§ 29-3-103. Confirmation of leases.
Any person holding or claiming any sixteenth section school land under a lease or extension thereof made by the board of education or by their authority or direction, may proceed by bill in chancery court to have such lease or extension thereof confirmed and quieted. He shall set forth in his bill his claim for title under the lease or extension thereof which he asks to have confirmed, the date of such lease or extension, to whom made, the consideration, and the amount paid and to be paid, if any. The superintendent of education of the district in which the bill is filed and in which the land may be located shall be made a party defendant, and process shall be served on him as in other cases in chancery. Such suits shall be brought in the county in which the sixteenth section or some part thereof is located, and shall be proceeded with as in other cases in chancery, except that the bill shall not be taken as confessed; and it shall be competent for the court to hear and consider evidence aliunde the records of the board of education as to whether the lease or extension thereof sought to be confirmed was legally made and whether the complainant is entitled to relief. If it is clearly proven that the requirements of law regulating such leases or extensions thereof were complied with, the proper relief shall be granted even though the records contain no such affirmative showing. The party claiming title under such lease or extension thereof shall be entitled to the benefits of this section whether the suit be filed by him or by the school district, as required by this chapter.
The provisions of statute made by Sections 29-3-105 and 29-3-107 shall fully apply under this section.
Sources: Codes, 1930, § 6775; 1942, § 6616; Laws, 1924, ch. 283; Laws, 1930, ch. 278; Laws, 1950, ch. 366; Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 39, eff from and after July 1, 1978.