SB 5142 — Providing owners of real estate taken through eminent domain by school districts, or sold under threat of eminent domain, the opportunity to purchase the real estate back when it is not put to intended public use.

ENGROSSEDS-0446.1 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5142 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senate Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Hasegawa, Chapman, Nobles, Schoesler, and Wellman)Wellman READPrefiled FIRST01/07/25. TIME 02/03/25.

Read first time 01/13/25.

Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

(3) ExceptBefore asreal providedestate acquired in subsectionsa (5)condemnation throughaction (8)brought ofunder this section,chapter, beforeor real estate acquired inunder athreat condemnationof actioncondemnation, broughtmay be p.

1 ESSBSB 5142 under this chapter, or acquired under threat of condemnation, may be sold, transferred, or put to a use other than as a site for schoola facilities,schoolhouse, or as additional grounds to an existing schoolschoolhouse facilities,site, the school district shall send a written offer by certified mail to the previous owner or owners,owners or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest, at their last known addresses, offering to sell the acquired real estate to the previous owner or owners,owners or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest, in exchange for the amount paid by the school district to the clerk of the court as compensation for the real estate taken, or, in the case of property acquired under threat of condemnation, for the purchase price paid by the school district.

Such(4) previousOnce owner,the owners,school ordistrict theirputs heirs,acquired assigns,real estate to use as a site for a schoolhouse, or successorsas inadditional interestgrounds shallto havean 60existing daysschoolhouse aftersite, receiptits obligations under subsection (3) of suchthis writtensection offerterminate, even if the acquired real estate is subsequently put to providea writtenuse acceptanceother than as a site for a schoolhouse or as additional grounds to thean schoolexisting district.schoolhouse site.

The(5) schoolA district'sproperty obligationowner tomay providewaive suchthe writtenrights offerto underreceive thisnotice subsection is satisfied, and anyto subsequentpurchase dispositionback of the acquired real estate isby notexecuting invalidateda for lack of actual notice to any previous owner, owners, or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest, when the school district has in good faith and with reasonable diligence attempted to ascertain the identity of all persons entitled to notice under this section and sent such written offerwaiver. by certified mail to their last known addresses.

(4) For real estate acquired in a condemnation action brought under this chapter, or under threat of condemnation, a previous owner, owners, or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest are entitled to notice and opportunity to repurchase the property as described in subsection (3) of this section if:

(a) The public use for which the property was acquired is canceled before the property is put to that public use;

(b) no actual progress is made toward the public use for which the property was acquired within 10 years after the date of acquisition;

or (c) the property becomes unnecessary for the public use for which it was acquired or a substantially similar public use.

(5) Once the school district puts acquired real estate to use as a site for school facilities, or as additional grounds to existing school facilities, its obligations under subsection (3) of this section terminate, even if the acquired real estate is subsequently put to a use other than as a site for school facilities or as additional grounds to existing school facilities.

p.

2 ESSB 5142 (6) A school district's obligations and the rights of an owner, owners, or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest to receive notice and to purchase back the acquired real estate under subsection (3) of this section terminate 15 years after the date that the real estate was acquired by the school district.

(7) A property owner, or their heirs, assigns, or successors in interest, may waive the rights to receive notice and to purchase back the acquired real estate by executing a written waiver.

(8) Subsection (3) of this section does not apply to a property owner who makes a written request that a school district acquire the property through a condemnation action unless the school district first sent the property owner a written notice indicating an intent to pursue a condemnation action to acquire the property.

32 ESSBSB 5142