Existing law makes the Department of Transportation responsible for the construction of state highways and authorizes it to do any act necessary for the construction, improvement, maintenance, or use of highways under its jurisdiction, possession, or control. Under existing law, the department is authorized to acquire by eminent domain any property necessary for state highway purposes.
This bill would require the department, for any property that the department is acquiring by, or under threat of, eminent domain, to provide, in a timely manner, to
the property owner a copy of all appraisals performed or obtained by the department. The bill would also require the
appraiser to provide a copy of those appraisals to the department if they are first provided to the property owner instead of the department.