Eminent domain is the inherent power of government to acquire private property for public use. The owners of such private property shall not be deprived of their property without just compensation as provided in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I of the California Constitution.

Condemnation is the legal proceeding by which the power of eminent domain is exercised.

The Department may condemn property to be used for highway and related purposes by authority of S&H Code Section 102. The CTC must first adopt a Resolution of Necessity pursuant to Section 1245.230 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP). CCP Section 1245.235(a) states that "The governing body of the public entity may adopt a resolution of necessity only after the governing body has given each person whose property is to be acquired by eminent domain and whose name and address appears on the last equalized county assessment roll notice and a reasonable opportunity to appear and be heard on matters referred to in Section 1240.030."