Title 22 — Public Property

A.C.A. § 22-6-101Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) The Commissioner of State Lands shall have the power to correct errors that exist or may exist arising from the erroneous sale of lands belonging or formerly belonging to the state. (b) The Commissioner of State Lands shall have the power to correct all manifest errors in the…

The Commissioner of State Lands shall issue certificates of purchase only in cases in which it shall appear by the records that no certificates have ever been issued and in cases where the affidavit of the applicant, or some person for him or her, shall be filed stating that the …

(a) The owner of any original or patent certificate for any seminary, saline, internal improvements, swamp and overflowed, real estate bank, or state bank lands, or the assignee or the parties in whom the legal title to the land exists, may present the certificate to the Commissi…

(a) The owner of any certificate of purchase for any swamp and overflowed, seminary, saline, internal improvement, real estate bank, or state bank lands, or the assignee or the party in whom the legal title to the lands exist, may present the certificates and other evidences of t…

The Commissioner of State Lands is authorized and empowered to execute, under his or her hand and official seal, a deed to purchasers from the state of any seminary, saline, internal improvement, real estate bank, or state bank lands, upon the filing in his or her office of the r…

(a) The Commissioner of State Lands is authorized and empowered to execute, under his or her hand and official seal, a deed to purchasers or their assigns or legal representatives of sixteenth section or school lands, upon presentation to the Commissioner of State Lands of proper…

The seal of the Commissioner of State Lands shall be sufficient verification and authentication of the deed made by him or her for any class of lands mentioned in this act, and the deed shall be received as evidence of the legal title to the lands in any court in this state.

(a) The Commissioner of State Lands is empowered and authorized to cancel, set aside, and hold for naught any redemption or sale deed issued by him or her for any state-owned land in any instance where a personal check tendered to and accepted by him or her in payment of the rede…

(a) All sales of lands formerly owned by the State of Arkansas conducted pursuant to the decrees of the Pulaski County Chancery Court in favor of the State of Arkansas, condemning the lands for sale to pay the unpaid purchase price thereof, which sales were held and conducted by …

(a) (1) No swamp, internal improvement, seminary, or saline lands shall be sold for less than two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) per acre, and no state school land shall be sold for less than two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) per acre nor for less than the market value ascerta…

In the disposition of state-owned tracts of lands suitable for agriculture, the Commissioner of State Lands shall give first preference, where they are qualified as farmers, to war veterans who have been bona fide citizens of this state for five (5) years or more, who have been i…

(a) Irrespective of any other law on the subject, in any conveyance of title to lands owned by the State of Arkansas, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the state shall retain ownership of not less than one-half (½) interest in and to all the oil, gas, and othe…

A.C.A. § 22-6-114Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) No county clerk, county assessor, sheriff, or other county official shall file or prepare and issue any type of deed, mortgage, lease, or other legal document, nor shall he or she extend and assess any taxes on state or political subdivision lands for any type of taxes, nor s…

(a) When any county collector shall determine that the original certification to the Commissioner of State Lands of any lands, or town or city lots, should be cancelled, corrected, or in any way changed, said official shall issue a certificate to the Commissioner of State Lands. …

(a) For purposes of this section and § 22-6-118, “quarter” means:(1) January 1 through March 31 of each year;(2) April 1 through June 30 of each year;(3) July 1 through September 30 of each year; and(4) October 1 through December 31 of each year. (1) January 1 through March 31 of…

(1) The provisions of this section and § 22-6-117 shall not apply to the following:(1) Conveyance by the state of tax-delinquent property;(2) Leases of state property of a duration of one (1) year or less;(3) Leases of state property to state employees for housing;(4) Conveyances…

(a) Books, accounts, records, papers, maps, and documents relating to the functions and powers of the Commissioner of State Lands, including the records and documents used by the historical predecessors of the Commissioner of State Lands, are the property of the state and shall r…

A.C.A. § 22-6-120Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) It is the primary purpose and intent of this subchapter that when islands are formed in navigable waters of this state, title to the islands should be retained in the state if the island is appropriate for use by any state agency or may become appropriate for any use by the s…

(a) Except as provided in § 22-6-204, islands formed or that may form in the navigable waters of this state are the property of the state and subject to sale and disposition in the manner and form provided in this subchapter. (b) The Commissioner of State Lands may lease, grant, …

(a) The Commissioner of State Lands shall receive requests for conveyance of title to an island previously formed in the navigable waters of this state and not previously disposed of in the manner provided by law. (b) (1) The Commissioner of State Lands shall inquire into the ter…

(a) All sales made by the Commissioner of State Lands pursuant to this subchapter prior to July 1, 1991, are confirmed, and the title of all purchases under the deeds from the Commissioner of State Lands are quieted, established, and confirmed. (b) The area described in any of th…

(a) As used in this section, “object of antiquity” includes without limitation property lost or abandoned for twenty-five (25) years or more. (b) An object of antiquity found in the submerged lands of the state and not claimed by the United States Government or protected under th…

(a) It shall be lawful for the county court of any county in which any permanent school lands and lots, as defined in § 22-6-111, are situated to order the lands or lots sold at public auction by the sheriff, in legal subdivisions, upon the application of any person who may desir…

(a) The county court shall appoint three (3) disinterested householders of the county who are familiar with real estate values to view and appraise the lands and lots and cause the timber, if any on the land, to be estimated. (b) Each appraiser shall take an oath, which shall be …

(a) The sheriff shall give notice by publication in some newspaper published in the county where the land is situated, at least four (4) weeks before the day of sale, that he or she will sell the land or lots at the courthouse door. (b) Upon the day of the sale, the sheriff shall…

(a) The sheriff shall report without delay all sales to the county court, which may reject or confirm the sale. (b) If any sale is rejected, the county court may direct the sheriff to again advertise and offer the land or lots for sale. (c) If the sale is confirmed by the court, …

(a) Immediately after each sale of any part of school lands and lots under this subchapter, each county clerk shall certify to the Auditor of State the amount of moneys received by the sheriff on account of the sale, and the Auditor of State shall charge this amount to the sherif…

(a) Whenever there may be in the State of Arkansas any school lands or lots situated in any county in this state, and in a congressional township, or fraction thereof, where no inhabitants reside, any adult inhabitant of the county, by written petition properly verified by the af…

The Commissioner of State Lands shall have full power and authority to sell lands granted by the United States Congress to this state under the designation, “swamp and overflowed lands”, and, in making the sales, he or she shall be governed by the provisions of this subchapter wh…

(a) Upon the application made to the Commissioner of State Lands by any person, firm, or corporation seeking to purchase from the State of Arkansas any of the lands granted by the United States Congress to this state under the designation of “swamp and overflowed lands”, on which…

(a) When the report of the appraisers has been filed with the Commissioner of State Lands, he or she shall notify the applicant of the value of the land as fixed by the appraisers and, upon the applicant's paying into the State Treasury the value of the lands as determined by the…

(a) Any person who, either in person or by and through his or her tenants, resides on or cultivates any of the swamp and overflowed lands which may have been confirmed to the state shall have a preemption right to the lands to be proved as provided in this section. (b) Should the…

(a) When there are conflicting claims to swamp and overflowed lands, the Commissioner of State Lands may administer oaths and shall decide, upon proper notice to the parties and upon hearing testimony and statements under oath, to whom the patent certificate shall be issued in ac…

All moneys paid into the State Treasury for the purchase of swamp and overflowed lands shall be appropriated by the General Assembly for purposes which shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of the terms of 9 Stat. 519, Ch. 84.

A.C.A. § 22-6-501Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) Where tax-forfeited lands are disposed of by the state by return to private ownership by sale or redemption, the oil, gas, and mineral rights shall be a part of the fee and shall be conveyed with it, and the deeds shall not contain any restrictive covenants or reservations re…

(a) All deeds issued by the Commissioner of State Lands for lands, including city and town lots which have been certified for the nonpayment of taxes, shall be forwarded or delivered to the recorder of the county in which the lands, including city and town lots, are located, and …

(a) The Arkansas State Claims Commission is authorized and empowered to make refunds of amounts received by the state for the purchase or redemption of tax-forfeited lands or of funds received by the state from the sale of islands when it has been determined by the commission tha…

(a) (1) (A) The several state boards or commissions having supervision of the affairs of the charitable, penal, correctional, educational, and other institutions of the State of Arkansas, all other state boards and commissions, and the executive heads of all state offices, depart…

(a) It is declared the policy of the State of Arkansas to reimburse, annually or biennially, the counties from which the State of Arkansas has acquired or may acquire title to, or use of, acreage farm lands aggregating more than one thousand (1,000) acres for the use of its penal…

(a) The respective boards charged with the management or control of the charitable, penal, or correctional institutions and institutions of higher education of the State of Arkansas and other agencies of the state are authorized and empowered to donate, without compensation to th…