State wastes millions to acquire land

R.G. Dunlop of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal has a series on the state's land condemnation system, finding that "Kentucky has squandered millions of tax dollars buying land for highway construction because of an outdated condemnation system that it has refused to fix for decades." In some cases, the state paid owners much more than their land was worth; in others landowners had their initial compensation reduced, leaving them to repay the state. The paper sued the state Transportation Cabinet for its condemnation records in April 2004 and went to court again to enforce an attorney general's ruling to produce the data. The series includes links to excerpt from a letter, memo and report used in the reporting of the story.