Ray D. Edwards, Sr., et al. v. Hallsdale-Powell Utility District, Knox County, Tennessee

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that an inverse condemnation claim requires a governmental defendant to perform a purposeful or intentional act that damages or interferes with private property. Because sewage backups into the plaintiffs' homes were allegedly caused by a clogged sewer line rather than an intentional act by Hallsdale-Powell Utility District, the court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated summary judgment on the inverse condemnation claim. The court also overruled Betty v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County to the extent it recognized negligent takings under the Tennessee Constitution.

Holdings

1. A governmental defendant must perform a purposeful or intentional act that results in damage to real property for a taking to exist under article I, section 21 of the Tennessee Constitution.
2. The plaintiffs did not establish a taking because they did not allege or show that HPUD performed a purposeful or intentional act causing the sewage backups; the record instead indicated that the sewer line became clogged, likely because of tree roots.
3. Betty v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County is overruled to the extent that it holds that a purposeful or intentional governmental act is unnecessary for a taking.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a governmental defendant must perform a purposeful or intentional act for damage to private property to constitute a taking under article I, section 21 of the Tennessee Constitution.
2. Whether the sewage backups presented a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to defeat HPUD's motion for summary judgment on the inverse-condemnation claim.
3. Whether the Court of Appeals' decision in Betty v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, which treated the intentionality of a taking as irrelevant, should be overruled.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded