EMINENT DOMAIN

by David Nuttle

Eminent Domain is the legal right of a government entity to take private property for valid public need provided the owner is paid current fair market price for the property. This blog is about my personal negative experience with this practice.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used the said law to take my family's farm, Char-Mell Farm having 1,200 acres of crop production and livestock pasture. The taking was to create a 17,000 reservoir to impound water on the Walnut River for "flood control." This was basic Corps' justification to request and obtain project funds from the U. S. Congress. At the time of this taking, 1976, my sister, Sharon, and I were engaged in our own careers & my mom, Mella, was widowed living on the farm after my father, Charles, died of cancer. The farm was leased to a local friend who was a good farmer.

A friend, Mark (not his real name), was an officer in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps). Knowing of the loss of Char-Mell farm, where he had hunted game in his youth, provided me with an "internal" Corps planning document for the construction of several very large reservoirs taking thousands of acres of farmland to impound water, via many more large reservoirs. This water was needed to help float barges in a barge canal the Corps planned to construct to all the way to Denver, Colorado. I published the Corps' said plan in a booklet entitled "Truth Drowning: The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers." A copy of this booklet was then given, by me, to every member of the U. S. Congress. Upon such disclosure of project deceit, by the Corps, that damaged any hope of Congress providing more funds for this boondoggle created for benefit of Corps' contractors. However, the funds for taking the family's Char-Mell Farm were already approved.

In retaliation for my exposure of the Corps said "internal plan," the Corps sent what was a probable "torch team" to burn all our farm structures, in one night. At the time, we were given 6-month's time to remove of salvage these improvements while the reservoir dam, for what was and is known as the El Dorado Lake, was under construction. Following this act, the Corps arranged for a very damaging farm appraisal report to justify taking Char-Mell Farm for $0.25 cents on the then fair market dollar value. As an example of fabricated damage on their appraisal report was a false statement that our farm was cut in half by double railroad tracks with no overpass of underpass to access each half of the farm. In addition, the Corps worked with the U. S. Attorney's Office on plans to delay our Eminent Domain trial for not less than 5-years. There was no drought that certain Officers of the Corps were very angry at my publication of what they considered to be a "confidential" plan for a nearly $2 billion boondoggle.

The Corps did manage to delay our Eminent Domain trial for 5-years. They used one very ridiculous motion every other month to delay our trial. When we finally went to trial, three retired judges heard our case. The judges did not believe the Corps' appraisal of Char-Mell Farm and went to inspect the farm to validate or refute each negative in the appraisal, All the negatives, used to lower fair market value of our farm, proved to be total fabrication. The Corps' attorneys, three in number, lied so often to our trail judges that two attorneys were disbarred by the judges during our trail. When it came time for the Corps' only remaining attorney to give a closing argument, the senior judge told the attorney to "sit down, we have no desire to hear any more of your lies!"

After five long years of abuse by the Corps, said judges ordered the Corps to pay full fair market value for Char-Mell Farm. Then, under the law, we had a year to use those funds to buy a similar farm. I delayed progress on my career to help my widowed mother, Mella, do so. I regret to say this episode was not the end of the abuses and corruption I witnessed by our federal agencies. Sad but true!!!