McMinn County Landowners File Fifth Amendment Takings Claims

Almost 50 landowners have filed their Fifth Amendment takings claims against the federal government in this case. The government took the McMinn County landowners’ property on August 12, 2009 when it issued an order allowing McMinn County to acquire their property for a public recreational trail. Under Tennessee law, when CSXT abandoned its railroad operations, the land under its right-of-way should have reverted to the adjacent landowners. But the federal Trails Act prevented this from happening and, instead, allowed McMinn County to acquire the land.