Also known as: expropriation clauses · expropriation-clause · takings clause
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A provision requiring compensation when government appropriates private property. The clause reaches both direct seizures of title and recurring physical invasions that appropriate a right to exclude.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Echelon Security owns several large agricultural properties. A state regulation grants union organizers recurring access to the fields several times each month to meet with workers. The company sues, claiming the mandated access appropriates its right to exclude others. The court holds that the recurring physical invasions constitute a per se taking requiring just compensation.
Eva Espinosa operates a raisin farm. Federal rules require her to deliver a portion of each harvest to a government warehouse, leaving her only a contingent interest in later sales proceeds. She receives no guaranteed payment. The court determines that the compelled transfer of personal property effects a taking that mandates compensation.
A physical appropriation of property, even if temporary or intermittent, requires compensation. Regulations that merely diminish value without appropriating a property interest do not trigger the clause.
No. Government appropriation of title and possession constitutes a taking even when the owner retains only a contingent interest in future proceeds from the property.