Mississippi Easement and Eminent Domain Laws (2026)

In Mississippi, a prescriptive easement takes ten years of use that is open, notorious and visible, hostile, under claim of ownership, exclusive, peaceful, and continuous and uninterrupted, the elements the Mississippi Supreme Court listed in Myers v. Blair (1992). The ten-year period matches the state's adverse-possession statute, Miss. Code § 15-1-13.

On eminent domain, the Mississippi Constitution bars taking or damaging private property for public use without compensation first made, and it makes public use a question for the courts (Miss. Const. art. 3, § 17). Section 17A, added through Initiative 31 in 2011, bars transferring condemned property to a private person or business for ten years after the taking, with exceptions for utilities, roads, common carriers and several other uses.

This page covers both halves of Mississippi 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 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Mississippi law on private easements (court decisions on prescription and necessity, the private-road statute in Miss. Code § 65-7-201 and Constitution article 4, section 110, and the recording and conservation easement statutes in Title 89) and on the condemnation of private property (article 3, sections 17 and 17A of the Mississippi Constitution; the eminent domain chapter, Miss. Code Title 11, chapter 27; the acquisition and relocation statutes in Title 43, chapters 37 and 39). It does not cover adverse possession of title (see Mississippi squatters' rights and adverse possession), HOA covenants, zoning or regulatory takings, levee-board appropriations under Constitution section 233, federal condemnation (see eminent domain laws by state), or city and county ordinances.

Easements in Mississippi

An easement is a right to use another person's land for a specific purpose, such as a driveway or access to a landlocked tract. This page covers four ways a Mississippi easement can arise: by a grant from the owner, by implication when commonly owned land is divided, by prescription through long adverse use, and by court order as a private road under Miss. Code § 65-7-201. Each route has its own rules.

Express easements and recording

Mississippi's recording statute governs conveyances of land, and it protects later buyers who had no notice of an unrecorded conveyance. Miss. Code § 89-5-1 provides:

"Except as provided by Sections 89-5-101 through 89-5-113, a conveyance of land shall not be good against a purchaser for a valuable consideration without notice, or any creditor, unless it be lodged with the clerk of the chancery court of the county in which the lands are situated to be recorded; but after filing with the clerk, the priority of time of filing shall determine the priority of all conveyances of the same land as between the several holders of such conveyances."

Recorded instruments are kept by the chancery clerk of the county where the land lies. Our guide to Mississippi property records explains how to search those land records.

Conservation easements

Mississippi has its own conservation easement statute. Under Miss. Code § 89-19-5, a conservation easement "may be created, conveyed, recorded and assigned, in the same method and manner as other easements," except as the chapter otherwise provides. It is "unlimited in its duration unless the instrument creating it otherwise provides" (subject to § 89-19-7(2)), and it "shall continue to be effective and shall not be extinguished if the easement holder is or becomes the owner in fee of the subject property."

Utility easements and broadband

Where a landowner was already compensated through a right-of-way instrument with an electric public utility, Mississippi law provides that using the utility's electric delivery system for broadband service "shall not be considered an additional burden on the real property" and needs no landowner consent. A landowner who believes the property was damaged by that use may petition the circuit court of the county for damages, and that petition is the landowner's "exclusive remedy" (Miss. Code § 77-3-44, as amended by Senate Bill 2798 in 2021; § 77-17-11 sets a similar rule for electric cooperatives).

How Long Does a Prescriptive Easement Take in Mississippi?

Ten years. The elements come from the Mississippi Supreme Court. In Myers v. Blair, 611 So. 2d 969 (Miss. 1992), a county claimed a road as public by prescription, and the court explained that the county carried the same burden as a private claimant:

"The county claims the road public by prescription and, therefore, has the burden of proving, as does an individual claimant, that the use is: (1) open, notorious and visible; (2) hostile; (3) under claim of ownership; (4) exclusive; (5) peaceful; and (6) continuous and uninterrupted for ten years."

The same opinion states the rule on permission:

"However, use by express or implied permission or license, no matter how long continued, cannot ripen into an easement by prescription since adverse use is lacking."

The claimant must prove every element by clear and convincing evidence. In Mississippi Sand Solutions, LLC v. Otis, 248 So. 3d 813 (Miss. 2018), the Mississippi Supreme Court said that each element "must be met by the same clear and convincing standard."

The ten-year period is the same length as Mississippi's adverse-possession statute, which gives full title to land after ten years of actual adverse possession (Miss. Code § 15-1-13(1)). Adverse possession of title is a different claim with its own rules, covered in our guide to Mississippi squatters' rights and adverse possession.

For land owned by the state, a county or a city, Section 104 of the Mississippi Constitution provides: "Statutes of limitation in civil causes shall not run against the State, or any subdivision or municipal corporation thereof." Miss. Code § 15-1-51 repeats the rule, and for Mississippi Transportation Commission property, § 65-1-123(6) adds that no encroachment "for any length of time" shall "constitute estoppel or adverse possession against the state's interests." For how limitation periods work in other kinds of cases, see the Mississippi statute of limitations guide.

How to Stop a Prescriptive Easement in Mississippi

Permission is the main tool the case law supplies. Because use by express or implied permission "no matter how long continued, cannot ripen into an easement by prescription" (Myers v. Blair), use that rests on the owner's permission does not meet the hostile element.

Mississippi also has a recorded-notice statute, but it is written for adverse possession of land, and its text does not say whether it also applies to a prescriptive easement claim. Miss. Code § 15-1-13(2) provides:

"For claims of adverse possession not matured as of July 1, 1998, the provisions of subsection (1) shall not apply to a landowner upon whose property a fence or driveway has been built who files with the chancery clerk within the ten (10) years required by this section a written notice that such fence or driveway is built without the permission of the landowner. Failure to file such notice shall not create any inference that property has been adversely possessed. The notice shall be filed in the land records by the chancery clerk and shall describe the property where said fence or driveway is constructed."

The notice must be filed within the ten-year period, and it applies only to claims not matured as of July 1, 1998.

Landlocked Property in Mississippi

Mississippi offers two separate routes to access for landlocked land: a common-law easement by necessity, and a statutory private road laid out by a court. In a 1992 case, the lead opinion of an evenly divided Mississippi Supreme Court concluded that the statutory route does not displace the common-law one.

Easement by necessity

An easement by necessity depends on the land once having been a single tract. In Dieck v. Landry, 796 So. 2d 1004 (Miss. 2001), the Mississippi Supreme Court stated:

"An easement by necessity arises by implied grant when a part of a commonly-owned tract of land is severed in such a way that either portion of the property has been rendered inaccessible except by passing over the other portion or by trespassing on the lands of another."

The lead opinion in Broadhead v. Terpening, 611 So. 2d 949 (Miss. 1992), added that such easements "last as long as the necessity exists and terminate when other access to the landlocked parcel becomes available."

Statutory private road (Miss. Code § 65-7-201)

Where no common source of title exists, or the owner chooses the statutory route, Section 110 of the Mississippi Constitution authorizes the Legislature to provide "for condemning rights of way for private roads, where necessary for ingress and egress by the party applying, on due compensation being first made to the owner of the property; but such rights of way shall not be provided for in incorporated cities and towns."

Miss. Code § 65-7-201 implements that power:

"When any person shall desire to have a private road laid out through the land of another, when necessary for ingress and egress, he shall apply by petition, stating the facts and reasons, to the special court of eminent domain created under Section 11-27-3 of the county where the land or part of it is located, and the case shall proceed as nearly as possible as provided in Title 11, Chapter 27 for the condemnation of private property for public use. The court sitting without a jury shall determine the reasonableness of the application. The owner of the property shall be a necessary party to the proceedings. If the court finds in favor of the petitioner, all damages that the jury determines the landowner should be compensated for shall be assessed against and shall be paid by the person applying for the private road, and he shall pay all the costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings."

The special court of eminent domain sits in the county court in counties that have elected to come under Miss. Code § 9-9-1, and in the circuit court in every other county (§ 11-27-3).

Applying Section 110, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a private road granted across land inside the City of Gulfport, holding that the move of these petitions to the special court of eminent domain "did not alter the underlying substantive right, which is clearly limited by Section 110" (High v. Kuhn, 191 So. 3d 113 (Miss. 2016)). The same decision held that the five-day motion-to-dismiss rule of § 11-27-15 does not apply to a private-road petition.

How necessary must the road be? Reading the predecessor statute's identical phrase "necessary for ingress and egress," the Mississippi Supreme Court held in Quinn v. Holly, 146 So. 2d 357 (Miss. 1962), that it "only means that the same should be reasonably necessary and practical and not absolutely necessary."

In Broadhead v. Terpening, decided under an earlier version of § 65-7-201, Justice Banks's lead opinion, joined by three other justices, noted that the statutory petitioner must pay the landowner "the fair value of any land taken and any of damage that might accrue to the remainder," and concluded that the statute "does not provide a complete and adequate alternative remedy" to the recognition and enforcement of an easement of way by necessity. Four justices dissented, and one dissent argued that the statute was an adequate remedy at law.

How an Easement Ends in Mississippi

Mississippi law covered on this page addresses these ways an easement ends:

• Easement by necessity: it terminates "when other access to the landlocked parcel becomes available" (Broadhead v. Terpening).
• Conservation easement: it is unlimited in duration unless the creating instrument provides otherwise, and it is not extinguished when the holder becomes the owner of the land (Miss. Code § 89-19-5(3), (5)).
• Abandonment: the Mississippi Court of Appeals has held that abandonment "requires non-use for an extended period of time as well as the intent to abandon," and that evidence of abandonment must be "full and clear" (Stone v. Lea Brent Family Investments, L.P., 998 So. 2d 448 (Miss. Ct. App. 2008)). The Mississippi Supreme Court applied the same "full and clear" standard in Bay Point Properties, Inc. v. Mississippi Transportation Commission, 201 So. 3d 1046 (Miss. 2016).
• Highway easements held by the Mississippi Transportation Commission: they are released when the commission determines on its minutes that they are no longer needed, and no commission property interest, including an easement, may "be construed as abandoned by nonuse" (Miss. Code § 65-1-123(5), (6)).

The rules for releasing an ordinary express or prescriptive easement by deed are not covered on this page.

Eminent Domain in Mississippi

Eminent domain is the power of the government, and of certain companies the Legislature authorizes, to take private property for public use on payment of compensation. For the federal rules and a comparison across states, see eminent domain laws by state.

In Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the takings challenged in that case satisfied the Fifth Amendment's public use requirement because the city's plan "unquestionably serves a public purpose." The Court added that "nothing in our opinion precludes any State from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power."

The takings clause: "taken or damaged"

Article 3, Section 17 of the Mississippi Constitution provides:

"Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use, except on due compensation being first made to the owner or owners thereof, in a manner to be prescribed by law; and whenever an attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be public, the question whether the contemplated use be public shall be a judicial question, and, as such, determined without regard to legislative assertion that the use is public."

Three points follow from the text. Compensation covers property that is damaged as well as property that is taken. Compensation must be "first made." And courts, not the Legislature, decide whether a use is public.

Can Mississippi take property for private development?

Section 17A of the Constitution, added through Initiative 31 in 2011, limits what can happen to condemned property afterward:

"No property acquired by the exercise of the power of eminent domain under the laws of the State of Mississippi shall, for a period of ten years after its acquisition, be transferred or any interest therein transferred to any person, non-governmental entity, public-private partnership, corporation, or other business entity with the following exceptions: (1) The above provisions shall not apply to drainage and levee facilities and usage, roads and bridges for public conveyance, flood control projects with a levee component, seawalls, dams, toll roads, public airports, public ports, public harbors, public wayports, common carriers or facilities for public utilities and other entities used in the generation, transmission, storage or distribution of telephone, telecommunication, gas carbon dioxide, electricity, water, sewer, natural gas, liquid hydrocarbons or other utility products. (2) The above provisions shall not apply where the use of eminent domain (a) removes a public nuisance; (b) removes a structure that is beyond repair or unfit for human habitation or use; (c) is used to acquire abandoned property; or (d) eliminates a direct threat to public health or safety caused by the property in its current condition."

Section 17A is a ten-year bar on transfers to private parties, not a ban on takings for economic development as such. In 2022 the Legislature repeated the same rule in a statute: House Bill 1769 (Laws 2022, ch. 485), approved by the Governor on April 19, 2022, directs that its ten-year no-transfer section be codified in Title 11, Chapter 27 of the Mississippi Code and took effect on passage.

Who may condemn property

Under Miss. Code § 11-27-5, "Any person or corporation having the right to condemn private property for public use shall file a complaint to condemn with the circuit clerk of the county". The complaint must describe the property in detail, "state with certainty the right to condemn," and identify each defendant's interest.

Pipeline and power companies hold this right by statute. Miss. Code § 11-27-47 empowers companies organized to build pipelines for oil or gas, "including carbon dioxide or other gaseous substances for use in connection with secondary or tertiary recovery projects located within the state of Mississippi for the enhanced recovery of liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons," and companies building lines for transmitting electricity, "to exercise the right of eminent domain in the manner now provided by law."

The general condemnation chapter does not apply to levee-board appropriations under Section 233 of the Constitution or to cases under Miss. Code § 51-29-39 (§ 11-27-33).

Procedure and deadlines

A condemnation case runs in the special court of eminent domain, with these steps and deadlines:

• Service and hearing date: the judge sets the hearing on a date that allows each defendant to be served at least 30 days before it; if a defendant is not served in time, the hearing is continued (§ 11-27-7).
• Lis pendens: the condemnor must file a lis pendens notice with the chancery clerk immediately after filing the complaint (§ 11-27-7).
• Condemnor's value statement: at least 20 days before the hearing, the condemnor must file and serve a statement of the fair market value of the property as of the date the complaint was filed and of any damages to the remainder (§ 11-27-7).
• Owner's value statement: at least 10 days before the hearing, each defendant "shall file with the circuit clerk and serve upon the plaintiff, or his attorney," a statement of the fair market value and of any damages to the remainder. Each side's statement must give the asserted highest and best use and itemize any damages to the remainder; the statements are the pleadings on value, and the judge may lengthen or shorten these times for good cause (§ 11-27-7).
• Challenging the right to take: at least 5 days before the hearing, any defendant may file a motion to dismiss on three grounds: that the condemnor is not an entity entitled to condemn, that "there is no public necessity for the taking," or that the contemplated use "is not in law a public use for which private property may be taken or damaged." If the motion is overruled, an appeal from that order "shall not operate as a supersedeas," and the court may go ahead with the trial (§ 11-27-15). The Mississippi Supreme Court has described these as "three specific grounds for dismissal that must be asserted at least five days before the hearing, lest they be waived" (High v. Kuhn, 191 So. 3d 113 (Miss. 2016)).
• Trial: each separately owned property is a separate civil action with a separate trial; trial is to a jury or, alternatively, to the court (§ 11-27-13), and nine jurors may return a verdict (§ 11-27-23).
• Appeal: every party may appeal directly to the Mississippi Supreme Court by giving notice to the court reporter, within 10 days of the judgment or final order, to transcribe the record. An appeal by the landowner does not operate as a supersedeas and does not delay the condemnor's right to enter and use the land (§ 11-27-29). The same section requires the notice to be given and costs paid "as is otherwise required by law for appeals to the Supreme Court," so the general appellate rules also apply; an owner should confirm the exact appeal deadline and steps with the court.

These windows are short, and the 5-day and 10-day deadlines run backward from the hearing date.

Immediate possession ("quick-take")

Only the condemnors listed in Miss. Code § 11-27-81 may take immediate possession before trial. The list includes the State Highway Commission, "for the acquisition of highway rights-of-way only," and counties and municipalities acquiring rights-of-way to connect existing roads and streets to state highways, along with other specific categories in that section.

The condemnor must declare in its complaint that it will suffer irreparable harm and delay without immediate possession. The court then appoints a disinterested appraiser, who reports within 10 days, and after at least 5 days' notice to the owners the court may order title and immediate entry, excluding oil, gas and other minerals that may be produced through a well bore, except for certain projects listed in § 11-27-85(3) (§§ 11-27-83, 11-27-85(1)). The appraiser's fee is taxed as a cost and may not exceed $1,000 unless the court finds special circumstances (§ 11-27-89).

Once the court enters an order, the condemnor "may deposit not less than eighty-five percent (85%) of the amount of the compensation and damages as determined by the appraiser" with the clerk, and on doing so receives title and the right of immediate entry; the owner is entitled to receive the deposit (§ 11-27-85(2)). Even so, "no person lawfully occupying real property shall be required to move from a dwelling or to move his business or farm operation without at least ninety (90) days' written notice prior to the date by which such move is required" (§ 11-27-85(1)). If the final award exceeds the deposit, the condemnor pays interest at 8% per year on the excess from the date the complaint was filed until payment (§ 11-27-87). If the final award is less than the deposit, the condemnor is entitled to a personal judgment against the owner for the difference (§ 11-27-87; see also § 11-27-27). Withdrawing the deposit does not give up any party's right to a jury trial on fair market value and damages to the remainder (§ 11-27-89).

Acquisition policies (Miss. Code § 43-37-3)

Mississippi's Real Property Acquisition Policies Law applies to acquisitions of real property "for use in any project or program in which public funds are used" (Miss. Code § 43-37-1). Section 43-37-3 requires that property be "appraised before the initiation of negotiations" (the acquiring agency may waive the appraisal for an acquisition by sale or donation of property worth $10,000 or less), that the owner be given "an opportunity to accompany the appraiser during his inspection of the property," and that the owner receive "a written statement of, and summary of the basis for, the amount established as just compensation." No owner may be required to surrender possession before the agreed price is paid or there is deposited with the court "an amount not less than the approved appraisal of the fair market value of such property, or the amount of the award of compensation in the condemnation proceeding." The statute also directs that, "to the greatest extent practicable," no lawful occupant be required to move from a dwelling (assuming a replacement dwelling will be available) or move a business or farm operation without at least 90 days' written notice (§ 43-37-3(1)(e)).

How Just Compensation Is Calculated in Mississippi

Compensation is measured by fair market value. Under Miss. Code § 11-27-19, "Evidence of fair market value shall be established as of the date of the filing of the complaint." The judgment must provide "legal interest on the award of the jury from the date of the filing of the complaint until payment is actually made," but interest "need not be paid on any funds deposited by the plaintiff and withdrawn by the defendants prior to judgment."

For a partial taking, the owner can claim damages to the remaining land, and Miss. Code § 11-27-21 bars offsetting them with project benefits: "nothing shall be deducted therefrom on account of the supposed benefits incident to the public use for which the petitioner seeks to acquire the property."

For acquisitions covered by the Real Property Acquisition Policies Law, the acquiring agency must also reimburse the owner, "to the extent that the state deems fair and reasonable," for recording fees and transfer taxes, prepayment penalties on an existing recorded mortgage, and the prorated share of property taxes for the period after title or possession passes (Miss. Code § 43-37-5).

Inverse condemnation

When property is taken or damaged for public use without a condemnation case, the owner may sue under article 3, section 17. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that the three-year limitations period in Miss. Code § 15-1-49 applies to these takings claims (City of Tupelo v. O'Callaghan, 208 So. 3d 556 (Miss. 2017)).

Attorney Fees, Relocation and Repurchase

Attorney fees. Under Miss. Code § 11-27-37, the owner "may recover of the plaintiff in an action brought therefor all reasonable expenses, including attorneys' fees, incurred by him in defending the suit" in three situations: the condemnor fails to pay the damages and costs within 90 days of a final judgment that is not appealed; the condemnor dismisses the suit "except pursuant to settlement"; or the judgment is that the condemnor is not entitled to condemn. The recovery comes through a separate action. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that the time to bring that action is governed not by the 10-day appeal rule of § 11-27-29 but by the general limitation statutes (Cox v. Warren County, 600 So. 2d 935 (Miss. 1992)).

Two more fee rules apply to projects using federal funds. When the state or a subdivision condemns for a project funded in whole or in part by federal funds and the final judgment is that the property cannot be acquired by condemnation, or the proceeding is abandoned, the owner is paid a sum that "in the opinion of the state or the subdivision thereof" will reimburse reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees actually incurred (§ 43-37-7). And when an owner brings an inverse condemnation suit over the use of the owner's property in a program or project using federal or federal-aid funds and wins a judgment awarding compensation (or the state's attorney settles it), the court or the state's attorney must award reasonable costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney, appraisal and engineering fees (§ 43-37-9).

Relocation. Mississippi's relocation statute requires the displacing agency to make an additional payment, "not in excess of the maximum amount of relocation payments established by applicable federal regulations," to a person displaced from a dwelling the person owned and occupied for at least 90 days before negotiations began (Miss. Code § 43-39-9(1)). That homeowner payment requires buying and occupying a replacement dwelling within one year, unless the agency extends the period for good cause (§ 43-39-9(2)). A displaced person not eligible for the homeowner payment, such as a tenant, may receive rental assistance covering up to 42 months, also capped at the federal maximum (§ 43-39-11). A person displaced from a business or farm operation may receive a fixed payment of not less than $1,000 nor more than the federal maximum (§ 43-39-7(3)). The current federal Uniform Act regulations set those maximums at $41,200 for a homeowner replacement housing payment and $9,570 for rental assistance (both subject to the federal housing-of-last-resort rules, 49 CFR § 24.404), $33,200 for reestablishment expenses of a small business, farm or nonprofit organization, and $53,200 for the fixed business payment (49 CFR §§ 24.304, 24.305, 24.401, 24.402). Relocation payments do not create a new element of value in the condemnation award; they are "additives to due compensation otherwise provided by law" (§ 43-39-27).

Repurchase. The general eminent domain chapter (Miss. Code §§ 11-27-1 to 11-27-91) and the acquisition policies statute (§§ 43-37-1 to 43-37-13) contain no general buy-back right. For land acquired by the Mississippi Transportation Commission, real property the commission declares excess on its minutes must first be offered in writing to the original owner when it was a total take (or to the current owner of the parcel when it was a partial take), who has 45 days to accept before it is offered to adjoining owners or sold by bid (Miss. Code § 65-1-123(2)); highway easements are excluded. Section 17A's ten-year bar limits transfers to private parties; it does not itself give the former owner a right to repurchase.

Key Deadlines and Traps for Mississippi Owners

• Objections to the right to take: a motion to dismiss on the three § 11-27-15 grounds must be filed at least 5 days before the hearing, or those grounds are waived (High v. Kuhn).
• Inverse condemnation: a takings suit must be brought within 3 years after the claim accrues (§ 15-1-49; City of Tupelo v. O'Callaghan).
• Deposit larger than the award: in a quick-take case, if the final award is less than the deposit, the condemnor is entitled to a personal judgment against the owner for the difference (§ 11-27-87).
• Possession order: in a quick-take case, the court may grant title and immediate entry after at least 5 days' notice to the owners (§ 11-27-85(1)); a lawful occupant still gets at least 90 days' written notice before having to move.
• Highway excess land: a former owner offered a first right of refusal has 45 days to accept before the land is offered to adjoining owners (§ 65-1-123(2)).
• Replacement home: the homeowner replacement housing payment requires buying and occupying a replacement dwelling within 1 year, unless the agency extends the period for good cause (§ 43-39-9(2)).

Recent Changes

• 2022: House Bill 1769 (Laws 2022, ch. 485). The Legislature enacted the Section 17A ten-year no-transfer rule as a statute, directing it to be codified in Title 11, Chapter 27; the Governor approved the act on April 19, 2022, and it took effect on passage.
• 2021: Senate Bill 2798 (Laws 2021, ch. 477). The Legislature amended Miss. Code § 77-3-44 so that broadband use of an electric public utility's delivery system on a right-of-way the landowner was already compensated for is not an additional burden on the land, with a circuit-court damages petition as the landowner's exclusive remedy; the Governor approved the act on April 22, 2021, and it took effect on passage.

Mississippi Easement and Eminent Domain Laws at a Glance

Related Mississippi Property Guides

• Easement laws by state
• Eminent domain laws by state
• Mississippi squatters' rights and adverse possession
• Mississippi property records
• Mississippi statute of limitations
• Alabama easement and eminent domain laws
• Louisiana servitude and expropriation laws

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Mississippi easement and eminent domain law. It is not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Mississippi or the public agency involved.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Ten years. The Mississippi Supreme Court requires use that is open, notorious and visible, hostile, under claim of ownership, exclusive, peaceful, and continuous and uninterrupted for ten years (Myers v. Blair, 1992), and each element must be proven by clear and convincing evidence (Mississippi Sand Solutions, LLC v. Otis, 2018). Use by permission never ripens into a prescriptive easement.

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

Miss. Code § 65-7-201 lets a person who needs a private road for ingress and egress petition the county's special court of eminent domain; the petitioner pays the damages the jury assesses and all costs, and the Constitution does not allow these roads in incorporated cities and towns (art. 4, § 110). If the landlocked parcel and the neighboring land were once one tract, an easement by necessity may also arise by implied grant (Dieck v. Landry, 2001).

Can someone get a prescriptive easement in Mississippi if I gave them permission?

The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that use by express or implied permission or license, no matter how long continued, cannot ripen into an easement by prescription because adverse use is lacking (Myers v. Blair, 1992).

Can Mississippi take my property for a private developer?

Section 17 of the Mississippi Constitution makes public use a judicial question, and Section 17A bars transferring property acquired by eminent domain to a private person or business for ten years after acquisition. Section 17A has exceptions, including utilities, roads, ports and common carriers and takings that remove a public nuisance or unfit structure, acquire abandoned property or eliminate a direct threat to public health or safety.

Can a pipeline company use eminent domain in Mississippi?

Miss. Code § 11-27-47 empowers companies organized to build pipelines for oil or gas, including carbon dioxide for enhanced recovery projects in Mississippi, and companies building electric transmission lines, to exercise eminent domain in the manner provided by law. Section 17A's ten-year transfer bar does not apply to common carriers or utility facilities.

How is just compensation calculated in Mississippi?

Fair market value is established as of the date the condemnation complaint is filed, and the judgment carries legal interest from that date until payment, except on deposited funds the owner withdraws before judgment (Miss. Code § 11-27-19). Damages to the remainder in a partial taking are not reduced for supposed benefits of the project (§ 11-27-21).

Does Mississippi pay attorney fees in eminent domain cases?

Under Miss. Code § 11-27-37, an owner may recover reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, in a separate action when the condemnor fails to pay within 90 days of an unappealed final judgment, dismisses the case other than by settlement, or is held not entitled to condemn. Sections 43-37-7 and 43-37-9 add fee rules for projects using federal funds.

How long do I have to appeal an eminent domain judgment in Mississippi?

Any party may appeal directly to the Mississippi Supreme Court by giving notice to the court reporter within 10 days of the judgment or final order (Miss. Code § 11-27-29). The notice and costs must also meet the general requirements for Supreme Court appeals, so it is worth confirming the exact deadline and steps with the court. An appeal by the landowner does not stop the condemnor from entering and using the land.