Farm Bureau supported Citizens' Initiative

David Waide, former MFBF President, sponsored a citizens’ initiative to amend the Mississippi Constitution for eminent domain reform – to keep individuals’ property from being taken by the government and turned over to other private parties. More than 110,00 Mississippi voters signed a petition to put the reform measure on the next statewide ballot to let the voters decide whether Mississippi should do what most other states have done to protect private property.

The current initiative (Initiative 31) will prevent property taken by eminent domain from being immediately turned over to private persons or businesses. This would not include drainage and levee facilities, roads, bridges, ports, airports, common carriers, and utilities and would not apply in certain situations, including public nuisance, structures unfit for human habitation, or abandoned property.