Leeco Gas and Oil Company v. County of Nueces
Supreme Court of Texas
736 S.W.2d 629 (1987)
Leeco (plaintiff) gifted land to Nueces County (defendant) by a deed conditioned on the county using the property as a public park; the county ran a park there for over twenty years before deciding to condemn Leeco's remainder interest, paying only $10,000 despite testimony valuing the property at no less than $3,000,000. The county court affirmed the county's authority to condemn but awarded Leeco only nominal damages of ten dollars, and that award was upheld on appeal. Leeco sought Supreme Court review of the damages award and also argued the county's own awareness of the possibility of reverter when it accepted the gift should estop it from condemning that interest now.
Whether, under Texas law, a governmental entity that holds a possessory interest in real property subject to a possibility of reverter and condemns the reversionary interest must compensate the holder of that reversionary interest for its value.