That private property shall not be taken for
private use with or without compensation, unless by consent of the owner, except for
private ways of necessity, and except for drains and ditches across the lands of others
for agricultural and sanitary purposes, in the manner prescribed by law; and that when
an attempt is made to take private property for a use alleged to be public, the question
whether the contemplated use be public shall be judicially determined without regard
to any legislative declaration that the use is public.
Structure Missouri constitution