Court Upholds Jury Determination of Compensation For Partial Taking.

The plaintiff, an electric power company, condemned a power line easement that bisected two tracts of the defendants (a married couple).  The easement occupied 12 acres out of 460.  The plaintiff offered the defendants $96,465 for the property taken.  On appeal, the trial court jury determined the property taken was worth $1,922,559.  The plaintiff appealed the jury award, claiming that the trial court erred by failing to exclude the defendants' expert testimony and that the trial court erred by allowing testimony as to a valuation approach that was not in accord with K.S.A. Sec. 26-513(e).  The court upheld the jury award because the defendants' first expert testimony, while not a valuation expert, laid a proper foundation for the testimony of the defendants' valuation expert.  The defendants' valuation expert approach did follow the statute and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the testimony.  The evidence was legally sufficient to support the jury's determination.  The trial court also did not err in allowing into evidence an option contract that had been entered into with a developer.  Kansas City Power & Light Company, No. 110,573, 2015 Kan. LEXIS 720 (Kan. Sup. Ct. Aug. 28, 2015).