Taking private property for private use

• Currency: Current through 11/8/2022 Election
• Citation: Colo. Const. art. II § 14

Private property shall not be taken for private use unless by consent of the owner, except for private ways of necessity, and except for reservoirs, drains, flumes or ditches on or across the lands of others, for agricultural, mining, milling, domestic or sanitary purposes.

Cite as Colo. Const. art. II § 14

Source:

Entire article added, effective August 1, 1876, see L. 1877, p. 30.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Legality of the Denver Housing Authority", see 12 Rocky Mt. L. Rev. 30 (1939). For article, "The Case for Billboard Control: Precedent and Prediction", see 36 Dicta 461 (1959). For article, "Constitutional Law: The Validity of Urban Renewal in Colorado", see 39 Dicta 149 (1962). For comment on Rabinoff v. District Court appearing below, see 35 U. Colo. L. Rev. 269 (1963). For article, "Fair Housing in Colorado", see 42 Den. L. Ctr. J. 1 (1965). For note, "A Survey of Colorado Water Law", see 47 Den. L. J. 226 (1970). For comment, "Water: Statewide or Local Concern -- City of Thornton v. Farmers Reservoir & Irrigation Co., 194 Colo. 526, 575 P.2d 382 (1978)", see 56 Den. L.J. 625 (1979). For article, "Access to Mineral Lands in Colorado", see 11 Colo. Law. 870 (1982). For article, "Attacking Regulatory Takings of Natural Resource Property Rights", see 17 Colo. Law. 2155 (1988). For article, "Access at Last: The Use of Private Condemnation", see 29 Colo. Law. 77 (Feb. 2000). For article, "The Reemergence of Property Owners' Rights in Takings Jurisprudence", see 31 Colo. Law. 93 (June 2002). For article, "Eminent Domain Law in Colorado--Part I: The Right to Take Private Property", see 35 Colo. Law. 65 (Sept. 2006). For article, "Unilateral Ditch Modification", see 38 Colo. Law. 37 (Feb. 2009).

This section and the following section protect the individual in his vested rights and prohibit the taking thereof for public or private use without condemnation under proper proceedings and just compensation given therefor. Stuart v. Davis, 25 Colo. App. 568, 139 P. 577 (1914).

Ultimate sources of right of condemnation are this section and § 7 of art. XVI, Colo. Const., which deals with rights-of-way for the transportation of water. Bubb v. Christensen, 200 Colo. 21, 610 P.2d 1343 (1980).

This section is a general inhibition against taking private property for private use without the consent of the owner. Crystal Park Co. v. Morton, 27 Colo. App. 74, 146 P. 566 (1915).

But with certain exceptions. The exceptions are constitutional grants of rights and powers not theretofore existing, namely, the right to take private property for private use, without the consent of the owner, in the instances therein enumerated. Crystal Park Co. v. Morton, 27 Colo. App. 74, 146 P. 566 (1915).

Under this section and title 38, dealing with eminent domain, private persons have the right to take private property for the uses specified in this section. Pine Martin Mining Co. v. Empire Zinc Co., 90 Colo. 529, 11 P.2d 221 (1932).

Because the power to condemn private property is in derogation of the right to own and keep property, the exceptions in this section must be interpreted narrowly, with any uncertainty in the ambit of the power to condemn resolved against the person asserting the power. Akin v. Four Corners Encampment, 179 P.3d 139 (Colo. App. 2007).