HOUSTON - Today, the 14th Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s order denying the city of Webster’s plea to the jurisdiction in an inverse condemnation claim.
The claim was brought by Mary Jennette Jackson Hunnicutt, who owned a two-thirds undivided interest in a 23.5-acre tract of land in Webster fronting I-45.
The 14th Court was tasked to decide whether an individual who asserts she was coerced or fraudulently induced into deeding real property to a governmental entity can assert a viable inverse-condemnation claim and establish subject-matter jurisdiction for a claim against the governmental entity.
“Concluding that appellee Mary Jennette Jackson Hunnicutt’s allegations against appellant City of Webster are founded on tortious behavior that negates an inverse-condemnation claim, we reverse the order of the trial court denying the plea to the jurisdiction and render judgment dismissing Hunnicutt’s claims for want of subject-matter jurisdiction,” the opinion states.
Case No. 14-20-00421-CV