NOVEMBER 2022 | 33 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL statutes require the condemning authority shall make every reasonable effort to acquire real property by negotiations.15 Furthermore, the Oklahoma Statutes require an appraisal of the real property be developed prior to negotiations with the landowner.16 The initial offer must be reasonable and based on an appraisal of the subject property.17 However, the policy set forth in Okla. Stat. Tit. 27 §13 is not fatal if the condemning entity does not explicitly follow it. In State ex rel. Depart. Of Transp. v. Metcalf,18 the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that so long as the condemning entity makes a bona fide offer, it has satisfied the only jurisdictional prerequisite to a condemnation action.19 Okla. Stat. Tit. §53 sets forth the general procedure for a condemning entity to take private property for public use. The general eminent domain procedure outlined in Section 53 is used by counties, municipalities, school districts, boards of education or any other board or official in charge of a cemetery created under Oklahoma law. The specific eminent domain procedure for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Turnpike Authority are found at Okla. Stat. Tit. 69 §1203 and Okla. Stat. Tit. 69 §1708, respectively. In
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