Portersville Bay Oyster Company, LLC, Troy Cornelius, and Rebecca Cornelius v. Christopher Blankenship

Summary

The court held that the oyster farmers stated viable inverse-condemnation claims based on sediment and silt from a public coastal-restoration project interfering with their leased oyster-bottom rights and shellfish aquaculture easement. It further held that the absence of a legislatively prescribed condemnation procedure did not bar the claims and that the State official could not invoke State immunity because the claims alleged a taking for public use. The trial court's dismissal was reversed and the case was remanded.