§ 1230.040.Applicability of Rules of Practice Governing Civil Actions

An eminent domain case is a civil action, and this section says so structurally. Except where this title spells out a different rule, the same rules of practice that apply to civil actions generally also apply to eminent domain proceedings -- the general provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure fill in whatever this title doesn't address itself.

That default matters because the Eminent Domain Law doesn't try to be a self-contained procedural code. It creates specialized rules for the issues unique to condemnation -- the right to take, precondemnation entry, deposits and possession before judgment, and compensation -- while leaving matters like general pleading practice, discovery mechanics, and the rules of evidence to the civil-procedure rules that already exist for every other kind of lawsuit.