Chap. 608.—An ACT concerning the exercise of the power of eminent domain.

Approved January 18, 1904.

1. Be it enacted by: the general assembly of Virginia, as follows: The
word “railroad,” as used in this act, shall be construed to include any
railroad, whether operated by steam, electricity, or other motive power.

2. Jurisdiction in proceedings to condemn land or other property shall,
as to such land or other property in a city, be in the circuit, corporation,
or hustings court of the city, and as to any such land or other property
in a county, shall be in the circuit court of the county wherein the land
or other property, or the greater part thereof, proposed to be condemned
is located :

3. Any company chartered by this State, which is authorized by its
charter or by the laws of this State to condemn lands, or any interest or
estate therein, or materials, or other property, for its uses, may, by its
officers, agents, or servants, enter upon any lands or waters for the pur-
pose of examining the same, and surveying and laying out such as may
seem fit to an officer or agent authorized by it: provided, that no injury
be done the owner or possessor of the land. But no company shall, under
the authority of this section, throw open any fences or inclosures on any
land, or construct its works upon or through the same, or in any way in-
jure the property of the owner or possessor without his consent; nor shall
a company, under any provision of this act, invade the dwelling-house of
any person in a city or town, or any space within sixty fcet thereof, with-
out the consent of the owner, except in the case of a railroad company
when it is decided by the commissioners (appointed to ascertain the value
of the land or other property, or the interest or estate therein, to be taken)
that it would otherwise be impracticable, without unreasonable expense,
to construct such railroad; and except further in the case of the occu-
pancy by a railroad company of the streets or alleys, public or private, of
any city or town in pursuance of permission obtained from the corporate
authorities of said city or town; nor shall a company, under any pro-
vision of this act, invade the dwelling-house of any person in any county,
or any space within sixty feet thereof, without the consent of the owner,
except in the case of a railroad company, when it is decided by the com-
missioners (appointed to ascertain the value of the land or other prop-
erty, or the interest or estate therein, to be taken) that it would other-
wise be impracticable, without unreasonable expense, to construct such
railroad, by reason of the conformation of the country.

4, Any company heretofore or hereafter chartered by this State, which
is authorized by its charter or the laws of this State to condemn land or
other property, or any interest or estate therein, for its uses, which can-
not, because of the incapacity of the owner, or inability to agree upon the
price or terms, or because the owner cannot, with reasonable diligence,
be found in this State, or is unknown, agree on terms of purchase with
those entitled to any land or other property, or an interest or estate
therein, wanted to be taken and used in the construction, maintenance,
operation, improvement, or straightening of its line or works, or change
of location of its line or works, or in constructing or providing additional
facilities, or for other necessary purposes of such company, desiring to
condemn any land, or other property, or any interest or estate therein,
for any of its uses or purposes aforesaid, shall, before making applica-
tion for the appointment of commissioners as hereinafter provided, file
in the clerk’s office of the proper court, as defined in section two of this
act, a plat of the survey, with a profile showing the cuts and fills, trestles
and bridges, and a description of the land or other property which, or an
interest or estate in which, is sought to be condemned; and if known to
such company, @ memorandum showing the names and residence of the
owner or owners of such land or other property; and if more than one
parcel of land or property, or an interest or estate therein, a plat of the
survey and a description of each, with profile as aforesaid, and if known
to such company the names and residences of the owner or owners of
each, and showing also the quantity of land or other property which, or
an interest or estate in which, is sought to be condemned; and at the
same time it shall file a petition for the appointment of commissioners as
hereinafter provided, in which petition there shall be set forth the in-
terest or estate intended to be taken in the land or other property, and
the material facts upon which the application for the appointment of
commissioners is based, including the fact that the land, or other pro-
perty, or the interest or estate therein, sought to be condemned is wanted
for the uses and purposes of such company. The petition shall be verified
by the oath of the president, vice-president, superintendent, or one of the
directors of such company.

5. Upon complying with the requirements of the preceding section,
any such corporation may give ten days’ notice of its intention to apply
to the proper court, as defined in section two of this act, for the appoint-
ment of commissioners to ascertain what will be a just compensation for
the land or other property, or for the interest or estate therein, proposed
to be condemned for its uses, and to award the damages, if any, resulting
to the adjacent or other property of the owner, or to the property of any
other person, beyond the peculiar benefits that will accrue to such pro-
perties, respectively, from the construction and operation of the com-
pany’s works, which notice shall be served on the tenant of the freehold,
or his guardian, or committee, or if there be no such tenant, guardian,
or committee within this State, or if such tenant, guardian, or committee
cannot, with reasonable diligence, be found wjthin this State, or is un-
known, such notice, instead of being thus served, may be published and
posted as hereinafter in this section prescribed ; and in all cases notice of
such application shall be given to all persons whom it may concern by
likewise publishing and posting the same. Notice to the tenant of the
freehold, or to his guardian or committee, may be by publication and
posting in any case where it shall appear either by affidavit or by the
averments in the petition for the appointment of commissioners that said
tenant, guardian, or committee is not a resident of this State, or cannot,
with reasonable diligence, be found in this State, or is unknown. Any
notice which is permitted or required by this act to be published or posted
shall be published once a week for four successive weeks in a newspaper
published in the city or county wherein the land or property which, or an
interest or estate in which, is proposed to be condemned is located, and
by posting the same at the front door of the courthouse of said city or
county on the first day of the rules next preceding the application; or if
no newspaper be published in said city or county, then such notice shall
be posted as hereinbefore prescribed, and shall be published in some other
convenient newspaper in this State, to be designated in term time or in
vacation by the judge of the court to which such application is to be made.

6. Upon its appearing that such notice has been given, that such com-
pany has complied with the provision of section four of this act, and that
the land or other property, or the interest or estate therein sought to be
condemned is wanted for the uses and purposes of such company, the
court of the county or city in which the said land, or other property, or a
greater part thereof, lies, shall appoint five disinterested freeholders, resi-
dent in such county or city, any three or more of whom may act, for the
purpose of ascertaining a just compensation for such lands or other pro-
perty, or for such interest or estate therein, and awarding the damages,
if any, resulting to the adjacent or other property of the owner, or to the
property of any other person, beyond the peculiar benefits that will accrue
to such properties, respectively, from the construction and operation of
the company’s works; and in the order appointing such commissioners
the court shall designate the day and hour for them to meet, which order
shall operate as notice of such meeting to all parties in interest. Any one
or more of said commissioners attending on the land, or other property,
may adjourn from time to time until the business shall be finished. The
said commissioners having viewed the land or other property, may, from
time to time, adjourn to such other place in the city or county as they
may deem expedient, for the purpose of hearing evidence and arguments
and conferring about and formulating their report. The said commis-
sioners shall receive three dollars for every day they may be employed in
the performance of their dutics, which shall be paid by the parties at
whose instance they are appointed, unless otherwise ordered by the court.

%. Before executing their duties, the said commissioners shall take an

oath before some officer authorized by the laws of this State to adminis-

ter an oath, which shall be certified in substance as follows: “..........
county (or city), to-wit: I, 2.2.00... 2. ee eee gj BE Be io un (a fi od as 6 i
for the county (or city) aforesaid, do certify that................0.6..

have this day made oath before me that they will faithfully and impar-
tially ascertain what will be a just compensation for such land (or for
such interest or estate in the land) of the freehold whereof ............
is tenant, and for such other property as is proposed to be taken by the
ere rere eee company for its purposes, and award the dam-
ages, if any, resulting to the adjacent and other property of said tenant
or owner, and to the property of any other person, beyond the peculiar
benefits that will accrue to such properties, respectively, from the con-
struction and operation of the company’s works, and will truly certify
the same. Given under my hand this ...... day Of oxerw oem seas swe
which oath shall be attached to and returned with the report of the said
commissioners.

8. The commissioners, after viewing the property and land which. or
an interest or estate in which, is sought to be condemned, and the adja-
cent and other property of the owner, and the property of any other per-
son, affected by the construction and operation of the works of such com-
pany, and hearing such proper evidence as may be offered by the parties
touching the said compensation and damages, shall ascertain what will
be a just compensation for the said property and land, or for such in-
terest or estate thercin as is proposed to be taken, and assess the damages,
if any, to the adjacent. or other property of such tenant or owner, or to
the property of any other person, beyond the peculiar benefits that will
accrue to such propertics, respectively, from the construction and opera-
tion of the company’s works, and shall make report to the following

effect: “We; :asiasegiesimicainsawimaies ens ee , commissioners ap-
pointed by the .................0.-0. court of the county (or city) of
ere rr , to ascertain what will be a just compensa-
tion for such part of the land (or for such interest or estate in the land),
of the freehold whereof .................0005 is tenant, and for such
other property as is proposed to be taken by the................. com-

pany, and to assess the damages, if any, resulting to the adjacent or other
property of said tenant or owner, or to the property of any other person,
beyond the peculiar benefits that will acerue to such properties, respec-
tively, from the construction and operation of the company’s works, do
certify that on the ........ day of sccsiascnimnewew sa , the day desig-
nated in the said order (or the day to which we were regularly adjourned
from the day designated in said order), we met together on the said part
of the land, the limits of which part were then and there described to us
as follows, to-wit: (Here describe the same, and the interest or estate
therein, and the other property proposed to be taken, in such manner as
to make it reasonably certain) ; and, after being duly sworn, upon a view
of the part aforesaid, and of the adjacent and other property of said
owner, and of the property of other persons who will be damaged in their
property by the construction and operation of the works of said company;
and upon such evidence as was before us, we are of opinion, and do ascer-
tain, that for the said part (or for the interest or estate in the part), and
for the other property so taken................ will be a just compen-
sation, and the dainagcs to the adjacent and other property of said tenant
or owner, and to the property of other persons, who will be damaged in
their property by reason of the construction and operation of the works
of said company, beyond the peculiar benefits that will acerne to such
properties, respectively, from the construction and operation of such
works are: (Here set forth the amount of the damage, if any, to the
adjacent and other property of the owner and other persons. ). Given un-
der our hands this ........ day Of ic cssvswm ow vow sews wor

9. The said report, and the certificates of the officer administering the
oath, shall be forthwith returned to the clerk’s office of such court of the
county or city, where it shall remain for at least sixty days, after which,
unless good cause be shown against the report, the same shall be con-
firmed by the court and recorded. The sum so ascertained to be a just
compensation, and the measure of damages, if any, may be paid to the
persons entitled thereto, or into court, and, when paid to the persons en-
titled thereto, the receipt for the same, when witnessed by two witnesses
or acknowledged before a person duly authorized to take acknowledg-
ments of deeds, together with the report, shall be recorded by the clerk
of the court, and both the report and the receipt, when so recorded, duly
indexed by said clerk. Upon such payment, either to the person entitled
thereto or into court, and confirmation of the report, the title to the part
of the land, and to the other property fer which such compensation is
allowed shall be absolutely vested in the company, in fee simple, except in
the case of a turnpike company, where a sufficient right of way only for
the purposes of such company shall be vested, and except also, in the
ease of any other company, where, if the notice of the application to the
court shall so specify or describe, and the petition shall so pray, the in-
terest or estate as shall be so specified or described, and prayed for, shall
be vested.

10. If, however, good cause be shown against the report, or if the com-
missioners report their disagreement, or if they fail to report within a
reasonable time, not to excecd ninety days, the court may, without fur-
ther notice, as often as seems to it proper, appoint othcr commissioners,
and the matter may be proceeded in as before prescribed.

11. Whether any such new appointment be made or not, the company,
on paying into the court the sum ascertained by the previous report, may,
notwithstanding the pendency of proceedings, enter into and construct
its work upon or through that part of the land described in such previous
report. And no order ‘shall be made nor any injunction awarded by any
court or judge to stay the proceedings of the company in the prosecu-
tion of its work, unless it be manifest that it, its officers, agents, or ser-
vants, are transcending their authority, and that the interposition of
the court is necessary to prevent injury that cannot be adequately com-
pensated in damages.

12. When, after such payment into court, a report is made which is
confirmed, if the sum thereby ascertained exceed what was so paid, judg-
ment shall be given against the company for the amount. of such excess,
with legal interest thereon from the date of the award until payment
thereof cither into court, or to the party entitled thereto; and if what was
so paid exceed the sum ascertained by the second report, the excess shall
be paid back to the company. Tf the sum ascertained by the report,
which is confirmed, be not more than the sum ascertained by the first
report, the party applying for the appointment of other commissioners
shall Pay the costs occasioned by such application, unless the original re-
port was set aside on some other ground than that of insufficiency of
compensation.

13. The company, when such judgment is rendered against it, shall
thereafter have no right to possession of the land until the judgment is
satisfied. From the time of such satisfaction by the payment of the
money to the person entitled thereto, or into court, or from the time of
the confirmation of the subsequent report, if no additional compensa-
tion be thereby ascertained, or from the time of the termination of the
procecdings, if they be determined without such confirmation, the title
to the fee simple in the land, or other property, or to the intercst or cs-
tate condemned therein, shall be vested in the company.

14. To enable the court to dispose properly of any money so paid into
court, it may have inquiries by a commissioner to ascertain what per-
sons are entitled thereto, and in what proportions; and may make an
order of publication requiring all interested to appear before the commis-
sioner, that their respective claims may be passed upon. After such ref-
erence to a commissioner, and such publication, the court shall make such
disposition of the money so paid into court as may seem to it right.

15. Instead of having commissioners appointed in the manner pre-
scribed by sections five and six of this act, any such company may apply
to the circuit court of any county, which shall, upon it appearing that
such company has complied with the requirements of section four of this
act; that notice has been given, by publication and posting, as required
by section five of this act, and that the lands, or the interest or estate
therein, and other property, proposed to be taken are necessary for the
uses and purposes of such company, appoint five disinterested frechold-
ers, who, or any three or more of whom, shall constitute a board to as-
certain a just compensation to the owners of the several tracts of land
and other property upon the line of improvement, within the said
county, for such lands, or for such interests or estates therein, and for
such other property as are proposed to be taken by such company for its
purposes, and to assess damages, if any, resulting to the adjacent or other
property of the respective owners, or to the property of any other person
or persons beyond the peculiar benefits that will accrue to such proper-
ties, respectively, from the construction and operation of the company’s
works. Vacancies in the said board shall be filled without further notice
by the court making the original appointment. The commissioners shall
hold their office during the pleasure of the court, and shall receive three
dollars for every day they shall be employed in the performance of thvir
duties, to be paid by the company making application for their appoint-
ment.

16. Before executing the duties of his office, each commissioner shall
take an oath before some ofticcr authorized by the laws of this State to
administer oaths, to the following effect: “I, .............00e cee ees ‘
do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and impartially ascertain what
will be a just compensation to the owner, in each case submitted to me,
for such land (or for such interest or estate in the land), and for such
other property as is proposed to be taken by the ..............2...05.
company for its purposes, and assess the damages, if any, to the adja-
cent and other property of each owner, or to the property of any other
person or persons, beyond the peculiar benefits that will accrue to such
properties, respectively, from the construction and operation of the com-
pany’s works, and will truly certify the same. Given under my hand
this .......... , day of ........... ” Such oath shall be certified by
said officer, and returned with the report of the commissioners, and
filed in the office of the clerk of the county.

17. The commissioners so appointed and qualified shall in each case
submitted to them, ascertain, in the manner prescribed for the commis-
sioners by section eight of this act, what ‘will be a just compensation for
the land, or for the interest or estate therein, and for the other
property ‘proposed to be taken as aforesaid, and award the damages, if
any, resulting to the adjacent and other property of the owner or owners,
and to the properly of any other person or persons beyond the peculiar
benefits that will accrue to such properties, respectively, from the con-
struction and operation of the company’s works, and make a report to
the following effect: “We, ........... ccc eee commissioners duly ap-
pointed and qualified, hereby certify that on the ........ day of
#9 sain ere ee New wae are ® , we met together on the land of ..............
which (or an interest or estate in which), is proposed to be taken by the
ood RRS WT TIS RS. ys HS company for its purposes, and then and there de-
scribed to us as follows: (Here describe it, and the interest or estate
therein, proposed to be taken, in such manner as to make it reasonably
certain) ; and upon a view of the land aforesaid, and of the adjacent and
other property of the owner, and of the property of other persons, who
will be damaged in their property by the construction and opcration of
the company’s works, and upon such evidence as was before us, we as-
certain that for the part of the said land (or for the interest or estate in
the land), and the other property proposed to be taken, .............-
will be a just compensation; and the damages to the adjacent and other
property of said owner (and to the property of anv other person or per-
sons, if any), beyond the peculiar benefits that will accrue to such pro-
perties, respectively, from the construction and operation of the com-
pany’s works are ............. 0000. Given under our hands this
Tiare eases day of ................” But notice of the time for the
commissioners to meet on any land which, or an interest or estate in
which, is proposed to be so taken, shall be given in the manner prescribed
by section five of this act.

18. The proceedings of the commissioners appointed and acting under
the three preceding sections shall conform to the general provisions of
this act, and they shal] have all the general powers conferred by this act,
and they shall return their report to the court appointing them, and the
court of such county shall have the like authority over it, and the pro-
ceedings thereon shall be the like in all respects as are prescribed by sec-
tions nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen of this act.

19. Notwithstanding any such company may have made a location of
lands for its purposes, and proceeded to ascertain the compensation there-
for, or may have completed its works thereon, and operated the same,
such company may afterwards change its location, from time to time, as
often as it may see cause; and proceedings may be had to ascertain what
will be a just compensation for the lands, or for the interest or estate
proposed to be taken in the land, and the damages to the adjacent and
other property of the owner, or to the property of other persons, upon
any such new location, and the work may be constructed upon or through
the same, and the title to such lands, or to such interest or estate therein,
obtained in like manner as if it were the first location. But whenever a
change of location authorized by this section shall be made, the title to
lands, or to the interest or estate therein, condemned for the former loca-
tion shall revert to the original owner, his heirs or assigns. And full
power and authority is hereby given any railroad company chartered by
the State of Virginia to change the location of any part of the line of its
railroad between its existing termini, in order to straighten or improve
the same, whenever such change may be considered desirable by its board
of directors, so as to shorten the distance between its termini or between
its main line and the terminus of any branch, or so as to improve the
grades or alignment on said main line or branch; but in making such
change or improvement no road shall be permitted to abandon its own
tracks or road-bed, and adopt and use the tracks or road-bed of any other
railroad in lieu of its own; and proceedings may be had to ascertain what
will be a just compensation for the lands, or for the interest or estate
therein, required for such new location, and the damages to the adjacent
and other property of ihe owner, or the property of other persons, in the
manner provided in this act, and the work may be constructed upon or
through the same, and the titles to such lands, or to such interest or estate
therein, obtained in like manner as if it were the first location: pro-
vided, however, that such new line shall be located at no greater distance
than one mile from any station already established on said railroad, and
at no greater distance than two miles from any point on the then existing
line of said road: and provided, further, that if any station shall be
abandoned in consequence of such change, that then, and in that event,
another station shall be established in lieu thereof at the nearest practica-
ble point thereto: and provided, further, that in so changing the location
of its lines no company shall remove its lines from nor abandon a county
which subscribed money to the building of such lines through such
county: and provided, further, that no such change of route which would
amount to an abandonment of a station at any town or village having a
population of one hundred inhabitants or over, or having a courthouse or
county seat, shall be made: and provided, further, that whenever any
station shall be so abandoned at which there shall be located any manu-
facturing establishment or establishments of the assessed value of five
thousand dollars or over, the owners of such establishments shall be paid
such damages as they may sustain by reason of said change of location,
not exceeding the assessed value thereof, such damages to be ascertained
hy the commissioners appointed in the manner in this act provided, for
the condemnation of lands, or an intercst or estate therein, for that pur-
pose by the court of the county in which said station is located.

20. If the company and the person whose land, or any interest or
estate therein, is being condemned under the provisions of this act shall,
before the commissioners make their report, enter into any contract in
relation to the building, operating, or maintaining the proposed work, or
in relation to fencing, culverts, depots, stations, crossings, sidings, cattle-
guards, damage from fire, injury to or destruction of property, real or
personal, or like matters, it shall be the duty of the said commissioners,
if said contract is brought to their attention by the parties thercto, to set
forth such contract in their report, to be considered and acted on by the
court as a part of the said report; and if the said report be confirmed,
and the land, or the interest or estate therein, be taken, the said contract
shall thereafter run as a covenant with the said land, or with the interest
or estate therein, so taken.

21. The clerk of the court wherein there is a condemnation of land, or
of any interest or estate therein, for any purposes in this act mentioned,
shall make and certify a copy of so much of the reports, orders, and pro-
ceedings in the cause as shall show such condemnation, and also any such
contract, if any there be, as is mentioned in the preceding section, and
deliver or transmit the same, and along therewith such description of the
land, and of such interest or estate therein, as appears by the papers in
the cause, to the clerk of the court of the county or city in which any
portion of the land lies, or to the clerk of the chancery court of the city
of Richmond, if any portion of the land lies within the corporate limits
of the said city, who shall record the same in his deed book, and index it
in the name of the person who had the land before, and also in the name
of the company or party acquiring such lands, or such interest or estate.
The fees of the clerk for recording shal] he the same as for recording a
deed, and said fees, as well as the fees of the clerk for making the copy
aforesaid, shall be paid by the company or other party on whose behalf
the condemnation is made. >

22. Any such company may, by its officers, agents, or servants, enter
upon any convenient lands for the purpose of obtaining therefrom wood,
sand, stone, gravel, earth, or other material necessary to be taken and
used in the construction, maintenance, operation, or improvement of its
work, and may, in like manner, take and consume any and all water not
required by the owner and necessary for the uses of its engines, whether
locomotive or stationary, or other purposes; and may, in the mode pre-
scribed by this act, condemn as much land contiguous to such water as
shall be required for the construction of suitable wells or reservoirs, lo-
cating its pumping engines and machinery, for the erection of buildings
for the protection of the same, and for the right of way thereto; and may
also condemn as much land as may be necessary for pipes to be used for
conducting said water to the proper locality. But said company shall not
cut down any fruit tree, or any tree preserved in any field or lot for shade
or ornament, or take any building, nor take any of said things from any
lot in a city or town. Before taking any of said things, the company,
unless it agrees therefor with those having the right thereto, shall give
notice in the manner provided by section five of this act, to the tenant of
the freehold, and in case of water, shall give notice in the same manner
to the owner or tenant of the land upon which said water is located ; and
although it may own or acquire the land upon which the water is located,
or be able to agree with the owncr therefor, it shall further give notice in
like manner to all riparian owners, having an interest likely to be affected
by such action, that at a certain time and place, to be specified in the
notice, application will be made to a justice to appoint commissioners to
ascertain what will be a just compensation for the same, and to assess the
damages, if any, to the owner or any other person, in his property, af-
fected by such taking. At such time and place the justice shall appoint
three disinterested frecholders as commissioners, and designate the time
and place of their meeting, who, after being sworn, shall view the prem-
ises and report in writing the extent to which wood, sand, stone, gravel,
earth, water, or other material is proposed to be taken, the nature of the
injury which may be done in cutting, quarrying, digging, consuming, or
carrying away the same, and what will be a just compensation therefor,
and the damage to the owner, or any other person in his property, affected
thereby. The notice, certificate of the commissioners having been sworn,
and their report, shall be forthwith returned to the court of the county.
If good cause be shown against the report, or if the commissioners cannot
agree, or fail to report, within a reasonable time, the court may, as often
as seems to it proper, without further notice, appoint other commission-
ers, and designate the time and place of their meeting, who shall act and
report in the manner before prescribed. If the report be confirmed, upon
the payment to the person or persons entitled thereto, or into court, of
the sum: or sums so ascertained, the company may take, carry away, use,
and consume the wood, sand, stone, gravel, earth, water, or other materi
for which such compensation and damages, if any, may have been al-
lowed ; and though the report may not be confirmed, upon the payment
into court of the sum or sums therein mentioned, it may proceed in like
manner as if the report had been confirmed and payment made of the
sum, or sums thereby ascertained. Upon the coming in of a new report,
after such payment into court, if it confirms the report, judgment shall
be rendered as in cases provided for by section twelve of this act. From
the time any such judgment is rendered against the company, its right to
cut, quarry, dig, take away, use, and consume, shall be suspended until
the said judgment shall be satisfied. To enable the court to dispose pro-
perly of any money so paid into court, it may proceed in the mode pre-
seribed by section fourteen of this act. Any person claiming to be dam-
aged in his property by such taking may appear at the time and place
specified, make himself a party to the proceedings, and have his rights
passed upon by the commissioners, and his damage, if any, ascertained,
allowed, and paid as hereinbefore provided for the taking of the water,
or other things named in this section. But after such notice, and the
judgment of the court upon the report of the commissioners, and the pay-
ment to the person or persons interested, or into court, of the amount
ascertained as hereinbefore provided, no action for such damages shall be
brought against the company using or consuming said water or other
things.

23. Any person whose property, or any interest or estate therein, is to
be taken, or who claims that he will be damaged in his property by reason
of the location, construction, straightening of the line, or change of loca-
tion, maintenance, or proper and reasonable operation of any works in
this act mentioned, or by the taking of any land, or other property, or an
interest or estate therein, for public use, may appear before the commis-
sioners appointed as in this act provided, at the time and place provided
for their meeting, make himself a party to the proceedings, and have his
rights passed upon by the commissioners, and his damages, if any, ascer-
tained, allowed, and paid as in this act hereinbefore provided for the
taking of land, material, water, or other things. But after the notice
required by this act, and the judgment of the court upon the report of the
commissioners, and the payment to the person or persons therein named,
or into court, for their use, of the sum or sums of money ascertained by
such report, no action shall be brought by any person, whether he ap-
peared or not, to recover compensation for the taking of such lands, or
other property, or of any interest or estate therein, or for damages, con-
sidered and passed upon by the commissioners, resulting to the owner, or
to any other person from the location, construction, straightening of the
line, or change of location, maintenance, or proper and reasonable opera-
tion of any such works.

24. Nothing in the preceding sections of this act shall be so construed
as to authorize the condemnation or acquisition, except by the consent of
the general assembly, of any lands belonging to, attached to the site, or
used for the purposes of any university, college, or other seminary of
learning owned and controlled by the Commonwealth, or to authorize the
condemnation or acquisition, except by the consent of the general assem-
bly, of any lands belonging to, attached to the site, or used for the pur-
poses of any State hospital, lunatic asylum, or the institution for the
deaf and blind, or to authorize the condemnation of any cemetery or
burial ground, or any part thereof, established prior to the date of the
charter of such company proposing to condemn. But the lands of any
university, incorporated college, or other seminary of learning, not owned
and conducted by the Commonwealth, shall be subject to condemnation
for the purposes of electric railways and public highways: provided, no
part of such lands shall be condemned which are within five hundred feet
of any building erected and used for school purposes at the time pro-
ceedings are instituted, nor through the land which surrounds the school
buildings and is used at such time as a campus, park, or athletic ground
or field in connection therewith.

25. If the court, or the board of supervisors, of any county, the coun-
cil of any city or town, the trustees of any school district, the institution
for the deaf and blind, any of the State hospitals, the University of Vir-
ginia, the Virginia Military Institute, or any other institution of this
State, cannot, because of the incapacity of the owner, or inability to agree
upon a price or terms, or because the owner cannot, with reasonable dili-
gence, be found in this State, or is unknown, agree on terms of purchase
with those entitled to any land, buildings, structures, sand, earth, gravel,
water, or other material necessary to be taken and used for the purposes
of such county, city, or town, or school district, or for the purposes of
the institution for the deaf and blind, or of any such State hospital, or
of the University of Virginia, or of the Virginia Military Institute, or
of any other State institution, it may acquire the same by condemna-
tion under the provisions of this act, and the proceedings in all such
cases shall be according to the provisions of this act so far as they can
be applied to the same.

26. In any case in which a company, county, city, town, school dis-
trict, institution, or hospital may be entitleg under the laws of this Com-
monwealth to enter upon and condemn any lands, or other property, or
any interest or estate therein, the sheriff or sergeant, whenever required,
shall attend and remove, if necssary, any forcible resistance to such entry
and condemnation.

2’. If, in any proceeding under the provisions of this act, the com-
missioners shall fail to report as hereinbefore provided within one year
from the date of the order appointing them, such appointment shall ipso
facto be vacated, and proceedings shall thereafter be had de novo for the
appointment of other commissioners, but this section shall not be con-
strued as to preclude the appointment of any one or more, or all, of the
former commissioners. If, in any such proceeding, the amount or
amounts ascertained by the commissioners as aforesaid, be not paid either
to the party entitled thereto, or into court, within three months from
the date of the filing of the report of the commissioners, the proceedings
shall ipso facto be vacated and dismissed.

28. Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to alter, amend,
or repeal section fifty-two of chapter five of the act entitled “an act con-
cerning corporations,” which became a law May twenty-first, nineteen
hundred and three.

29. This act shall be in force from and after February first, nineteen
hundred and four. -