Eminent domain, compulsory purchase, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation is “the power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exercise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property. ” The property is taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties who will devote it to public or civic use or, in some cases, economic development.
