Regional Industry & News

TYNDALL, S.D. — Six landowners in Bon Homme and Charles Mix counties have received more than $250,000 in compensation from the federal government in two resolved lawsuits involving a former railroad corridor being preserved for public trail use.

The settlements were secured by Missouri law firm Lewis Rice in August, marking the third and fourth lawsuits the firm has concluded on behalf of landowners along the 24-mile corridor between Tyndall and Ravinia.

The cases, Koepp v. United States and Bambas v. United States, involved claims that the federal government took private property when the former railroad corridor was converted to public recreational use.

The Koepp case was filed April 28, 2025, and resolved Aug. 25, 2026, while the Bambas case was filed Nov. 14, 2025, and resolved Aug. 28, 2026.

The individual settlement amounts are not public. Lewis Rice attorney Meghan S. Largent said the amounts were determined using comparable property values around the date of the taking. Each settlement was subject to the individual landowner’s decision to accept the amount.

The cases stem from the federal Surface Transportation Board’s August 2023 authorization for South Dakota to convert the former railroad corridor into a public hiking and biking trail.

The railroad had operated under easements across the affected properties for more than a century. The landowners argued those easements would have ended when the railroad was abandoned under South Dakota law.

Instead, the federal government’s action preserved the corridor for public trail use under the National Trails System Act. The law allows unused railroad corridors to be converted to recreational trails while preserving the possibility of future railroad use.

Because the original railroad easements did not allow the property to be used as a public trail, the landowners claimed the federal government had taken their property for public use without providing just compensation, in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“The government, by issuing this order, converts this property to a new and different use,” Largent previously said. “This prevents it from going back to the landowner.”

The legal claims seek the fair market value of the property interest taken from each landowner.

Largent said settlement amounts vary by property and depend on factors such as frontage, size and land use. The firm has handled claims involving residential, commercial and agricultural properties, with settlements ranging from five figures to six figures.

Not all landowners who pursued claims were successful. Some voluntarily dismissed their cases after property records showed the railroad had acquired full ownership of the land rather than an easement. Other dismissals involved ownership issues.

Across the four cases, Lewis Rice has secured more than $500,000 for 21 landowners along the corridor.

Eight of those successful landowners are in Charles Mix County, including property owners in Wagner and Dante. The remaining successful landowners are in Bon Homme County, primarily in Tyndall, with two in Avon.

The firm estimates approximately 80 additional landowners along the corridor may still be eligible to seek compensation.

Eligibility depends in part on whether a landowner owns property directly adjacent to the former railroad corridor and how the railroad originally acquired its interest. Properties acquired through easements may qualify, while properties conveyed to the railroad through deeds granting full ownership generally do not.

Determining eligibility can require reviewing historical property records to establish how the railroad originally acquired its interest in a particular parcel.

The firm hopes the four successful cases give remaining landowners more confidence that the claims are legitimate.

Landowners with potential claims must file a case in federal court before Aug. 17, 2029. The deadline is based on the six-year statute of limitations applicable to the claims.

Largent said property owners are not directly notified when a railroad corridor is converted to trail use.

“They don't get notice from the railroad. They don't get notice from the trail group,” Largent said. “It's a shortcoming of the law. It affects their land, and they are not given real notice.”

The federal government, state and trail organizations are not required to individually notify affected landowners, Largent said. Notice of the federal action is instead published through the Federal Register.

“There are landowners in Bon Homme and Charles Mix counties who are still eligible to file a claim for the just compensation the federal government owes them,” Largent said. “We will continue to help these landowners pursue the compensation they are legally entitled to.”