June 5, 1908, jury hears evidence and returns a verdict that the opening is a public necessity.
July 2, 1908, papers in the case go to the board of public works for award of damages after the hearing of evidence.
Thus, in a typical Milwaukee street opening almost a year elapses before the point of beginning to ascertain compensation is reached.
Los Angeles.[12] The city council passes an ordinance of intent to take private property by eminent domain and sets out the purpose for which the land is to be taken. The ordinance is published and thirty days are given for protest, either against the taking or against the district which has been marked out as benefited by the improvement. A protest against the improvement from the owners of a majority of the frontage of property proposed to be taken or damaged puts an end to the proceedings, and the improvement can not be initiated again for at least six months except on petition by the owners of a majority of the frontage. Not until the protests have been disposed of can the city council proceed to pass an ordinance authorizing the filing in court of a petition for condemnation. Sixty days from the time of the passing of the ordinance are allowed for filing the petition, and the details required in the petition are such that even this time usually has to be extended. It is impossible for the city to acquire land in less than a year.
Minneapolis.[13] The first hearing on the question of damages under the park procedure in Minneapolis is held before five appraisers appointed by the park commissioners. The second hearing is before the park commission. At the second hearing the park commissioners consider objections to the appraisers’ report on the ground either of irregularity in the proceedings or of inadequacy of the award of damages. The third hearing is before the court on the question of irregularity of the proceedings. The fourth hearing is before three appraisers appointed by the court to review the evidence and bring in a report on the question of damages. If this appraisal is unsatisfactory there may be even a fifth hearing before three new appraisers, but in the practice of the present counsel for the board of park commissioners, which has extended over several years, there has been only one instance of the court’s granting this fifth hearing.
St. Louis. In St. Louis there is a curious anomaly making for delay. Ordinarily the findings of the eminent domain commission are taken up on appeal to a justice sitting without a jury, but a corporation is allowed to appeal to a common law jury on the question of damages although not on the question of benefit. It is not infrequent for the appeal of a single corporation to result in a jury’s overthrowing the finding of the eminent domain commission in respect to one item, in which case all the work of the commission goes for nothing. A new commission must be appointed and the evidence must be entirely reviewed. A corporation has the same right in Kansas City but, by statute,[14] it must exercise that right before the eminent domain commissioners report, and if it elects to have its damages assessed by a jury the commissioners have no jurisdiction over that part of the case, but accept the finding of the jury and incorporate it in their own report.
Denver. In Denver, where in other details the condemnation procedure is satisfactory, there is much time wasted over the formality of notice and hearing. After the passing of the ordinance and the formal negotiation by the mayor for the purchase, a petition is brought in the district court. Two months, at least, are required for service on residents, and a month more for publication on absent defendants. The hearing is then begun before the commissioners, who are allowed thirty days to report, but this time can be extended. Thirty days are allowed for the publication of the report and thirty days more for the filing of petitions by parties interested. These petitions are usually tried out by a common law jury, but may be heard by a jury of six. It is impossible for the city to get possession of land inside of a year and, where many property owners are involved, much more time is required.
Chicago. In Chicago, where land for streets is commonly dedicated without expense to the city, the only considerable taking for street purposes in the past fifteen years was in connection with the widening of Randolph Street. The docket entries show that the ordinance was passed March 16, 1903, and the petition filed in court in June of the same year. The commission was appointed in July, 1903, and finished its work in September, but the time allowed for petitions and the actual trying of these petitions by jury so delayed the proceedings that an order of possession was not issued to the city until June, 1906.[15]
Oregon. In contrast with the cumbersome methods illustrated above, the state code of Oregon shows the possibilities of a more direct method of condemnation procedure.[16] Without preliminary notice or hearing a petition is filed in court and issues may be joined within fifteen days before a common law jury, and even in cases of non-resident owners the interval between the filing of petition and the trial before the jury is not over two months. The city may come into possession of the land within two months after filing the petition, unless the court docket is crowded. Delays are occasioned chiefly because of insufficient judges.