S.C. Supreme Court holds that in condemnation action accrual of interest cannot be stopped by Rule 67

In SCDOT v. First Carolina, SCDOT condemned property of First Carolina and a jury trial was held to determine the proper amount of compensation due and owing. The jury returned a verdict of $1,990,975.00; of which $640,300.00 was for the land acquired and $1,350,675.00 for the damage to the remainder.

Pursuant to Rule 67, SCRCP, SCDOT also sought to deposit with the court the judgment amount plus accrued statutory interest, less the draw down amount, while it pursued an appeal. First Carolina objected. However, the court granted SCDOT's motion, allowing it to deposit the funds and stop the accrual of post judgment interest. First Carolina then appealed, questioning whether the trial court err by allowing SCDOT to deposit the judgment amount pursuant to Rule 67, SCRCP, in order to stop the accrual of post-judgment interest.

The Supreme Court held that the Eminent Domain Procedure Act, which requires post judgment interest to be added to any judgment which is not paid within the twenty day period, trumps the provisions of Rule 67 allowing the deposit of the judgment amount to stop accrual of interest.