North Dakota Landowners Want to Bring Eminent Domain Case to U.S. Supreme Court

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(North Dakota Monitor) – A group of McKenzie County landowners who spent years in court with a pipeline company wants the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that they’re entitled to attorney fees.

The case stems from a federal court settlement between the landowners and natural gas pipeline developer WBI Energy, which used eminent domain to take a portion of their property in 2018. The federal Natural Gas Act allows companies like WBI to seize property for public natural gas development with compensation for the landowners.

The confidential settlement, signed in 2021, only reimburses the landowners for the value of their property, according to court records. However, the landowners — which include Leonard and Denae Hoffmann, Randall Stevenson and Rocky Prestangen — argue they should also be compensated for the legal costs they paid to reach the settlement. They claim they’re entitled to recoup those expenses under North Dakota law.

WBI Energy counters that state law doesn’t apply because it seized the land under a federal law. When the federal government uses eminent domain to take property, it is not required to reimburse the owners for attorney fees, WBI argued. WBI declined a request for comment.