Mississippi Voters Approve Eminent Domain Restrictions

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment aimed at limiting governments' ability to seize property and hand it over to private developers.

The ballot initiative on the power of eminent domain pitted landowner rights against economic development.

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, his economic development chief and many local officials opposed the amendment, which was pushed by the politically powerful Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation.

The amendment seeks to prevent the taking of private land for private development. It keeps in place the state's authority to seize private land for public-use projects, such as streets or bridges.