Maryland Easements, Landlocked Property and Eminent Domain (2026)

In Maryland, a prescriptive easement takes 20 years of adverse, exclusive and uninterrupted use of another person's land. That period comes from the courts (Kirby v. Hook, 1997), and Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-103(b)(1) preserves the common-law doctrine. On eminent domain, Maryland did not adopt a ban on economic-development takings after Kelo v. City of New London: article III, § 40 of the Maryland Constitution requires just compensation to be paid or tendered first, and a 2007 act (Senate Bill 3) added a 4-year deadline to file after a taking is authorized (Real Property § 12-105.1) and raised relocation payments.

This page covers both halves of Maryland law: easements between private landowners first, then the government's power to take private property. For other states, see our guide to easement laws by state.

Information last verified on October 21, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Maryland state law on private easements (Real Property Article §§ 2-119, 3-201, 4-105 and 5-103; Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-103; and Maryland appellate case law) and on condemnation of private property (Maryland Constitution article III, §§ 40, 40A, 40B, 40C and 61; Real Property Article Title 12; Public Utilities §§ 5-403, 5-404 and 7-207). It does not cover adverse possession of title (see Maryland squatters' rights and adverse possession), homeowners' association covenants, zoning or regulatory takings, federal condemnation (see eminent domain laws by state), or county and Baltimore City local laws beyond the Baltimore City quick-take rule noted below.

Easements in Maryland

An easement is a right to use someone else's land for a specific purpose, such as a driveway or a utility line, without owning it. The Court of Appeals of Maryland put the basic division simply in Kirby v. Hook: "An easement can be created expressly or by implication." It added that "One form of implied easement is an easement by prescription."

Express easements: a signed writing

An easement granted by agreement must be in writing. Real Property § 5-103 provides:

"No corporeal estate, leasehold or freehold, or incorporeal interest in land may be assigned, granted, or surrendered, unless it is in writing signed by the party assigning, granting, or surrendering it, or his agent lawfully authorized by writing, or by act and operation of law."

An easement is an incorporeal interest in land, so the rule covers creating one by deed and giving one up. A granted easement also lasts indefinitely unless the document says otherwise. Under Real Property § 4-105, "every grant or reservation of an easement passes or reserves an easement in perpetuity," "Unless a contrary intention appears by express terms or is necessarily implied," and no words of inheritance are needed.

Recording matters for who is bound. Real Property § 3-201 provides that every deed, "when recorded, takes effect from its effective date as against the grantor, his personal representatives, every purchaser with notice of the deed, and every creditor of the grantor with or without notice." Recorded easements show up in the land records; see how to search Maryland property records.

Maryland also recognizes solar easements. Real Property § 2-119 defines a solar easement as an interest in land that "(i) Is conveyed or assigned in perpetuity; and (ii) Limits the use of the land to preserve the receipt of sunlight across the land for the use of a property owner's solar collector system."

Landlocked land: the way of necessity

Maryland's condemnation title (Real Property Title 12) has no procedure for a private landowner to condemn a road across a neighbor's land. The remedy Maryland courts recognize is the common-law way of necessity, an implied easement.

In Hancock v. Henderson (1964), the Court of Appeals called ways by necessity "a special class of implied grants" that "have been recognized in this State for a good many years," and repeated the rule it had stated in Mullins v. Ray (1963):

"Where a grantor conveys a tract of land which has no outlet to a public highway except over his remaining land or over that of a stranger, a way of necessity over the grantor's remaining property will be implied."

The rule turns on a conveyance by a common grantor: the implied way runs over the land the grantor kept. The Court of Appeals summed up the requirements in Stansbury v. MDR Development (2006): "(1) initial unity of title of the parcels of real property in question; (2) severance of the unity of title by conveyance of one of the parcels; and (3) the easement must be necessary in order for the grantor or grantee of the property in question to be able to access his or her land, with the necessity existing both at the time of the severance of title and at the time of the exercise of the easement." In Stansbury the court found a way of necessity even though the landlocked part of the property could be reached by navigable water.

Convenience is not enough. "Mere inconvenience will not be sufficient to justify the finding of a way of necessity. It is only in case of strictest necessity, where it would not be reasonable to suppose that the parties intended the contrary, that the principle of implied easement can be invoked" (Condry v. Laurie, 1945). A way of necessity "exists only so long as the necessity itself remains," and Hancock described as "the generally held view" the rule that non-use, without more, does not extinguish a way by necessity.

Prescriptive easements: 20 years

Maryland has no statute naming a period for prescriptive easements. The period comes from the Court of Appeals in Kirby v. Hook (1997):

"A prescriptive easement arises when a party makes an adverse, exclusive, and uninterrupted use of another's real property for twenty years."

The same opinion explains how adversity is shown:

• Adverse means without permission. "A party's use is adverse if it occurs without license or permission."
• A presumption after 20 years. "When a person has used a right of way openly, continuously, and without explanation for twenty years, it is presumed that the use has been adverse under a claim of right." The court continued: "The burden then shifts to the landowner to show that the use was permissive."
• An exception for unimproved land. "When an easement is claimed on land that is unimproved or in a general state of nature, there is a legal presumption that the use is by permission of the owner," so the person claiming the easement must prove the use was adverse (Clickner v. Magothy River Ass'n, 2012).
• Permission defeats the claim, with one exception. "As a general rule, permissive use can never ripen into a prescriptive easement." The court noted an exception "where there has been an attempt to grant an irrevocable easement which is void because of the statute of frauds."

The statute that sets Maryland's 20-year period for recovering possession of land, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-103(a), does not replace this case law. Subsection (b)(1) states: "This section does not affect the common-law doctrine of prescription as it applies to the creation of incorporeal interests in land by adverse use." Taking title to land itself by adverse possession is a separate claim, also tied to 20 years under § 5-103(a); see Maryland squatters' rights and adverse possession and the Maryland statute of limitations guide.

Preventing a prescriptive easement

Some states let an owner post a sign or record a notice to stop prescription. Maryland's adverse-use statute, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-103, sets out no such procedure. Under Kirby v. Hook, the decisive question is permission: use that occurs with license or permission is not adverse, and permissive use generally cannot ripen into an easement. After 20 years of open, continuous and unexplained use, the landowner generally bears the burden to show the use was permissive; on unimproved land in a general state of nature, use is presumed permissive instead (Clickner).

How an easement ends

Real Property § 5-103 requires a signed writing to surrender an incorporeal interest in land, so an easement holder gives up an easement by a signed written release (or by act and operation of law). For releases made by deed, see Maryland quitclaim deed rules. The Real Property sections covered on this page do not set a nonuse or abandonment period for easements. An easement can end by abandonment, but the Court of Appeals has said that "non-use alone is insufficient to show an intent to abandon; there must be an act or a combination of acts that unequivocally demonstrate an intention to abandon" (Chevy Chase Land Co. v. United States, 1999).

Moving an easement generally takes both owners' agreement. Once a right of way reserved in general terms "has been definitely located," its location "can be changed only by agreement of the owners of the dominant and servient tenements" (Sibbel v. Fitch, 1943, as quoted in Rogers v. P-M Hunter's Ridge, 2009); the same passage allows a change "under the authority of a grant or reservation to this effect."

Eminent Domain in Maryland

Eminent domain is the government's power to take private property for public use on paying just compensation. For federal rules and other states, see our guide to eminent domain laws by state.

The takings clause

Article III, § 40 of the Maryland Constitution provides:

"The General Assembly shall enact no Law authorizing private property to be taken for public use without just compensation, as agreed upon between the parties, or awarded by a jury, being first paid or tendered to the party entitled to such compensation."

Sections 40A, 40B and 40C allow immediate (quick-take) acquisition in listed situations, including property in Baltimore City and certain Baltimore County and Montgomery County takings (§ 40A), highway land (§ 40B) and Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission water, sewer and drainage projects in Prince George's County (§ 40C). Section 40B provides for highways: "where such property in the judgment of the State Roads Commission is needed by the State for highway purposes, the General Assembly may provide that such property may be taken immediately upon payment therefor to the owner or owners thereof by said State Roads Commission, or into Court, such amount as said State Roads Commission shall estimate to be of the fair value of said property, provided such legislation also requires the payment of any further sum that may subsequently be awarded by a jury."

A 2026 act (chapter 420, the Maryland Transit Administration Reform Act) proposes amending § 40B so that the State Highway Administration, and the Maryland Transit Administration for transit purposes, may use the same immediate-taking procedure. The amendment goes to voters at the November 2026 general election, and the act's new transit condemnation sections (Transportation §§ 7-401.1 and 7-401.2) take effect only if voters adopt it.

Can Maryland take property for private development?

In Kelo v. City of New London (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a taking under an economic-development plan that "unquestionably serves a public purpose" satisfies the Fifth Amendment's public use requirement, and added that "nothing in our opinion precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power." Maryland's Constitution (article III, § 40) and its condemnation title (Real Property Title 12) contain no ban on taking property for economic development.

The Court of Appeals has read § 40 as declaring "by implication that private property shall be taken only for public use and then only for just compensation, and no private property shall be taken for private use, either with or without compensation, except with the owner's consent" (Riden v. Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington R.R. Co., 1943). Article III, § 61 separately lets the General Assembly authorize counties and municipalities, by public local law, to condemn land for urban renewal projects "limited to slum clearance in slum or blighted areas and redevelopment or the rehabilitation of slum or blighted areas," to sell that land to private parties, and declares land taken for those purposes taken "for public uses and purposes."

The 2007 act (Senate Bill 3) added a filing deadline, raised the relocation-payment limits described below and added the 30-day business and farm negotiation rule (§ 12-205.1). Real Property § 12-105.1 provides:

"(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions shall file an action to acquire private property for public use by condemnation within 4 years of the date of the specific administrative or legislative authorization to acquire the property. (b) If an action for condemnation is not filed within 4 years of the date described in subsection (a) of this section, the State or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions may not proceed with condemnation until it first obtains a new authorization to acquire the property."

The 2007 act applied § 12-105.1 only to authorizations given on or after its July 1, 2007 effective date. For an authorization given before that date, a separate section of the act required the condemnor to file within 4 years of July 1, 2007, or obtain a new authorization.

The Court of Appeals has limited quick-take in Baltimore. In Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Valsamaki (2007), the Court of Appeals held that "the City failed to provide sufficient reasons for its immediate possession of and title to the subject Property" under § 21-16 of the Public Local Laws of Baltimore City, explaining that "Without evidence that the continuing existence of a particular building or property is immediately injurious to the health and safety of the public, or is otherwise immediately needed for public use, there is no way to justify the need for immediate possession of the Property via quick-take condemnation proceedings." The decision addressed immediate possession; it did not hold that redevelopment can never be a public use.

Who condemns and how the case runs

Real Property § 12-101(a) provides that "All proceedings for the acquisition of private property for public use by condemnation are governed by the provisions of this title and of Title 12, Chapter 200 of the Maryland Rules." Two exceptions sit in the same section. Under § 12-101(b), the State, its instrumentalities and political subdivisions, acting under laws passed under article III of the Constitution, may take property "immediately on making the required payment and giving any required security." Under § 12-101(c), the State Roads Commission may use the procedures in Transportation Article Title 8, Subtitle 3, and Baltimore City may use its Charter and §§ 21-12 through 21-22 of its Public Local Laws.

Pipelines and power lines. A gas transmission or supply corporation may condemn pipeline rights-of-way under Title 12 only if, among other conditions, it transmits gas directly to local consumers along the route and offers to supply them, with an exception for lines in use on or before June 1, 1931 (Public Utilities § 5-403). An oil pipeline corporation may condemn only for pipelines that existed on or before July 1, 1978 and additional lines along their routes, only in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties and Baltimore City, and only after a Public Service Commission order, issued after a public hearing, finding the acquisition to be in the public interest (§ 5-404). A person generally may not build a transmission line designed to carry more than 69,000 volts, or exercise a right of condemnation for it, without first obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Commission (§ 7-207).

Key steps and rules:

• Entry to survey and appraise. Engineers, surveyors and appraisers acting for a body with the power of eminent domain may enter private land to survey and gather information "after every real and bona fide effort to notify the owner or occupant in writing" (Real Prop. § 12-111(a)). The statute sets no fixed number of days' notice.
• Appraisal and written offer. Under Real Prop. § 12-207, property "shall be appraised before the initiation of negotiations," the owner must be given "an opportunity to accompany the appraiser during his inspection of the property," the offer "may not be less than the displacing agency's approved appraisal of the fair market value," and the agency must give the owner "a written statement of, and summary of the basis for, the amount it established as just compensation." Section 12-207(a) states these as policies by which an acquiring agency "shall be guided to the greatest extent feasible," and an agency not receiving State or federal financial assistance may elect not to comply with §§ 12-207 to 12-209 (§ 12-210(b)).
• Possession only after payment or deposit. "No owner may be required to surrender possession of real property before the displacing agency concerned pays the agreed purchase price, or deposits with the court in accordance with applicable law, for the benefit of the owner, an amount not less than the displacing agency's approved appraisal of the fair market value of the real property, or the amount of the award of compensation in the condemnation proceeding for the real property" (Real Prop. § 12-207(e)).
• Businesses and farms. Where land is used for a business or farm operation, a representative of the displacing agency "shall contact the owner of the business or farm operation not less than 30 days before the filing of the action and negotiate in good faith regarding a plan under which the business or farm operation may be relocated" (Real Prop. § 12-205.1).
• Jury trial. Maryland Rule 12-207(a), as quoted by the Court of Special Appeals in Soleimanzadeh v. Montgomery County (2012), provides: "An action for condemnation shall be tried by a jury unless all parties file a written election submitting the case to the court for determination."
• Court deadlines. In circuit court, an answer to a complaint is generally due "within 30 days after being served," with exceptions (Md. Rule 2-321(a)), and a notice of appeal is generally due "within 30 days after entry of the judgment or order from which the appeal is taken" (Md. Rule 8-202(a)). Baltimore City's quick-take procedure is much shorter: title vests in the City "ten days after personal service of the Petition upon each and every Defendant" unless an owner files an answer within that ten-day period alleging that the City does not have the right or power to condemn (Public Local Laws of Baltimore City § 21-16, as quoted in Makowski v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 2014).
• Appeal. "Any party to a condemnation case may appeal from a final judgment or determination in the manner prescribed by the Maryland Rules" (Real Prop. § 12-107(a)).
• Title passes on payment. "On payment of the judgment and costs by the plaintiff pursuant to the provisions of Title 12, Chapter 200 of the Maryland Rules, the plaintiff immediately shall become vested with the title, estate, or interest of the defendant in the condemned property" (Real Prop. § 12-108(a)).
• Limits on abandonment. Under Real Prop. § 12-109(d), "No condemnation proceeding may be abandoned: (1) After taking has occurred; (2) More than 120 days after the entry of final judgment, unless an appeal is taken," and the section adds a further limit tied to appeals.

How just compensation is calculated

Real Property § 12-105(b) defines fair market value as "the price as of the valuation date for the highest and best use of the property which a vendor, willing but not obligated to sell, would accept for the property, and which a purchaser, willing but not obligated to buy, would pay, excluding any increment in value proximately caused by the public project for which the property condemned is needed." It also includes a drop in value between the legislative authorization and the taking if the trier of fact finds the drop was proximately caused by the project and "was beyond the reasonable control of the property owner."

Other compensation rules:

• Valuation date. Unless another statute sets a different time, value is determined "as of the date of the taking, if taking has occurred, or as of the date of trial, if taking has not occurred" (Real Prop. § 12-103).
• Partial takings. Damages are "the fair market value of the part taken, but not less than the actual value of the part taken plus any severance or resulting damages to the remaining land by reason of the taking and of future use by the plaintiff of the part taken." Severance damages "shall be diminished to the extent of the value of the special (particular) benefits to the remainder" (Real Prop. § 12-104(b)).
• Assessed value as evidence. The owner "may elect to present as evidence in a condemnation proceeding, the assessed value of the property, as determined by the Department of Assessments and Taxation, if the assessed value is greater than the appraised value placed on the property by the condemning authority" (Real Prop. § 12-105(c)).
• Interest on quick-take deposits. In proceedings under article III, the condemnor pays interest "at the rate of 6 percent per annum on any difference between the amount of money initially paid into court for the use of the defendant and the jury award," from the date of the deposit to the date of the inquisition or final judgment, whichever is later (Real Prop. § 12-106(c)).
• Property taxes. An owner who paid the taxes is credited for the part of the taxable year remaining on the date of taking (Real Prop. § 12-110(a)).
• No home bonus. Real Property Title 12 contains no extra percentage above fair market value for a home or farm.

Attorney fees and costs

Three provisions of Real Property Title 12 shift the owner's fees to the condemnor:

• The owner wins on the right to condemn. Costs include "An allowance to the defendant, as fixed by the court, for the reasonable legal, appraisal, and engineering fees actually incurred by the defendant because of the condemnation proceeding, if the judgment is for the defendant on the right to condemn" (Real Prop. § 12-106(b)(5)).
• The condemnor loses on appeal. "If the final decision on appeal is that the plaintiff is not entitled to condemn the property, a reasonable counsel fee fixed by the trial court shall be awarded to counsel for the defendant and charged against the plaintiff together with the other costs of the case" (Real Prop. § 12-107(b)).
• The condemnor abandons. "On abandonment of a condemnation proceeding, the defendant is entitled to recover from the plaintiff the reasonable legal, appraisal, and engineering fees actually incurred by the defendant because of the condemnation proceeding" (Real Prop. § 12-109(e)).

Real Property Title 12 contains no fee award based on how far the jury's award exceeds the condemnor's offer.

Relocation and moving payments

Real Property Title 12, Subtitle 2 provides relocation payments for people displaced by a public acquisition:

• Owner-occupied homes. A displacing agency "shall make an additional payment not in excess of $45,000 to any displaced person who is displaced from a dwelling actually owned and occupied by the displaced person for not less than 180 days prior to the initiation of negotiations for the acquisition of the real property" (Real Prop. § 12-202(a)(1)).
• Other displaced residents. For a displaced resident of at least 90 days who is not eligible for the § 12-202 payment, the agency must pay the amount needed to rent a comparable replacement dwelling for a period not to exceed 42 months, "but not to exceed $10,500" (§ 12-204). The agency may exceed either the $45,000 or the $10,500 limit case by case if it determines that comparable housing cannot otherwise be made available (§§ 12-202(a)(2), 12-204(b)(2)).
• Farms, nonprofits and small businesses. Reestablishment expenses at a new site are capped at $60,000 (§ 12-205(a)(4)), and a fixed payment in place of actual moving costs "may not be less than $1,000 nor more than $60,000 or the amount provided under the federal Uniform Relocation Assistance Act, whichever is greater" (§ 12-205(c)(2)).
• Notice to move. Projects must be scheduled so that, "to the greatest extent feasible," no lawful occupant is required to move from a dwelling, or to move a business or farm operation, "without at least 90 days' written notice from the displacing agency concerned" (§ 12-207(f)(1)).

A displacing agency with eminent-domain authority that is not receiving State or federal financial assistance may elect not to comply with these payment sections (§§ 12-202 to 12-206), so they do not apply to every acquisition (§ 12-210(b)). A separate moving allowance under § 12-112 must be claimed "within six months after the removal of the personal property," and it "does not include any compensation for loss of profit, goodwill, or for the acquisition of another location."

Inverse condemnation

An owner whose property is taken without a condemnation case may sue the government for compensation, a claim called inverse condemnation. In Electro-Nucleonics, Inc. v. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (1989), the Court of Appeals applied Maryland's general three-year limitation period for civil actions, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-101, and held the owner's taking claim "barred by limitations." The Court of Special Appeals has stated that such a claim "accrues when the affected party knew or should have known of the unlawful action and its probable effect" (Harford County v. Maryland Reclamation Associates, 2019). See the Maryland statute of limitations guide.

Buying property back

Real Property Title 12 (§§ 12-101 through 12-112) gives a former owner no right to repurchase condemned land that the condemnor does not use. Surplus-property rules in other parts of the Maryland Code are outside this page's scope.

Recent changes

• 2026: Chapter 420 (approved May 12, 2026) proposes a constitutional amendment extending § 40B quick-take to the Maryland Transit Administration for transit purposes; it is on the November 2026 general-election ballot and takes effect only if voters adopt it.

Federal law

When a state agency acquires land for a federally assisted project, federal law requires assurances that it "will be guided, to the greatest extent practicable under State law," by the federal land acquisition policies (42 U.S.C. § 4655(a)). Our national eminent domain guide covers the federal rules.

Maryland Easement and Eminent Domain Rules at a Glance

Related Maryland Property Guides

• Easement laws by state
• Eminent domain laws by state
• Maryland squatters' rights and adverse possession
• Maryland property records search
• Maryland quitclaim deed rules

This article provides general legal information about Maryland easement and eminent domain law as of October 21, 2026. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific property or condemnation case, contact a lawyer licensed in Maryland.

Last updated: October 21, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to get a prescriptive easement in Maryland?

Twenty years. The Court of Appeals of Maryland held in Kirby v. Hook (1997) that a prescriptive easement arises from adverse, exclusive and uninterrupted use of another's property for twenty years, and Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-103(b)(1) keeps that common-law doctrine in place.

Does permission stop a prescriptive easement in Maryland?

Generally yes. Kirby v. Hook states that use is adverse only if it occurs without license or permission, and that permissive use can never ripen into a prescriptive easement, with an exception for an attempted irrevocable grant that is void under the statute of frauds. On unimproved land in a general state of nature, use is presumed permissive, so the claimant must prove it was adverse (Clickner v. Magothy River Ass'n, 2012).

What can I do if my land is landlocked in Maryland?

Maryland case law implies a way of necessity when a grantor conveys land with no outlet to a public highway except over the grantor's remaining land or a stranger's land; the implied way runs over the grantor's remaining property (Hancock v. Henderson, 1964, quoting Mullins v. Ray). The necessity must be strict, not mere inconvenience (Condry v. Laurie, 1945), and must exist both when the land was divided and when the way is used (Stansbury v. MDR Development, 2006). The condemnation title of the Real Property Article contains no procedure for a private owner to condemn a road.

Does an easement have to be in writing in Maryland?

An easement may not be granted or surrendered unless it is in writing signed by the party granting or surrendering it, or by an agent authorized in writing, or by act and operation of law (Real Prop. § 5-103). Maryland courts also recognize implied easements, including easements by prescription (Kirby v. Hook) and ways of necessity (Hancock v. Henderson).

Can Maryland take my property for economic development?

Maryland has not adopted a constitutional or statutory ban on economic-development takings. The Court of Appeals reads Md. Const. art. III, § 40 to bar taking private property for private use without the owner's consent (Riden, 1943), and art. III, § 61 authorizes local urban-renewal takings limited to slum clearance and redevelopment of slum or blighted areas, with resale to private parties. Section 40 requires that just compensation be paid or tendered first, and Real Prop. § 12-105.1 requires the condemnor to file within 4 years of the specific authorization to acquire the property or obtain a new authorization; authorizations given before July 1, 2007 had a separate 4-year deadline running from that date.

How is just compensation calculated in Maryland eminent domain?

Fair market value is the price for the property's highest and best use that a willing seller and willing buyer would accept, excluding any increase caused by the public project (Real Prop. § 12-105(b)). Value is set as of the date of taking, or the date of trial if no taking has occurred (§ 12-103), and in a partial taking severance damages are added and reduced by special benefits (§ 12-104(b)).

Does the government pay attorney fees in a Maryland condemnation case?

Real Prop. § 12-106(b)(5) allows the owner's reasonable legal, appraisal and engineering fees if the judgment is for the owner on the right to condemn, § 12-107(b) awards a reasonable counsel fee if the final decision on appeal is that the condemnor cannot condemn, and § 12-109(e) awards those fees when the condemnor abandons the case. The condemnation title has no fee award tied to how far the jury's award exceeds the offer.

Who decides compensation in a Maryland condemnation case?

A jury, unless the parties agree. Md. Const. art. III, § 40 refers to compensation agreed between the parties or awarded by a jury, and Maryland Rule 12-207(a) provides that a condemnation action is tried by a jury unless all parties file a written election for the court to decide it.