Wick v. Chelan Electric Co.

Background

A Washington public utility company was authorized to raise Lake Chelan to 1,100 feet to generate electricity and to take land needed for that purpose. A Pennsylvania resident owned shore land that would be partly flooded. The utility sued in the county superior court to acquire the right to overflow the land, published notice as Washington law allowed for nonresidents, and the trial court awarded compensation and appropriated the overflow right. Washington’s highest court affirmed, and the landowner asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, arguing the notice and the property description violated the Constitution.

Reasoning

The central question was whether Washington’s statute allowing notice by publication to nonresident owners and the petition’s land description denied the owner fair process. The state supreme court read the statute to allow the first publication to count as service and found the interval before the hearing sufficient. This Court accepted that state construction as authoritative, found the time allowed reasonable, and concluded the petition’s description was adequate. Because the constitutional objections were unsubstantial under the record, the federal court said it had no basis to overturn the state decision.

Real world impact

The result lets the utility’s condemnation and the right to overflow the shore land stand, with the compensation set by the state court. The ruling affirms that, where state law permits publication for nonresident owners and the state court’s procedures are reasonable, similar due-process challenges will not succeed in federal review.