Utah Ombudsman Mediates Eminent Domain Issues

The Property Rights Ombudsman’s mission is to:

  • help property owners, citizens and government officials understand and protect their civic property rights.
  • encourage state and local government agencies to regulate and acquire land in a manner that is consistent with applicable statutes and constitutional law.
  • resolve property rights and land use disputes fairly, in accordance with existing law and without expensive and time-consuming litigation.

The attorney who acts as the Utah ombudsman, Craig Call, works as a “gatekeeper in the dispute resolution process” for property owners who have land use issues. He informs, conciliates, mediates, orders second appraisals, and provides opinions. Mr. Call describes his role as a “method where a neutral third party can help . . . make sure people understand the process, know what the choices are without necessarily being intimated.”

Call spends most of his time answering questions, roughly 1,000 a year, "about land use, eminent domain, and the displacement of people." Based in a pickup truck he has dubbed "the ombuggy," and armed with a cell phone and laptop, he travels throughout Utah, often meeting with residents and local officials to mediate disputes.

The mediating function Mr. Call provides has markedly decreased the number of cases that end up in litigation. In 2001, the Department of Transportation filed lawsuits in 23 percent of the cases. To date in 2006, that number had dropped to less than seven percent.

This success of the Utah ombudsman’s office in mediating disputes between private landowners and the government has prompted Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, with Senator Max Baucus, to introduce federal legislation, the Empower More Property Owners with Enhanced Rights Act of 2005. The EMPOWER Act would create a federal property rights ombudsman in the Department of Transportation and amend the Uniform Relocation Act’s standards for acquisition of property using the government’s eminent domain power. It would mandate Utah’s approach to mediation, disclosures, and fair dispute resolution processes for eminent domain issues nationwide.

Both Connecticut and Missouri recently created Property Rights Ombudsman offices. Other states are considering the option as a responsible, moderate, universally supported response to property owners concerns.

For more information about this office, visit their website.