Any first or second class municipality, county, township, or other governmental agency may acquire by gift, devise, or purchase, a fee ownership in real estate including right-of-way, for the construction and maintenance of the municipal, county, or township highway system, for the functional operation of the municipality, county, or township, and where, in relation to right-of-way acquisition, uneconomic remnants of land would be left to the original owner or where severance damages to a remainder make the acquisition of the entire tract or parcel more economical to the municipality or county. The Department of Transportation may acquire by gift, devise, or purchase, a fee ownership in real estate including right-of-way, for the construction and maintenance of the state highway system, for the functional operation of the department, and where, in relation to right-of-way acquisition, uneconomic remnants of land would be left to the original owner or where severance damages to a remainder make the acquisition of the entire tract or parcel more economical to the state. The department may not acquire fee ownership in right-of-way taken by condemnation proceedings. Source: SL 1961, ch 145 , § 1; SL 1967, ch 116 ; SL 1983, ch 226 , § 1; SL 1986, ch 238 , § 1; SL 1992, ch 60 , § 2; SL 2010, ch 148 , § 1.