Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on April 24, 2007, to define in statute what is a drain "visibly in existence," which means it can be determined to be an easement across a person's property (even if this easement is not specified in the deed). The criteria for open or closed drains would be that they can be visibly identified by banks, slopes, manhole covers, or other structures that would identify the existence of a drain. This relates to drain easements that were created before these started being recorded in 1956, and so are not on file with the register of deeds

The vote was 72 in favor, 33 opposed and 5 not voting

(House Roll Call 282 at House Journal 75)

Click here to view bill details.

This bill was authored by drain commissioner staff in order to lay claim to land for drain easements without fairly paying the landowner. The bill allows "Evidence" in the drain commissioner's office to pre-empt a landowner claim that there is no easement of record dating back before 1956, the date when drain easements had to be recorded by law. Thus a property purchased that shows no easement in the Register of Deeds office can now be challenged--and won in court--by undefined "evidence" that only the drain commissioner holds. The "evidence" could be an old map, an introduced plan for a drain that was never built, or a plan for a drain for which no easements were ever obtained. The real kicker is that the Uniform Condemnation Act need not apply and the drain office gets land without paying a dime for it. Check out how many legislators voted for this property grab.