Portland General Electric Co. v. Mead

The issue in this case is one of law — whether a statutory change to costs, including attorney fee awards, in eminent domain cases applied to cases that were pending when the statute went into effect. The trial court concluded that the statute applied to all prospective cost awards without regard to when the case was filed, and awarded costs. Condemnor appeals. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the statute requires an award of attorney fees in this case and, therefore, affirm.

Under Oregon law, a condemning authority must make a written offer to purchase property for its fair…