The 1999 Session of the General Assembly adopted Senate Joint Resolution 271 and House Joint Resolution 491, establishing a 13-member joint subcommittee to study the current means and adequacy of compensation to Virginia citizens whose properties are taken through the exercise of eminent domain. The joint subcommittee is directed to study (i) the methods by which eminent domain is exercised and (ii) the means by which compensation is provided or obtained. At the conclusion of its first year of study, the joint subcommittee was continued in the 2000 Session of the General Assembly by Senate Joint Resolution 37 (Appendix A).

The joint subcommittee was chaired by Senator Madison E. Marye of Montgomery County, and Delegate James M. Shuler of Montgomery County was elected vice chairman. Other legislative members of the joint subcommittee in 2000 were Senator Charles J. Colgan of Prince William County, Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr., of James City County, Senator John Watkins of Chesterfield County, Delegate L. Preston Bryant, Jr., of Lynchburg, Delegate Riley E. Ingram of Hopewell, Delegate Thomas M. Jackson, Jr., of Carroll, Delegate Robert G. Marshall of Prince William, and Delegate Brian J. Moran of Alexandria. Joseph T. Waldo of Norfolk and John McLeod, III of Blacksburg were reappointed as citizen members by the Speaker of the House, and Philip J. Infantino, III of Chesapeake was reappointed as a citizen member by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections.

Over the course of the two-year study, the joint subcommittee examined a number of issues in Virginia's eminent domain law. Speakers included law professors, eminent domain practitioners, real estate appraisers, representatives of condemning authorities, and numerous private citizens who have had experience with Virginia's eminent domain process. Each year, the joint subcommittee examined the issues raised in the speakers' testimony and proposed several recommendations for legislation to improve the condemnation process in Virginia.