OAG will prepare a lis pendens notice on all eminent domain proceedings. This is a legal document filed in the official records or property records of the county where the property is located, giving notice to the public that a lawsuit regarding the property has been filed. Care must be taken to ensure that the ED cause number is included in and the property description is attached to the filed lis pendens. This document makes any subsequent action taken on the property subject to the State's eminent domain suit.

Upon e-filing the condemnation petition, the OAG will send a copy of the filed petition and the Notice of Lis Pendens to the ROW PM. The Notice of Lis Pendens should be signed and dated by the TxDOT representative as “Agent for the State of Texas”, and acknowledged before a notary public or the clerk of the court. The notice and the acknowledgment

must

be signed and acknowledged

after

the Plaintiff's Statement is filed, even though both tasks should be accomplished on the same date if possible (otherwise new interests could arise between the filing of the petition and the time the lis pendens is filed in the official records of the county). Under no circumstances is the notice to be dated or acknowledged prior to the filing of the statement. If the file-stamp or the date of the document predates the filing of the statement,

even by a minute

, the lis pendens is void.

Care also should be taken to insert the cause number of the proceedings. A file-marked copy of the recorded lis pendens should be sent to OAG. See or in the Eminent Domain Guide for additional guidance.