and
• ask a qualified Texas attorney to evaluate whether the entity and the project actually satisfy the claimed grant of authority.

The Texas Comptroller Eminent Domain Database

Under Government Code §§2206.151–2206.157, public and private entities with eminent-domain authority must report specified information to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, generally by February 1 each year, and the Comptroller maintains a searchable online database of those reports. The database is a genuinely useful research tool: it can show whether an entity has reported claiming eminent-domain authority, the provisions of law it identifies, and related filing information, and the Comptroller separately reflects noncompliance.

What the database establishes: what an entity has (or has not) reported to the Comptroller, and the legal provisions the entity itself identifies as the source of its authority.

What the database does not establish: whether a specific taking is lawful, whether the entity’s claimed authority actually covers a particular project or property, or whether the entity has satisfied the bona fide offer and other procedural requirements in a specific case.

Before a case can be filed: offers, appraisals, and the Landowner’s Bill of Rights

The first contact often is not an offer at all — it may be a project notice, a survey request, a right-of-entry request, a route map, or an appraisal-inspection request. Property Code §21.0101 states that Chapter 21 does not prevent an entity from seeking survey-access rights provided elsewhere by law — but it does not itself give every person or company an unrestricted right to enter private property. A survey-access request, a right-of-entry agreement, a purchase option, an easement, a deed, and a condemnation petition are different documents with different consequences; identify which one is actually on the table before signing anything, and never physically obstruct personnel who are lawfully authorized to enter.

Initial offer and appraisal disclosure — Property Code §21.0111

An entity with eminent-domain authority that wants to acquire real property for a public use must, by the statute’s terms, disclose to the owner — at the time the initial offer is made and by certified mail, return receipt requested — any and all appraisal reports produced or acquired by the entity relating specifically to the owner’s property and prepared in the ten years preceding the offer. Section 21.0111 also addresses the owner’s right to discuss the offer with others or to keep it confidential, and a separate disclosure applies shortly before a special commissioners’ hearing: under §21.015(a-1), the entity must disclose its appraisal reports relating specifically to the owner’s property not later than the third business day before the hearing.

Confidentiality restrictions

Landowners sometimes assume they are forbidden to discuss an offer. Texas law addresses this directly: the disclosure framework in Chapter 21 recognizes the property owner’s right to either discuss an offer or agreement with others or keep it confidential, subject to any confidentiality the owner agrees to in writing. Before treating an offer as secret — or assuming it may be shared — read what the written documents actually say and, if in doubt, ask a Texas attorney.

The Landowner’s Bill of Rights — Property Code §21.0112 and Government Code §402.031

The Texas Attorney General prepares and publishes the Landowner’s Bill of Rights, a statement of the rights of property owners whose property may be acquired through eminent domain. Under Property Code §21.0112, an entity with eminent-domain authority must provide this statement to the landowner — by first-class mail or otherwise — not later than the seventh day before the entity makes a final offer. The current version is marked “Prepared by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas — November 2025” (REV 11/25) and reflects the 2025 legislative changes, including the HB 2011 repurchase amendments; for certain private pipeline and electric-transmission easements it includes addenda addressing required and negotiable instrument terms. Always read the current version on the official Attorney General website rather than an older copy — a Spanish version is available from the same page.

Read the current State of Texas Landowner’s Bill of Rights (November 2025, PDF)

The bona fide offer — Property Code §21.0113

Before filing a condemnation petition, an entity that wants to acquire property for public use must make a bona fide offer. Under the current statute, an entity has made a bona fide offer if, among the section’s requirements:

• an initial offer is made in writing to the property owner;
• a final offer is made in writing;
• the final offer is made on or after the 30th day after the date of the written initial offer;
• before making the final offer, the entity obtains a written appraisal from a certified appraiser of the value of the property being acquired and the damages, if any, to the owner’s remaining property;
• the amount of the final offer is equal to or greater than the amount of that written appraisal;
• the final offer is accompanied by (or the entity has previously provided) a copy of the written appraisal, a copy of the deed, easement, or other instrument conveying the property sought, and the Landowner’s Bill of Rights statement; and
• the entity gives the owner at least 14 days to respond to the final offer, and the owner does not agree to its terms within that period.

These are minimum statutory steps — not a statement about whether any particular offer is high, low, or fair. Whether to accept, counter, or decline an offer is a decision for the owner, ideally with professional advice.

Pipeline and electric-transmission easement instruments — Property Code §21.0114

For certain pipeline and electric-transmission easements, §21.0114 prescribes required terms that the entity’s initial-offer easement instrument must contain unless the landowner and entity agree otherwise — addressing subjects such as the maximum number of lines, the easement’s location and width, and other protective provisions the statute lists — along with general terms the parties may negotiate. If a proposed easement is for a pipeline or electric transmission line, comparing the offered instrument against the current text of §21.0114 (and negotiating the terms the statute leaves open) is a core part of document review. Common negotiable subjects include access routes, gates, fencing, surface facilities, depth of burial, damage payments, restoration standards, indemnity, and assignment.

Filing the condemnation case

The petition — Property Code §21.012

If a bona fide offer does not produce an agreement, the entity may begin a condemnation proceeding by filing a petition in the proper court. The petition must, among other statutory requirements, describe the property, state with specificity the public use for which the entity intends to acquire it, state the name of the property owner, state that the owner and the entity are unable to agree on damages, identify the provision of law that grants the entity eminent-domain authority if the entity is not a political subdivision or governmental unit, and state that the entity made a bona fide offer under §21.0113 and, if applicable, provided the Landowner’s Bill of Rights.

Jurisdiction and venue — Property Code §§21.001–21.003, 21.013

District courts and county courts at law have concurrent jurisdiction over eminent-domain cases, subject to the statute’s allocation rules, and venue lies in the county where the property (or a part of it) is located. The exact court depends on the county’s court structure and the statute’s filing rules.

Special commissioners: the administrative heart of a Texas condemnation

Appointment and strikes — Property Code §21.014 (current procedure)

Texas condemnations begin with an administrative phase before three special commissioners — disinterested real property owners who reside in the county. Under the current statute:

• the judge must appoint the three special commissioners, plus two alternate special commissioners, not later than the 30th calendar day after the petition is filed, giving preference to persons agreed on by the parties;
• the judge provides the parties the names and contact information of the commissioners and alternates;
• each party may strike one of the three appointed commissioners, generally by the later of 10 calendar days after the appointment order or 20 days after the petition was filed, with strikes filed electronically and served on the other parties;
• if a commissioner is struck or cannot serve, an alternate steps in in the order listed in the appointment order; and
• if one party exercises a strike, the other party may respond with its own strike within the short additional window the statute provides.

Because these appointment and strike deadlines are short and technical, the current text of §21.014 — not an older summary — should always control, and a landowner served with an appointment order should get advice quickly.

Hearing scheduling and notice — Property Code §§21.015–21.016

The special commissioners promptly schedule a hearing, which may not be set to assess damages before the 20th day after their appointment, at a place as near as practical to the property or at the county seat. Written notice of the time and place of the hearing must be served on a party not later than the 20th day before the day set for the hearing. As noted above, the entity must also disclose its appraisal reports relating specifically to the owner’s property not later than the third business day before the hearing.

What the special commissioners decide — and what they generally do not

The special commissioners assess damages: the compensation owed for the taking, applying the standards in Property Code §§21.041–21.042. They are not judges, and the commissioners’ phase is not the place where the fundamental legal challenges are resolved. Questions such as whether the entity actually possesses eminent-domain authority, whether the use is a public use, or whether the entity satisfied the bona fide offer requirement are matters for the court — typically raised by motion or after objections move the case into ordinary litigation. A landowner who believes the taking itself is unlawful should not assume the commissioners’ hearing will decide that question.

Compensation: what the law measures

Under Property Code §§21.041–21.042, the evidence and the assessment address, as applicable: the value of the property being condemned; the injury to the property owner; the benefit to the owner’s remaining property; and the use of the property for the purpose of the condemnation.

• Entire taking. If the whole tract is condemned, the damage generally is the local market value of the property at the time of the special commissioners’ hearing.
• Partial taking and damage to the remainder. If only a portion is taken — the typical easement or strip acquisition — the assessment considers both the value of the part taken and the effect of the condemnation on the value of the owner’s remaining property, after weighing injury and benefit as the statute directs. Remainder damages are frequently where agricultural, ranching, drainage, water, fencing, irrigation, timber, hunting, and access effects are analyzed and proved.
• Access. Impairment of direct access to and from a landowner’s remaining property is one of the recognized categories of potential injury the appraisal and damage analysis may address; whether and how much any particular access change is compensable is fact-specific.

For working farms and ranches, documentation matters: severed pastures, cut water lines and wells, interrupted irrigation, drainage changes, gaps in fencing, livestock containment, crop and timber loss, and changed field patterns are the kinds of concrete facts that appraisers and commissioners can weigh — if they are documented.

The award — and the deadline that matters most

After the hearing, the special commissioners make a written award assessing the damages and file it with the court (Property Code §§21.048–21.049), and the court clerk sends notice of the award to the parties. Three paths follow:

• No objection. If no party timely objects, the court may adopt the commissioners’ findings as the judgment of the court (§21.061).
• Objection and trial de novo — §21.018. Any party may object to the commissioners’ findings by filing a written statement of objections and their grounds with the court. If an objection is filed, the case is tried like any other civil case — a genuine trial, before a judge or jury, not a review of the commissioners’ decision.
• Possession pending litigation — §21.021. Objecting does not, by itself, stop the project. After the award, the condemnor may generally take possession pending the results of further litigation if it deposits the amount of the award (and satisfies the section’s other requirements, including any required bond or deposit) — even while the compensation fight continues in court.

Dismissal, costs, and professional fees

Under Property Code §21.019, a condemnor may move to dismiss its own proceeding, and a court granting such a dismissal shall make an allowance to the owner for the statute’s listed items, which can include reasonable and necessary fees for attorneys, appraisers, and photographers and other expenses incurred to the date of the hearing. Section 21.047 governs costs more generally — including how special commissioners’ fees and court costs are allocated based on how the final result compares to the commissioners’ award — and permits the court to order the condemnor to pay costs and reasonable attorney’s and other professional fees if the court finds the condemnor did not make a bona fide offer as required by §21.0113.

Fee recovery in condemnation is therefore conditional, not automatic: it depends on which statutory trigger, if any, the facts satisfy. No landowner should assume attorney fees are guaranteed.

Relocation assistance and the right to request information

Property Code §21.046 directs certain condemning departments, agencies, instrumentalities, and political subdivisions to provide a relocation advisory service and, as the statute provides, to pay eligible moving and certain related relocation expenses for persons displaced from a dwelling or place of business — subject to the section’s conditions and to federal-reimbursement rules where federal funds are involved. Whether relocation assistance applies, and in what amount, depends on the entity, the program, and the facts.

After an acquisition, Property Code §21.023 requires the entity to disclose to the owner, at the time of acquisition, specified information about the owner’s potential rights — including the possibility of repurchase and the right to request information — and §21.025 allows a former owner to request information from the entity about the public use, including whether the use has been canceled and what actual progress has been made, under the procedures the statute sets out.

Complaints about easement or right-of-way agents

Reflecting the current (November 2025) Landowner’s Bill of Rights: a landowner who believes a registered easement or right-of-way agent engaged in misconduct may submit a signed written complaint, with supporting evidence when available, to the Texas Real Estate Commission under applicable Texas law. TREC handles agent-conduct complaints — it does not decide whether condemnation authority exists and does not determine compensation.

Repurchase rights — including the 2025 amendments

Under Property Code §§21.101–21.103 (Subchapter E), a person from whom real property was acquired through eminent domain for a public use — or that person’s heirs, successors, or assigns — may be entitled to repurchase the property if a statutory trigger occurs, historically including: the public use being canceled before the property is used for it; no actual progress being made toward the public use between acquisition and the 10th anniversary of acquisition; or the property becoming unnecessary for the public use (or a substantially similar public use) before the 10th anniversary.

In 2025, the 89th Legislature amended Subchapter E through HB 2011 (89R), effective September 1, 2025. Among the changes reflected in the current statute, the amendments address a repurchase right connected to an acquiring entity’s failure to pay property taxes it is obligated to pay on the acquired property within the period the statute describes, along with related notice provisions and a limitations provision (§21.1022) under which the repurchase right can be extinguished when the entity makes the required good-faith notice efforts and receives no timely response. The Office of the Attorney General proposed updates in the Texas Register (October 17, 2025) and has since published the revised Landowner’s Bill of Rights — the current November 2025 version — reflecting HB 2011.

When a repurchase right applies, §21.103 requires the entity, on proper notice of intent to repurchase, to offer to sell the property interest back for the price the entity paid the owner at the time of the eminent-domain acquisition, and the right expires on the 90th day after the entity makes that offer. Repurchase is conditional: the triggers, notices, response periods, and limitations in the current statute control, and no former owner is automatically guaranteed a repurchase. Read the current text of Subchapter E and the current Landowner’s Bill of Rights, and obtain legal advice about any specific claim.

When you receive an eminent-domain letter, offer, or notice

Two cautions belong alongside that list. First, none of it is a reason to obstruct survey crews, disturb survey markers, threaten personnel, or disregard a court order — conduct like that can create separate legal problems without improving the landowner’s position. Second, declining to sign a voluntary agreement is not the same as stopping a project: where valid authority and procedure exist, condemnation can proceed, and the realistic questions usually become the scope of the interest taken, the terms of the instrument, and the compensation.

Legislative context: SB 27 (89th Legislature, Second Called Session, 2025)

Common misunderstandings

Frequently asked questions

Can I refuse to sell?

A landowner may reject a voluntary offer. If the entity possesses condemnation authority and the statutory requirements are satisfied, it may file a condemnation proceeding.

Can the government take my entire property?

The property interest sought depends on the project and claimed authority. A taking may involve an entire tract, part of a tract, an easement, access rights, or another property interest.

Do I have to let an appraiser or survey crew enter?

Access rights depend on the entity, applicable statutes, court decisions, existing easements, and any agreement signed by the owner. Chapter 21 does not itself create every claimed survey-access right. Read what is actually being requested, put terms in writing, and never respond to a disputed entry question with obstruction or threats.

Must I accept the condemnor’s appraisal?

No. The condemnor’s appraisal supports its offer but does not automatically establish the final compensation amount.

Can I obtain my own appraisal?

Yes, but appraisal-disclosure requirements apply when an appraisal is used to establish the owner’s opinion of value. Condemnation experience may be important when selecting an appraiser.

What are remainder damages?

They are qualifying reductions in the value of the property that remains after a partial taking.

Who are the special commissioners?

They are three disinterested county real-property owners appointed for the condemnation matter to assess compensation. They are not the elected county commissioners court.

Can the commissioners change an easement?

Their authority centers on monetary compensation. They generally do not rewrite the condemnor’s easement terms, select a different route, or reduce the property interest sought.

Can I object to the commissioners’ award?

Yes, but the written objection must be filed by the statutory deadline: on or before the first Monday following the twentieth day after the award is filed with the court. If no timely objection is filed, the court adopts the findings as its judgment.

Does an objection stop possession?

Not necessarily. The condemnor may be able to take possession after satisfying the statutory payment, deposit, bond, and security requirements in Property Code §21.021.

Can I challenge whether the entity has authority?

Yes. Authority and public-use challenges are decided by a court rather than by the special commissioners, subject to legal and procedural requirements. Merely disagreeing with the project is not sufficient.

Can I discuss the offer with my family, appraiser, or attorney?

Yes. Property Code §21.0111 prohibits an entity from requiring a confidentiality provision in a qualifying acquisition offer or agreement. The owner may choose to keep the matter confidential, but the entity cannot require contractual silence.

Can I recover attorney or appraisal fees?

Sometimes, but not automatically. Current law provides fee or cost remedies in defined situations, including certain dismissals and a court finding that the required bona fide offer was not made. Fee recovery should never be assumed.

Can I get the property back if the project is abandoned?

Possibly. Texas law provides repurchase rights in certain circumstances — including cancellation of the public use, lack of statutory actual progress by the tenth anniversary, and the 2025 property-tax-nonpayment trigger — but statutory conditions, notices, and deadlines apply, and under current §21.103 the repurchase price is the price the entity paid the owner at acquisition.

Official sources

Texas Constitution, Article I, §17; Texas Property Code Chapter 21 (including §§21.0111–21.0114, 21.012–21.016, 21.018–21.019, 21.021, 21.023, 21.025, 21.041–21.042, 21.046–21.049, 21.061, and Subchapter E §§21.101–21.103 as amended); Texas Government Code Chapter 2206 (§2206.001, §2206.053, §§2206.151–2206.157, including §2206.156).

HB 2011, 89(R) (2025 repurchase amendments, effective September 1, 2025); SB 27, 89(2) (did not pass — filed only; introduced text). Office of the Texas Attorney General — Landowner’s Bill of Rights (Government Code §402.031; proposed 2025 revisions published in the Texas Register, October 17, 2025). Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — Eminent Domain Database. Texas State Law Library — Eminent Domain research guide.

Continually Reviewed — Last reviewed July 28, 2026. This article provides general educational information about Texas law — not legal advice. Statutes, deadlines, forms, and agency publications change, and their application is fact-specific. Verify the current official sources above, and consult a qualified Texas attorney about any specific property, offer, hearing, or deadline.

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