Two Tunica County juries returned verdicts for landowners in separate eminent domain trials here last week for property being taken for the $38 million Tunica Airport expansion project already under construction in this rapidly growing resort area. The massive airport project is designed to transform Tunica's small general aviation airport into a full-service facility that will allow Boeing 727 size aircraft to operate at full capacity directly between Tunica and worldwide destinations up to 1,300 miles away.

On Wednesday, a jury returned a verdict of $783,040 as just compensation for the taking of a 97-acre tract of land the County had valued at $220,000. On Friday, another jury awarded $97,600 for a second 21-acre tract the County had valued at $45,000. According to Hernando attorney Paul R. Scott, who represented the landowners in both cases, both verdicts were for the full amounts sought by the landowners.

The two cases were the first of eleven pending eminent domain cases relating to valuation of over 600 acres of land being taken by Tunica County, the Town of Tunica and the Tunica County Airport Commission for the airport expansion project to serve the County's growing casino gaming and resort industry. Tunica now hosts nine casinos and approximately 6,000 hotel rooms, with plans recently announced for a proposed new $900 million, 6 million square-foot domed resort containing a fully enclosed 18-hole golf course and clubhouse, 5-acre water park, casino, hotel, botanical gardens and other amenities.

"The continued development of the casino gaming and resort industry in Tunica County has had a dramatic positive impact on land values all over Tunica County," said Paul Scott, a managing partner of the law firm of Smith, Phillips, Mitchell & Scott, and a member of Owners Counsel of America, a national organization of landowners' counsel. "The verdicts in Tunica last week reflect the fair market values of the properties taken."

Henry L. Dunklin, MSA, IFAS was retained by the landowners in all eleven cases to appraise their properties in conjunction with the eminent domain proceedings and to serve as Expert Witness in the trials. Each of the juries returned verdicts equal to the opinion of value as appraised by Mr. Dunklin, President of The Dunklin Appraisal Group in Florence, Mississippi. Dunklin said "The trials held last week culminated four years of effort on the part of our firm and the legal teams to seek just compensation for these landowners. Tunica County had offered one landowner just $275 per acre more than they paid these same landowners in 1978 for the land for the old airport that was removed to make way for this new airport. With the impact of the highly successful gaming industry in Tunica County, land values have surged in the past 10 years. Tunica County, the Town of Tunica and the Tunica County Airport Commission, however, refused to even negotiate with the landowners and held firm to their 1970s farmland value offers. It was our position that though these lands were in agricultural use when taken in August 2000, these parcels as well as just about all parcels in the area from the Town of Tunica north to the casino area in Robinsonville have a Highest and Best Use significantly greater than for agricultural use. We were able to prove to two juries that our value opinions were more representative of the current-day economics in Tunica County."

Thursday, April 13, 2006

The Mississippi Supreme Court today issued a unanimous opinion with 6 of the 8 eligible Justices affirming the June 30, 2004 jury award in the Tunica County Airport Commission, et al v. Ann Matthews, Trustee and John Pritchard. The court found in favor of Henry Dunklin's testimony and methods of valuation and overruled Tunica's County's appeal that asked the High Court if the Tunica County Special Eminent Domain Court should have prohibited Mr. Dunklin's testimony.

The text of the Mississippi Supreme Court opinion in this case is attached as a PDF file.

Matthews-Supreme Court Opinion.pdf

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Henry L. Dunklin, MSA, IFAS served as appraiser and expert witness in the matter MDOT vs. Penny Rodrique in Harrison County Court July 24 - 25, 2006. The following frontpage article appeared in the Sun Herald Newspaper on July 26, 2006:

Penny Rodrique Sun Herald Article.pdf