{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-416.550","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 416.550","heading":"Right to condemn -- Requirements and restrictions regarding agreement","body":"to acquire property rights prior to condemnation proceedings.\n(1) Whenever any condemnor cannot, by agreement with the owner thereof, acquire the\nproperty right, privileges or easements needed for any of the uses or purposes for\nwhich the condemnor is authorized by law, to exercise its right of eminent domain,\nthe condemnor may condemn such property, property rights, privileges or\neasements pursuant to the provisions of KRS 416.540 to 416.670.\n(2) In obtaining an agreement under subsection (1) of this section:\n(a) The condemnor and its employees or agents shall not make any materially\nfalse statements or engage in intimidating or misleading negotiating tactics;\n(b) Any offer for the purchase of property shall be in writing and delivered to the\nproperty owner via:\n1. Certified mail, return receipt requested; or\n2. Hand delivery, verified by government -issued identification and\naccompanied by the signature of the property owner; and\n(c) 1. a. The property owner shall be afforded the opportunity to obtain an\nindependent appraisal of the property, conducted by an appraiser\ncertified or licensed under KRS Chapter 324A, within sixty (60)\ndays of the receipt of the initial offer for purc hase under paragraph\n(b) of this subsection.\nb. If the property owner refuses to take delivery of the initial offer for\npurchase under paragraph (b) of this subsection, the independent\nappraisal period shall be reduced to thirty (30) days from the date\nof the refusal. The condemnor shall certify the refusal in a sworn\naffidavit.\n2. The condemnor and property owner may continue to negotiate following\nthe initial offer for the purchase of property. Subsequent offers\nfollowing negotiation between the property owner and the condemnor\nshall not be subject to the independent appraisal peri od described in\nsubparagraph 1. of this paragraph.\n3. The condemnor shall:\na. Take into consideration the property value indicated by the\nindependent appraisal obtained by the property owner under\nsubparagraph 1. of this paragraph at all stages of negotiat ion for\npurchase of the property; and\nb. If it conducts its own appraisals on the property, use an appraiser\ncertified or licensed under KRS Chapter 324A unless the value of\nthe portion of the property to be condemned is reasonably\nestimated by the condemn or to be less than twenty -five thousand\ndollars ($25,000), in which case the condemnor may use in -house\nappraisal services.\n4. The condemnor shall not file a petition for the initiation of a\ncondemnation action until after the independent appraisal period\ndescribed in subparagraph 1. of this paragraph has expired.\nA violation of any requirement in this section shall result in a dismissal of the\ncondemnation action pursuant to KRS 416.610(4). A violation of subsection\n(2)(a) of this section shall, in additi on to dismissal of the action, entitle the\nproperty owner to recovery of costs, expenses, and reasonable attorney's fees\nin the action.\n(3) It is not a prerequisite to an action to attempt to agree with an owner who is\nunknown or who, after reasonable effort, cannot be found within the state or with an\nowner who is under a disability.","path":["KRS Chapter 416"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56848","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:37Z","sha256":"72d30ad032275ccdc8d3b1ddb6e8823872c5108467f6d548b06d26b70178dff2","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-416.540","next":"us-ky/krs-416.560"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}