ALASKA Acts of the 24th Legislative Session (2006)
HB 318, Chapter 84
AN ACT
Limiting the exercise of eminent domain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section
to read:
LEGISLATIVE INTENT AND FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that
(1) the United States Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London,
545 U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 2655, 162 L. Ed. 2d 439 (2005) demonstrates that an overly
expansive application of eminent domain powers can be a threat to the property rights of all
private property owners;
(2) it is necessary to provide clarification regarding the exercise of eminent
domain in the following two situations:
(A) the taking of private property if the purpose is to transfer the
property to another private person for economic development;
(B) the taking of a landowner's personal residence to develop an indoor
or outdoor recreational facility or project.
(b) In recognizing that many public projects will have economic effects, the
legislature intends by this Act not to
(1) restrict those public uses already recognized in state law merely because
the project may have an associated economic effect; or
(2) provide an absolute bar on transfers of land to private entities, but to place
restrictions on when such transfers occur.
(c) In this section, "economic development" means development of property for a
commercial enterprise carried on for profit or to increase tax revenue, tax base, or
employment.
Sec. 2. AS 09.55.240(a) is amended to read:
(a) Except as provided in (d) and (e) of this section, the [THE] right of
eminent domain may be exercised for the following public uses:
(1) all public uses authorized by the government of the United States;
(2) public buildings and grounds for the use of the state and all other
public uses authorized by the legislature of the state;
(3) public buildings and grounds for the use of an organized or
unorganized borough, city, town, village, school district, or other municipal division,
whether incorporated or unincorporated; canals, aqueducts, flumes, ditches, or pipes
conducting water, heat, or gas for the use of the inhabitants of an organized or
unorganized borough, city, town, or other municipal division, whether incorporated or
unincorporated; raising the banks of streams, removing obstructions from them, and
widening, deepening, or straightening their channels; and roads, streets, and alleys,
and all other public uses for the benefit of an organized or unorganized borough, city,
town, or...
