Texas Government Code 2007.002 – Definitions
Terms Used In Texas Government Code 2007.002
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
In this chapter:
(1) “Governmental entity” means:
(A) a board, commission, council, department, or other agency in the executive branch of state government that is created by constitution or statute, including an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; or
(B) a political subdivision of this state.
(2) “Owner” means a person with legal or equitable title to affected private real property at the time a taking occurs.
(3) “Market value” means the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller after considering all factors in the marketplace that influence the price of private real property.
(4) “Private real property” means an interest in real property recognized by common law, including a groundwater or surface water right of any kind, that is not owned by the federal government, this state, or a political subdivision of this state.
(5) “Taking” means:
(A) a governmental action that affects private real property, in whole or in part or temporarily or permanently, in a manner that requires the governmental entity to compensate the private real property owner as provided by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution or Section 17 or 19, Article I, Texas Constitution; or
(B) a governmental action that:
(i) affects an owner’s private real property that is the subject of the governmental action, in whole or in part or temporarily or permanently, in a manner that restricts or limits the owner’s right to the property that would otherwise exist in the absence of the governmental action; and
(ii) is the producing cause of a reduction of at least 25 percent in the market value of the affected private real property, determined by comparing the market value of the property as if the governmental action is not in effect and the market value of the property determined as if the governmental action is in effect.