Kohl v. United States, 91 U.S. 367 (1875), was a court case that took place in the Supreme Court of the United States. It invoked the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and is related to the issue of eminent domain.

Eminent domain was used to seize private property, with just compensation, for the construction of a post office, a customs building, and other government buildings in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The court ruled that it is necessary for the government to be able to seize property for its uses, such as creating infrastructure, which ultimately are determined by the legislature and not the judiciary. This essentially gives the government ultimate ownership over all property, because it is not viable for the government to hold out against the obstinance of private individuals to appropriate land for government uses. This power of eminent domain is not only a privilege of the federal, but also state governments. While the petitioners protest that no act of the United States Congress was used to determine the details of the acquisition, the Court ruled such legislation appropriate but unnecessary; it did not prevent the right to acquire land from being vested in the United States Secretary of the Treasury. Another argument addressed is that the government can determine the value of the property, to “justly compensate” the individual property owners; the court ruled that the assessor of the property is determined by law, and as stands the property can be assessed by the government. There was also discussion, regarding the Court’s jurisdiction in this case to be accurate.

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 91
• Chappell v. United States, 160 U.S. 499 (1896)

• Works related to Kohl v. United States at Wikisource
• Text of Kohl v. United States, 91 U.S. 367 (1875) is available from: Justia  Library of Congress  OpenJurist