PIERRE, SD – Just when we said it wasn’t in the cards a new hand is dealt. Lawmakers from all across the state answered the call of South Dakota landowners, farmers, and ranchers and began circulating a petition for a special session to protect landowners’ private property rights from being seized without consent by private companies in the name of “eminent domain.”
Landowners and farmers from across South Dakota recently called for a special session at a highly-attended landowner rights rally at the State Capitol Rotunda in Pierre, SD.
The petition for a special session comes in response to carbon sequestration pipeline companies that are using the power of eminent domain to seize and use South Dakota farmland without landowner consent.
The petition will need to be signed by at least 2/3rds of the members of the South Dakota House of Representatives and 2/3rds of the members of the South Dakota Senate in order to call a special session. If the petition is successful, the legislature will meet to consider legislation regarding “legislative proposals on eminent domain, land property rights, and carbon sequestration pipelines,” according to the language of the petition.
Governor Kristi Noem also has the power, on her own, to call a special session by proclamation. Landowners recently delivered written requests from over 2000 people asking Governor Noem to call the special session and lead on defending private property rights in South Dakota against eminent domain abuse by private companies. To date, Governor Noem has refused the landowners’ requests for help.
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