In the event the state, a state agency or other entity condemns property in excess of the dimensions or amount necessary for public use, as determined by the condemnor, if such determination occurs within five years of the date of condemnation, the prior owner from whom the property was taken, or his personal representative or heirs, shall have the option to purchase the property determined to be in excess. Such persons may purchase such property at a price equal to the price paid for such excess property by the condemnor to the prior owner at the time of taking, plus interest at the rate of six percent per year, for the period beginning with the date the prior owner received final payment for the land taken, and ending when the notice of intent to dispose is mailed, less the amount of any liens which attached against the property while it was held by the condemnor.

The notice of intent to dispose shall be mailed to the last known address of the prior owner by certified mail with a return receipt requested. The notice shall notify the prior owner of his right to purchase, specify which portion of the property of the prior owner is available for purchase by him, the number of acres available, the amount of money, both the principal and interest it will require to repurchase it and the amount of any liens which may be deducted from the purchase price. If within thirty days after mailing the notice of intent to dispose, the prior owner or his personal representative or heirs elect to exercise the option to purchase, the condemnor shall enter into an agreement prepared and approved by the attorney general, if the condemnor is a state agency, and by appropriate legal officer of the entity if the condemnor is an entity other than a state agency for the sale of the surplus land to the prior owner, his personal representative or heirs.

If the prior owner, his personal representative or heirs have not elected to exercise the option within thirty days from the date of mailing the notice of intent to dispose, the condemnor shall sell the property at public sale.

History: 1953 Comp., § 22-9-62, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 206, § 1; 1981, ch. 126, § 1.

The 1981 amendment, effective March 21, 1981, deleted "and if such excess property exceeds one acre in size" preceding "the prior owner" near the middle of the first sentence of the first undesignated paragraph, substituted "the" for "an" preceding "option" near the end of the first sentence of the first undesignated paragraph and substituted "last known" for "last-known" in the first sentence of the second undesignated paragraph.