§ 104-13. Utilities Commission to secure right-of-way over private lands; condemnation by United States.
§104‑13. Utilities Commission to secure right‑of‑way overprivate lands; condemnation by United States.
If the title to any part ofthe lands acquired by the United States government for the construction of suchinland waterway from the Cape Fear River at Southport to the North Carolina‑SouthCarolina State line shall be in any private person, company or corporation,railroad company, street railway company, telephone or telegraph company, orother public service corporation or shall have been donated or condemned or anypublic use by any political subdivision of the State, or if it may benecessary, for the purpose of obtaining the proper title to any lands, thetitle to which has heretofore been vested in the State Board of Education, thenthe Utilities Commission, in the name of the State of North Carolina, is herebyauthorized and empowered, acting for and in behalf of the State of NorthCarolina, to secure a right‑of‑way 1,000 to 1,750 feet wide forsaid inland waterway across and through such lands or any part thereof, bypurchase, donation or otherwise, through agreement with the owner or ownerswhere possible, and when any such property is thus acquired, the Governor andSecretary of State shall execute a deed for the same to the United States; andif for any reason the said Commission shall be unable to secure such right‑of‑wayacross any such property by voluntary donation by and/or with the owner orowners, the said Commission acting for and in behalf of the State of NorthCarolina is hereby vested with the power to condemn the same, and in so doing,the ways, means, methods and procedure of the Chapter of the General Statutesof North Carolina, entitled "Eminent Domain," shall be used by it asnear as the same is suitable for the purposes of this Article, and in allinstances, the general and special benefits to the owner thereof shall beassessed as offsets against the damages to such property or lands.
As such condemnationproceedings might result in delay in the acquiring of title to all parts of theright‑of‑way and in the construction of the said inland waterway bythe United States, said Utilities Commission is authorized to enter any of saidlands and property and take possession of the same at the time hereinafterprovided as needed for this use in behalf of the State or the United Statesgovernment for the purposes herein set out, prior to the bringing of theproceeding for condemnation and prior to the payment of the money for such landor property under any judgment in condemnation. In the event the owner orowners shall appeal from the report of the commissioners appointed in anycondemnation proceeding hereunder, it shall not be necessary for saidCommission, acting in behalf of the State of North Carolina, or the UnitedStates government, to deposit the money assessed by said commissioners with theclerk.
Whenever proceedings incondemnation are instituted in pursuance of the provisions of this section, thesaid Commission upon the filing of the petition or petitions in suchproceedings, shall have the right to take immediate possession, on behalf ofthe State, of such lands or property to the extent of the interest to beacquired and the order of the clerk of the superior court of the county wherethe action is instituted, shall be sufficient to vest the title and possessionin the State through the Utilities Commission. The Governor and Secretary ofState shall, upon vesting of the title and possession, execute a deed to theUnited States and said lands or property may then be appropriated and used bythe United States for the purposes aforesaid: Provided, that in every case theproceedings in condemnation shall be diligently prosecuted to final judgmentin order that the just compensation, if any, to which the owners of theproperty are entitled may be ascertained and when so ascertained anddetermined, such compensation, if any, shall be promptly paid as hereinafter inthis Article provided.
If the United Statesgovernment shall so determine, it is hereby authorized to condemn and use alllands and property which may be needed for the purposes herein set out andwhich is specifically described and set out in the paragraph next preceding,under the authority of said United States government, and according to theprovisions existing in the federal statutes for condemning lands and propertyfor the use of the United States government. In case the United Statesgovernment shall so condemn said land and property, the said UtilitiesCommission is hereby authorized to pay all expenses of the condemnationproceedings and any award that may be made thereunder, out of the money whichmay be appropriated for said purposes.
All sums which may be agreedupon between the said Utilities Commission and the owner of any property neededby the United States government for said inland waterway and all sums which maybe assessed in favor of the owner of any property condemned hereunder, shallconstitute and remain a fixed and valid claim against the State of NorthCarolina until paid and satisfied in full, but the order of the clerk whenentered in any condemnation proceeding shall divest the owner of the landcondemned of all right, title, interest and possession in and to such land andproperty. (1931, c. 2, s. 2; 1937, c. 434.)