(a) Each county may acquire and own such lands and rights in lands as in the opinion of the assistant judges are needful for county purposes.

(b) A county may condemn land in situations similar to those in which a municipality may condemn under section 2805 of this title by complying with the procedures established in sections 2805 through 2812 of this title, with the assistant judges performing the duties assigned by those sections to the selectboard.

(c) In any proceeding brought by a county under subsection (b) of this section, the assistant judges shall be disqualified, and the proceeding shall be heard by the presiding judge sitting alone. (Amended 1979, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 6, 1980; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 166; 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 72.)