The Texas Supreme Court on June 24 ruled, in a 5 to 3 opinion, that the private Texas Central high-speed rail project from Dallas to Houston can use eminent domain power to take property for right-of-way where the owner is unwilling to sell.
However, the decision, which ends two years of holdups, may have come too late. Texas Central’s board of directors disbanded in May and have yet to be replaced, and the CEO quit on June 12 and had to announce his departure on Linkedin – the Texas Central website doesn’t seem to have been updated in some time.
This actually caused one of the plaintiffs in the pending lawsuit to petition the Texas court for summary judgment because the defendant no longer existed, but an attorney for Texas Central replied on June 21 that “Contrary to such unsupported speculation, Texas Central remains open for business under its new management, is continuing to seek further investment, and is moving forward with the development of this high-speed train.”
The Texas Supreme Court’s opinion, authored by Justice Debra Lehrmann, is a prime example of the “textualism” judicial philosophy (when in doubt, first look at the plain meaning of the words that comprise the law). Texas Central is not a government entity, but there are two separate Texas laws that allow private rail companies to exercise eminent domain powers:
- A “railroad company” can use eminent domain. Such company is defined as either (1) “a railroad incorporated before September 1, 2007 under former Title 112, Revised Statutes” or (2) “any other legal entity operating a railroad, including an entity organized under the Texas Business Corporation Act or the Texas Corporation Law provisions of the Business Organizations Code.”
- An “interurban electric railway company” can use eminent domain. Such company is defined as “A corporation chartered for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, maintaining, or operating lines of electric railway between municipalities in this state for the transportation of freight, passengers, or both freight and passengers.”