Senate Bill 54 Summary

• State educational institutions (including Ball State, Indiana University, Purdue University, and others) must pay fair market value for real property and improvements when acquiring property containing an operating business through eminent domain.

• Institutions must compensate business owners for loss of business value as a going concern, unless they prove the loss was not caused by the taking or can be reasonably prevented through business relocation to a similar suitable location.

• Business owners cannot receive compensation for losses they could have prevented through reasonable actions, or losses mitigated by successfully relocating the business.

• When property and business are separately owned, the institution must provide documents to the business owner and name them as a defendant in any eminent domain action.

• The institution must include compensation calculations and data in any purchase offer, and business owners may dispute compensation amounts through court proceedings effective July 1, 2012.