CHAPTER 3. SURFACE AND TIMBER RIGHTS - Texas Statutes

VERNON'S CIVIL STATUTES

TITLE 86. LANDS--PUBLIC

CHAPTER 3. SURFACE AND TIMBER RIGHTS

Art. 5311b. VALIDATING SALES. In cases where public free school

and asylum land has been advertised as being subject to

forfeiture for non-payment of interest and to be forfeited and

canceled and come on the market for sale at some future sale date

and such land was declared forfeited and the sale canceled on the

records of the General Land Office and sale awards issued upon

applications filed at such sale date, and said sale award has

been held by the Supreme Court to be void and all other sale

awards which may be void or voidable or the titles to which may

have become defective from any cause, are hereby validated, and

when the said land shall be fully paid for together with payment

of all fees it shall be patented; provided, in cases where the

sale award of the land advertised as aforesaid has not stood one

year the owner of said land at date of forfeiture shall have the

right to apply to the General Land Office for a re-instatement of

said former sale upon the payment of all past due interest at any

time within six months after the taking effect of this Act.

Acts 1925, p. 332, 39th Leg., ch. 130, Sec. 4.

Art. 5326i. REINSTATEMENT OF PURCHASES IN HUTCHINSON COUNTY.

Sec. 1. In cases where lands belonging to the Public Free School

Funds located in Hutchinson County, Texas, stand forfeited on the

records of the General Land Office, and where said forfeitures

have been made by the Commissioner of the General Land Office

after September 1, 1942, and prior to February 1, 1943, and where

such lands have been used or occupied by the original purchaser

of said lands from the State of Texas for a continuous period of

twenty-seven years or more, the said forfeitures may be set aside

and the original purchases re-instated by the said Commissioner

upon the payment of all moneys due and owing on such land,

including interest and principal; providing that such

re-instatement shall not be effective as to any intervening

rights of third parties.

Sec. 2. In cases where lands belonging to the Public Free School

Fund located in Hardeman County stand forfeited on the records of

the General Land Office and said forfeitures having been made by

the Commissioner of the General Land Office prior to September

25, 1943, and after January 1, 1943, and where the lands have

been improved by the present occupant or user to the extent of

One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars or more, the said forfeitures may

be set aside and the original purchases re-instated by the said

Commissioner upon payment of all moneys due and owing on such

land, including interest and principal; providing that such

reinstatement shall not be effective as to any intervening rights

of third parties.

Sec. 3. If any section, sub-section, clause, sentence, or

provision of this Act, for any reason, be held to be invalid or

unconstitutional, it shall not affect in any wise the remaining

provisions of this Act not so held, and all that portion not so

held invalid shall remain in full force and effect; it being the

express intention of the Legislature to enact such Act without

respect to such section, sub-section, clause, sentence, or

provision, or a part thereof, so held to be invalid or

unconstitutional.

Acts 1950, 51st Leg., 1st C.S., p. 84, ch. 21.

Art. 5330a. REGULATING SALE AND PATENTING OF LANDS FORMERLY PART

OF OKLAHOMA; SPECIAL LAND BOARD ABOLISHED; POWERS AND DUTIES OF

GENERAL LAND OFFICE.

Land Offered to Claimants; Consideration

Sec. 1. All of the lands along the 100th degree of west longitude

on the East side of the Panhandle of the State of Texas and the

west side of the State of Oklahoma, found to be in the State of

Texas by the final decree of the Supreme Court of the United

States, entered March 17th, 1930, in the case of the State of

Oklahoma vs. the State of Texas, the United States of America,

Intervenor, theretofore claimed by Oklahoma but now located in

Lipscomb, Hemphill, Wheeler, Collingsworth and Childress

Counties, are hereby offered for sale to the claimants of said

lands as reflected by the Deed Records or other public records of

the State of Oklahoma and under the laws of the State of Oklahoma

at the time of the rendition of said decree by the Supreme Court

of the United States, and said lands shall be sold to such

claimants as would have then owned said lands had the same been a

part of Oklahoma, or who have acquired or may hereafter acquire

title by foreclosure of a line valid and enforceable under the

laws of Oklahoma at the time of the rendition of such decree. The

consideration for such sale shall be the sum of One ($1.00)

Dollar per acre.

Special Land Board Abolished; Transfer of Rights and Duties

Sec. 2. The rights and duties of the Special Land Board are

transferred to the General Land Office, and the Special Land

Board is abolished. The General Land Office shall have the power

to ascertain the bona fide claimants of said lands as shown by

the public records and under the laws of the State of Oklahoma,

to make such surveys and investigations as may be necessary to

carry out the provisions of this Act, and to adopt such rules,

regulations and forms as it may deem expedient.

Application; fee; Investigation and Award

Sec. 3. Any claimant to any portion of said lands who would have

had title to same had it been located in Oklahoma, may make

application to the Commissioner of the General Land Office to

purchase the land claimed. Such application shall be accompanied

by field notes of the tract claimed, together with a filing fee

of One ($1.00) Dollar, an examination fee of Fifteen (.15¢)

Cents per acre, and with such other information as the Land Board

may require to be given, including certified copies of all

muniments of title under the laws of Oklahoma. Upon receipt of

such application the Land Board shall cause an investigation to

be made as to the status of the public records of the State of

Oklahoma, and in event it is found that the applicant would have

been the owner of said land at the time of the decree of the

Supreme Court of the United States had the same been located in

Oklahoma, or holds title by reason of foreclosure of a lien valid

and enforceable under the laws of Oklahoma at the time of such

decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, such

application shall be approved, and said land awarded to said

applicant. Within sixty days after such award such applicant

shall pay to the Commissioner of the General Land Office the sum

of One ($1.00) Dollar per acre for said land, and upon receipt of

such payment the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall

issue to the claimant a patent to said lands in such form as the

Land Commissioner shall prescribe.

Sale to Lien Holder

Sec. 4. In event the claimant fails or refuses to purchase same

or to apply for a patent as provided for herein, then the holder

of a lien against any of said lands may make such purchase or

apply for such patent on behalf of said owner and pay the

consideration provided for, and all fees and expenses, and such

amounts when paid by such lien holder shall be added to and

become a part of the total amount secured by the lien. A failure

on the part of the said owner to make purchase, or application

for patent, for a period of four months after the last

publication by said Land Board as provided in this Act shall

constitute such failure to apply as will warrant the lien holder

in making such application to purchase. The patent issued upon

application and purchase of a lien holder shall be in the name of

the person, persons or company who would have owned said lands

had the same been a part of Oklahoma.

Recording Deeds, Mortgages, Etc.; Evidence; Force and Effect

Sec. 5. All deeds, mortgages, contracts and instruments of every

nature, or in case of loss of any such instrument a certified

copy from the record in the Oklahoma County may be so used,

affecting the title to said lands, or that would have formed a

part of the chain of title to the same under the laws of the

State of Oklahoma, and now of record on the public records of the

State of Oklahoma, may be filed and recorded in the county in

Texas in which the land is now located. All deeds, mortgages,

conveyances and all other instruments which would be valid under

the laws of the State of Oklahoma and admissible in evidence

under the laws of said State, shall be valid in Texas and shall

be admissible in evidence in any court in this State, and copies

of said instruments certified as provided by the laws of

Oklahoma, as well as the originals thereof, may be introduced in

evidence in the same manner as if executed with the formalities

required by the laws of the State of Texas, and as if certified

as required by the laws of this State. All such deeds, deeds of

trust, mortgages, conveyances and contracts, affecting the title

to any of said lands shall be given the same force and effect in

the State of Texas as same would have been given in the State of

Oklahoma, and all bona fide liens, incumbrances, or debentures,

now outstanding and unsatisfied, and existing against said lands

at the time of the rendition of said decision of the Supreme

Court of the United States are here expressly validated, save and

except as to purchase money due to the State of Oklahoma, or the

United States, and except taxes, general or special, due to the

State of Oklahoma, or any city, county, school district or other

political subdivision of the State of Oklahoma. In determining

whether any lien against said land shall be enforced, the period

of time intervening between the rendition of the decision by the

Supreme Court of the United States and the issuance of a patent

to the land involved by the State of Texas, shall not be computed

in applying the Statutes of Limitation of either the State of

Oklahoma or the State of Texas, and this Act shall be liberally

construed in the enforcement of liens against said land, it being

the intention of the Legislature that all sections and parts

hereof are independent of each other, and if any section or part

hereof be held unconstitutional such invalid section shall not

affect the remaining sections or parts hereof.

Deposit and Use of Fees

Sec. 6. The examination fees provided for in Section 3 of this

Act shall be deposited with the Comptroller in a special fund to

the credit of the Land Board created in Section 2 hereof. All

such moneys so paid into the State Treasury are hereby

specifically appropriated to said Land Board for the purpose of

defraying the authorized and necessary expenses incident to the

enforcement of this Act incurred by said Board in determining the

identity of persons entitled to the benefits of this Act. The

Comptroller shall, from time to time, upon requisition of the

Commissioner of the General Land Office, draw warrants upon the

State Treasury for the amounts specified in such requisition, not

exceeding, however, the amount of such fund on deposit at the

time of the making of any requisition therefor. Any sum remaining

in such fund after all expenses have been paid shall be

transferred to the Permanent School Fund. The amount of money

accruing to the State of Texas as consideration for the sale of

the land as provided for in Section 3 hereof shall be placed to

the credit of the Permanent School Fund.

Determination by Board; Proclamation; Time for Application

Sec. 7. The Land Board, upon the passage of this Act, is

authorized to determine when such lands are available for

purchase, and said Board shall by proper proclamation give notice

to all persons desiring to file an application to purchase said

land, by causing such proclamation to be published once each week

for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper of general

circulation in each county in which any part of said lands may be

located, and by filing a copy of such proclamation with the

County Clerk of each such county. Applications to purchase such

lands shall be filed with the Commissioner of the General Land

Office within four months from and after the last publication,

and if said claims are not filed within said time an additional

filing fee of Ten (10¢) Cents per acre shall be required. No

land shall be patented or sold under the provisions of this Act

unless claimed and applied for within twelve months after the

publication of said proclamation, and the proclamation shall so

state.

Acts 1931, 42nd Leg., p. 311, ch. 185. Amended by Acts 1941, 47th

Leg., p. 242, ch. 170, Sec. 1; Acts 1951, 52nd Leg., p. 298, ch.

177, Sec. 1.

Sec. 6 amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1423, Sec. 21.54,

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Art. 5330b. SALE OF PUBLIC LANDS ALONG WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND

EASTERN TEXAS BOUNDARY AUTHORIZED. From and after the effective

date of this Act all public lands in this State situate along the

western boundary of the State of Oklahoma and the eastern

boundary of the State of Texas and along the 100th degree of west

longitude, found to be in the State of Texas by final decree of

the Supreme Court of the United States entered March 17, 1930, in

the case of the State of Oklahoma vs. the State of Texas, the

United States of America, intervenor, theretofore claimed by

Oklahoma but now located in Lipscomb, Hemphill, Wheeler,

Collingsworth and Childress Counties, are to be offered for sale

in accordance with the provisions of Article 5330A, Revised Civil

Statutes of Texas Acts 1931, Forty-second Legislature, Page 311,

Chapter 185.

Acts 1939, 46th Leg., p. 478, Sec. 1.

Art. 5337-2. EXECUTION IN FAVOR OF NUECES COUNTY WATER CONTROL

AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 4 FOR WATER SUPPLY.

Sec. 1. The Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby

authorized and empowered, acting for and on behalf of the State

of Texas, to execute any and all grants of easements in, on, and

across all unsold Public Free School Lands, and in, on, and

across all islands, salt water lakes, bays, inlets, marshes, and

reefs owned by the state within the tidewater limits, and in, on,

and across that portion of the Gulf of Mexico within the

jurisdiction of Texas, to Nueces County Water Control and

Improvement District Number 4 for right-of-ways for pipe lines

and for the installation of all works, facilities, and

appliances, in any and all manners incident to, helpful or

necessary for securing, storing, processing, treating,

transporting, and selling an adequate supply of fresh water;

provided, however, said Nueces County Water Control and

Improvement District Number 4 shall pay the sum of Ten Dollars

($10.00) as consideration for the granting of each easement.

Sec. 2. The Commissioner of the General Land Office may grant the

easements provided in Section 1 hereof for such term and shall

cover only such area which in the judgment of the Commissioner

may be required to carry out the purposes for which said District

was created, and, if he deems it necessary, the Commissioner of

the General Land Office may grant such easements perpetually.

Sec. 3. During the existence of the easements authorized and

granted pursuant hereto the officers and employees, contractors

and sub-contractors of the Nueces County Water Control and

Improvement District Number 4 are hereby authorized to go in and

upon the lands described herein to construct such pipe lines and

to install all works, facilities, appliances, and to repair and

to remove same from time to time.

Sec. 4. All easements granted under Section 1 of this Act shall

be on forms approved by the Attorney General.

Sec. 5. All income received by the Land Commissioner under this

Act from Public School Lands shall be credited to the Permanent

School Fund.

Sec. 6. The powers and authority herein conferred and vested in

the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall be cumulative

of all powers and authority heretofore and hereafter vested in

the Commissioner of the General Land Office under the

Constitution and laws of this state.

Acts 1959, 56th Leg., p. 688, ch. 314.

Sec. 5 amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 328, Sec. 10, eff.

Jan. 1, 2004.