An Oklahoma appeals court says a jury was correct to award two landowners $3.1 million for 12.7 acres of undeveloped land acquired for a school expansion.
District Judge Mary Fitzgerald had said the Jenks School District was entitled to a new trial, but the Tulsa World reported Tuesday that the Court of Appeals reversed her decision.
Jenks' school board voted in 2007 to condemn the land so it could expand an elementary school. It initially offered $395,000, but court-appointed commissioners put the value at $1.4 million. The landowners said the property was worth more because it included a number of billboards. A jury in 2011 agreed with them.
The school district can ask the court to reconsider its ruling, or take the case to the state Supreme Court.
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