Florida Eminent Domain Law Blog

Legislation has taken shape this session which proposes to limit the ability of government to take cemetery lands via eminent domain. Senate Bill 1308 (Michael S. Bennett) and House Bill 853(Baxter G. Troutman) both provide that, except for road system, transportation corridor, or rights-of-way purposes, a taking entity may only acquire an acre or more of land dedicated for cemetery purposes where it determines through a public hearing that there is “no reasonable alternative” to the taking.

While this seems to raise the bar on the standard for a taking via eminent domain, the broad exceptions and the size requirement of the taking would seem to limit the practical application to a fairly rare set of circumstances.