§214.63. Contents of petition; place of filing

The right of expropriation granted by this Part shall be exercised in the following manner:

(1) A petition shall be filed by the department in the district court of the parish in which the property to be expropriated is situated. However, where the property to be expropriated extends into two or more parishes and the owner of the property resides in one of them, the petition shall be filed in the district court of the parish where the owner resides, but if the owner does not reside in any one of the parishes into which the property extends, the petition may be filed in any one of the parishes. The court wherein the petition is filed shall have jurisdiction to adjudicate as to all the property involved.

(2) The petition shall contain a statement of the purpose for which the property is to be expropriated, describing the property interest necessary to be acquired therefor with a plan of the same, a description of the improvements thereon, if any, and the name of the owner if known.

(3) The petition shall have annexed to it the following:

(a) A certified copy of a certificate of authorization to expropriate executed by the secretary of the department, declaring that the taking is necessary or useful for the purposes of this Part.

(b) A certificate executed by the secretary of the department or his designee declaring that the property interest has been fixed sufficiently in his judgment to provide for the public interest, and that the location and design of the proposed improvements are in accordance with the best modern practices adopted in the interest of coastal conservation, restoration and management.

(c) A statement that the establishment of the perpetual, transferable ownership of subsurface mineral rights as provided in R.S. 49:214.62 constitutes just and adequate compensation to the full extent of the owner's loss for the taking or the damage, or both.

(d) A copy of the return receipt from the department's letter of notification of intention to expropriate the property.

(e) A survey plat depicting the then-existing coast or shoreline of the property and the project area which the department reasonably believes to be the area impacted by the project for which the property is acquired.

(4) The petition shall contain a statement that it constitutes the secretary's agreement to establish in favor of the owner of the property the perpetual, transferrable ownership of all subsurface mineral rights to the then-existing coast or shoreline of the property, and to establish in such owner the ownership of fifty percent of the subsurface mineral rights in and to emergent lands within the project area, and certifying that the secretary, in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 41:1702(D)(2)(d) has submitted the petition for review and approval of the House and the Senate committees on natural resources, after publishing the petition as provided in the Administrative Procedure Act prior to filing.

Acts 2004, No. 633, §1, eff. July 5, 2004.