An authority may file a declaration of taking in a condemnation case, but it must include specified property and ownership details and usually must be accompanied by a court deposit; the authority cannot file after the special commissioners’ award.
Sec. 366.166. DECLARATION OF TAKING. (a) An authority may file a declaration of taking with the clerk of the court: (1) in which the authority files a condemnation petition under Chapter 21, Property Code; or (2) to which the case is assigned. (b) An authority may file the declaration of taking concurrently with or subsequent to the filing of the condemnation petition but may not file the declaration after the special commissioners have made an award in the condemnation proceeding. (c) The declaration of taking must include: (1) a specific reference to the legislative authority for the condemnation; (2) a description and plot plan of the real property to be condemned, including the following information if applicable: (A) the municipality in which the property is located; (B) the street address of the property; and (C) the lot and block number of the property; (3) a statement of the property interest to be condemned; (4) the name and address of each property owner that the authority can obtain after reasonable investigation and a description of the owner's interest in the property; and (5) a statement that immediate possession of all or part of the property to be condemned is necessary for the timely construction of a turnpike project. (d) A deposit to the registry of the court of an amount equal to the appraised fair market value, as determined by the authority, of the property to be condemned and any damages to the remainder must accompany the declaration of taking. (e) Instead of the deposit under Subsection (d), at its option, the authority may, concurrently with the declaration of a taking, tender in favor of the owner of the subject property a bond or other security in an amount sufficient to secure the owner for the value of the property taken and damages to remaining property, if the authority obtains the court's approval. (f) The date on which the declaration is filed is the date of taking for the purpose of assessing the value of the property taken and damages to any remaining property to which an owner is entitled. (g) An owner may draw upon the deposit held by the court under Subsection (d) on the same terms and conditions as are applicable under state law to a property owner's withdrawal of a commissioners' award deposited under Section 21.021(a)(1), Property Code. (h) A property owner that is a defendant in an eminent domain action filed by an authority under this chapter has 20 days after the date of service of process of both a condemnation petition and a notice of declaration of taking to give notice to the court in which the action is pending of the defendant's desire to have the condemnation petition placed on the court's docket in the same manner as other cases pending in the court. On receipt of timely notice from the defendant, the court in which the eminent domain action is pending shall place the case on its docket in the same manner as other cases pending in the court. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1171, Sec. 7.24, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.