Jack W. Lawson And, Mary Ann Lawson, Below v. State of Delaware, Upon the Relationship of the Secretary of The…

Summary

The Court held that the Real Property Acquisition Act requires reimbursement of reasonable litigation expenses when a condemnation proceeding ends with a judgment that the property cannot be acquired through the governmental entity's particular exercise of eminent-domain power in that proceeding, even if a later condemnation action remains possible. It upheld denial of fees under the bad-faith exception because the record showed objective unreasonableness, not subjective bad faith. It also remanded for the Superior Court to determine the statutory litigation expenses and expressly address costs.