Department of Transportation v. Woods

Sears, Justice.

We granted certiorari in this matter to consider the Court of Appeals’ ruling that Article I, Section III, Paragraph I (d) of the Georgia Constitution, read in conjunction with OCGA § 9-15-14, permits trial courts to award attorney fees to condemnees in eminent domain cases. We agree with the Court of Appeals that our present constitutional and statutory schemes do permit the award of attorney fees in condemnation cases, so long as the circumstances of a particular case satisfy the required statutory criteria. However, having reviewed the circumstances of this case, we conclude…