The Supreme Court’s ruling, allowing the government to use eminent domain to take a private person’s property and award it to a private business, was just the wakeup call the legislature needed. The alarming thing is the government did not need a Supreme Court ruling to give them this authority: it is already in the State Code.

Eminent domain is a pressing problem of deceptive proportions for West Virginians. It is invoked over 140 times for a wide range of governmental officials, many of them holding small offices. Some of these positions are won by local votes that have a meager turnout. In some instances the winner garners a mere 40 votes.

Eminent domain has its place in society. If a homeowner’s property is the best spot for a school or for a road, then all of us can understand; but invoking eminent domain to wrest someone’s property for another private individual’s use is quite another matter.

West Virginia desperately needs a constitutional amendment that would give certain officials the right to use eminent domain and restrict eminent domain to public use.

Another problem with eminent domain is that if you take the government to court over your land, you still have to pay your lawyer’s fees even if you win. Homeowners pay significant amounts just to defend what is inherently theirs.

So far, the Democratic leadership, including Governor Joe Manchin, has ignored this issue; but I heard yesterday from a very reliable source that the Governor would put eminent domain on the call for the September special session.

It will be interesting to see the Democrat’s solution. They will most likely introduce a statutorily fix for the private issue only. The Republican Senator’s plan, led by Senator Yoder, will comprehensively repair eminent domain for good.