Who serves as a commissioner or juror during the trial?

If the property owner elects a panel of commissioners to determine just compensation, the commissioners are selected by the condemning authority and by the property owner. Each side selects property owners who live in the same city or county from which the property is being taken. Five (5) commissioners are required to hear a condemnation case. Any three (3) commissioners can render a verdict.

Whether the panel will consist of a majority of commissioners selected by the property owner or a majority of commissioners selected by the condemning authority will often depend on a coin toss. The random nature of the appointment process is a factor that the landowner should consider in determining whether to choose commissioners or a jury.

A commissioner will be excused for cause if he or she is related to a party or is viewed by the court as being unable to serve as a fair and impartial commissioner.

Each party to the case is allowed two peremptory challenges, which means that each side may reject two prospective commissioners from the case without being required to state any reason for their rejection.

The property owner may also choose to have the case tried by a jury, selected from a pool of "condemnation jurors." The jurors must be residents of the county or city where the land lies, and a majority of the pool must be landowners. Nine jurors are selected by lot, and after each side strikes two, a jury of five persons will decide the case.

Trial by Commissioners or Jury