Topeka ? In Wyandotte County, private property owners whose land is condemned for development receive 25 percent more than fair market value for their property, according to one state law.

In the rest of Kansas, landowners receive just the fair market value, according to another state law.

That’s unconstitutional, according to a Lawrence couple who received the lesser amount between the two laws in a condemnation award related to the widening of Sixth Street.

James and Amy Bartle are scheduled to argue their case Tuesday before the Kansas Supreme Court.

James Bartle, who is general counsel for the Kansas Department of Revenue, is handling the lawsuit against the Kansas Department of Transportation. Bartle previously has argued several cases before the court – including one case that he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court – while representing the state.

Now he’ll be making his personal case against colleagues from another state office building, one two blocks down Harrison Street from his own.

“I’ve still got rights as a private citizen,” Bartle said. “The work I’ve done on this case is entirely a private matter. : There can be differences of interpretation about the law, and this is how they get worked out.”

In his legal brief, Bartle argues that the two-tiered system to determine landowner compensation violates the U.S. Constitution because it results in “unequal treatment of similarly situated individuals.”

The widening of Sixth Street required the condemnation of a 50-foot-wide swath of the Bartles’ backyard at 701 Fox Chase Court. The state used condemnation to acquire 25 feet for the road, sidewalk and a retaining wall, plus another 25 feet to allow for underground utilities.

The department initially offered the Bartles $24,850 for 8,769 square feet of property needed for the project. An appraiser then determined that they should receive $32,000.

But the Bartles challenged that award, and in 2005 a Douglas County jury said $40,345 constitutes fair market value.

Now the Bartles argue that they should get 25 percent more than that, or about an additional $10,000.

The law that provides 25 percent more than fair market value for land in Wyandotte County was designed to ease the condemnation process to build the Kansas Speedway and related developments.

“We’re saying that’s unfair,” James Bartle said. “If you’re going to take property from people, everyone should be compensated the same way.”

Plus, he said, the state should pay him his attorney fees because he prevailed in the case before the jury. He declined to say how much that would be.

KDOT says the Bartles are off base.

Attorneys for the agency said the Kansas Supreme Court already upheld the constitutionality of the law affecting Wyandotte County. The agency says there is no constitutional prohibition against the Legislature creating a distinction of landowners whose land is condemned.

In addition, the agency argues, because the Bartles were receiving fair compensation for their property, they shouldn’t get attorney fees.

Widening scope?

The Kansas Department of Transportation condemned eight tracts of land – for a total of $2.2 million – to help make way for the widening on Sixth Street, from just east of Wakarusa Drive to the South Lawrence Trafficway.

Adding 25 percent to that total would cost the state another $550,000.

If the Kansas Supreme Court sides with James and Amy Bartle, future state projects could be curtailed because of increased land costs.

“The consequences wouldn’t just limited to Sixth Street,” said Sally Howard, the department’s chief counsel. “It would be applicable to all projects across the state. That would cause us a great deal of concern.”