Art. 5330a. REGULATING SALE AND PATENTING OF LANDS FORMERLY PART OF OKLAHOMA; SPECIAL LAND BOARD ABOLISHED; POWERS AND DUTIES OF GENERAL LAND OFFICE.
Sec. 1. LAND OFFERED TO CLAIMANTS; CONSIDERATION. 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.
Sec. 2. SPECIAL LAND BOARD ABOLISHED; TRANSFER OF RIGHTS AND DUTIES. 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.
Sec. 3. APPLICATION; FEE; INVESTIGATION AND AWARD. 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.
Sec. 4. SALE TO LIEN HOLDER. 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.
Sec. 5. RECORDING DEEDS, MORTGAGES, ETC.; EVIDENCE; FORCE AND EFFECT. 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.
Sec. 6. DEPOSIT AND USE OF FEES. 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.
Sec. 7. DETERMINATION BY BOARD; PROCLAMATION; TIME FOR APPLICATION. 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.
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