Title 29, Public Lands, Buildings and Property

(a) The right to construct or use any such pipe line in, on, under, or across land which is submerged or whereover the tide may ebb and flow shall be subject to the following:(a) The paramount right of the United States to control commerce and navigation; and(b) The right of the …

(1) The Secretary of State with the approval of the Governor shall, as far as practicable, rent or lease all lands belonging to the state, except as otherwise provided by law for a period of not exceeding one (1) year, and account for the rents therefrom in the same manner as mon…

It shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the State of Mississippi or any department, institution, or agency thereof to pay or authorize the payment of any fee, commission, or compensation whatsoever to any person for the collection of rents arising from any property ow…

All fraudulent purchases of public lands heretofore made are void, excepting the rights of innocent purchasers without notice; and moneys and fees paid in furtherance of any such fraudulent purchase are forfeited to the state.

When any conveyance or any release upon redemption made by the auditor or the land commissioner shall be lost or destroyed, upon the application of the person interested, the land commissioner may make another conveyance or release of the same land to the person to whom the first…

Whenever a sale of land for delinquent taxes to the state has been certified to the state land commissioner for more than twenty-five (25) years and there is no record in the land commissioner’s office of said lands having been patented out of the state, there shall arise a presu…

Whenever any forfeited tax land patent has been issued by the state for a period of at least ten (10) years, and the patentee has paid into the state treasury the price fixed by the land commissioner, and all taxes accruing and payable upon the land described in such patent subse…

All apparent title and claims of the State of Mississippi to and for lands on account of their sale for delinquent taxes prior to the sales under the Abatement Act of 1875, now held by the state, are hereby vacated and relinquished, leaving the apparent title in those who would h…

Where the records of the land office or any office in the state show that full payment was made for any of the lands which were described in the act approved March 2, 1875, and which were leased under the authority of said act by the secretary of state on December 18, 1875, for n…

The Governor may contract with and appoint an agent for the collection of any funds due by the federal government to the State of Mississippi on account of the sale of any land made or hereafter to be made or located or disposed of by the United States, for cash or bounty land wa…

Immediately after March 26, 1936, it shall be the duty of the land commissioner to prepare or cause to be prepared accurate and complete lists of all lands in each county which have been forfeited to the state for the nonpayment of taxes, the title to which has matured in the sta…

The State Tax Commission is authorized, empowered, and directed to collect and receive any and all sums of money due the State of Mississippi as royalties or other returns arising as a result of the ownership of tax-forfeited lands, title to which is vested in the state and which…

(1) It shall be the duty of any and all persons, firms, or corporations having any interest in the lands described in Section 29-1-125, or in minerals produced from said lands, when requested, to report to the State Tax Commission, on forms furnished and prescribed by it, full in…

All monies received or collected by the State Tax Commission under Sections 29-1-125 through 29-1-143 shall be separately accounted for and a permanent record made thereof, showing all proper and necessary details as to the source from which collected, the payor, the quantity, ki…

The land commissioner shall investigate all claims of persons to any of the public lands, and shall cause the necessary suits to be instituted and prosecuted, and all pending suits to be prosecuted, to settle controversies concerning them. In all such suits, his findings and repo…

(a) The commission is hereby empowered and authorized to do and require to be done the following things:(a) Prepare and furnish all necessary forms for use by persons making reports as required by Sections 29-1-125 through 29-1-143; to adopt and issue rules and regulations for th…

The state land commissioner and the state oil and gas board shall furnish, when requested by the commission, a certified copy of any document, record, letter, or other data needed and useful in the administration of Sections 29-1-125 through 29-1-143, and shall give any informati…

The state shall have a lien on all oil, gas, or other minerals produced from any land owned by it or in which it has any interest, and this lien shall exist and continue against such oil, gas, or other minerals when in the hands of the first owner after severance, the producer, l…

The Attorney General of the state shall act as attorney for the commission and shall advise it as to all questions arising in connection with the administration of Sections 29-1-125 through 29-1-143, and as to all matters in controversy. He shall represent the commission in any a…

The commission shall use as its agents any person employed by the commissioner as provided by law, and assigned to and accepted by the commission; and any such persons, when properly authorized, shall have the power to act to the same extent as the commission itself, except as to…

All due but unpaid and delinquent sums shall bear interest at the rate of one half of one percent (½ of 1%) a month from the month in which due until paid, and a fractional month shall be considered a month. Any amount not reported and paid when due shall be increased by a penalt…

The chancery court shall have jurisdiction of all matters and causes, including suits and appeals from the commission, arising from the administration of Sections 29-1-125 through 29-1-143, except such causes and suits which the constitution gives to the circuit court. All suits …

(1) The chancery clerk or municipal clerk shall report to the Secretary of State any reasonable costs incurred by the county or municipality in maintaining unredeemed lands sold for taxes while those lands remain unsold. The Secretary of State shall pay the maintenance costs out …

All apparent title and claims of the State of Mississippi to and for lands on account of their sale for delinquent taxes before January 1, 1950, held by the state on January 1, 1995, are hereby vacated and relinquished, leaving apparent title in those who would have been the owne…

Each agency, department, community or junior college and public institution of higher learning of the State of Mississippi shall file a report of transactions for all conveyances of real property, whether purchased, sold, leased, donated or acquired as a gift or through the proce…

The governing authorities of any county or municipality of the State of Mississippi are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to convey lands to the State of Mississippi for hospitals and other public purposes.

It is the duty of the land commissioner to see that trespasses be not committed on the public lands; and for that purpose he may cause all necessary inquiries and investigations to be made. He shall cause the proper suits to be instituted and prosecuted for the recovery of posses…

If any person go or be upon any public land, and cut, fell, or otherwise injure any tree thereon or commit any other trespass on such land, the damages for such trespass shall not be assessed at less than the sum of two dollars ($2.00) per acre for each acre in every subdivision …

(1) The Governor’s Office of General Services is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to lease for a period of not more than fifteen (15) years all or any part of those lands originally leased for ninety-nine (99) years as authorized by an act of the Legislature on…

(1) The Governor’s Office of General Services is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to lease for a period of not more than twenty (20) years with an option to renew for a period of twenty (20) years all, or to rent on a monthly basis any part, of those lands bein…

(1) The Department of Finance and Administration, Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management, is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to sell and convey on behalf of the State of Mississippi to a nationally recognized organization which has as its purpose the r…

(1) It is expressly provided and stipulated that the land which is conveyed pursuant to Sections 29-1-205 and 29-1-209 shall be used in the furtherance of the work of the organization and with the understanding that if or when the property is no longer used exclusively for that p…

The Secretary of State, on receiving from the chancery clerk the list of unredeemed lands sold to the state for taxes, shall enter the same in the register of tax lands by counties and in the regular order of townships, ranges and sections; and if the description of any of the la…

The conveyance of the property pursuant to Sections 29-1-205 and 29-1-209, being for the aforesaid public purpose, the property and any improvements located thereon are exempted from ad valorem taxation.

Wherever the words “original owner” appear in this chapter, they shall be construed to mean the owner of the title on date of sale of land for taxes.

In cases where lands have passed from the ownership of individuals into that of the state by some mistake, oversight, or unintentional default, the land commissioner, with the approval of the governor and the attorney general, upon satisfactory proof shall, provided said lands ar…

The land commissioner and auditor are hereby authorized to report to the attorney general any lands that may now or hereafter be claimed by the state on their respective records, the title to which is in doubt, and the attorney general shall make an investigation into the subject…

The chancery clerk of any county is hereby authorized to report to the attorney general any lands that have been or may hereafter be sold to the state for delinquent taxes, the validity of which sale is in doubt, and the attorney general shall make an investigation into the subje…

(1) The Secretary of State has a supervisory power over sixteenth section lands or lands granted in lieu thereof; and he shall supply to the members of the Legislature, the boards of supervisors, the boards of education and other interested persons information concerning those la…

In all cases where it appears that the claim of title of the state to the lands on the records of the land office is void on account of uncertain description, or was acquired under tax sales which were void and which passed no title to the state, the land commissioner, with the w…

The land commissioner with the approval of the governor is hereby authorized to sell to any bona fide purchaser any lands which may have been forfeited to the state for the nonpayment of taxes after the time allowed by law for redemption shall have expired, for such price as the …

Where buildings and improvements situated on tax-forfeited lands have been removed or destroyed by fire, windstorm, or flood, the Secretary of State may, in his discretion, sell the tax-forfeited lands for any amount he may deem reasonable, irrespective of the amount of taxes for…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person desiring to purchase any state-forfeited tax land shall make application in writing to the Secretary of State for the purchase of the land, and shall state in the application:(a) A correct description …

The Secretary of State with the approval of the Governor may contract to sell any state forfeited tax lands, including state lands lying within municipalities, even though said lands may have been subdivided into blocks, lots, divisions, or otherwise and sold to the state by such…

It shall be unlawful for any person who has contracted to purchase any state forfeited tax lands to cut, sell, or dispose of any merchantable timber on said lands before the purchase price has been fully paid and a patent duly executed and delivered as provided in this chapter. A…

When any contract for the sale of state forfeited tax lands shall be made, as provided in Section 29-1-39, such lands shall then become taxable in all respects and to the same extent and in like manner as where patents are issued, except that such lands under contract for sale sh…

If taxes become delinquent on lands which are contracted for sale or on any part thereof, the tax collector shall, within thirty (30) days after such delinquency, certify such fact in writing to the Secretary of State and said tax collector shall neither advertise nor sell such l…