Title 15, Education

Any lands belonging to the state, or lands known as school lands and public institution lands, in which is discovered any valuable deposit of coal or minerals of any kind, clay, gravel, or stone, are and remain the property of the state until provision for the sale or leasing the…

The board of university and school lands may request that the state geologist determine the quantity and description of all lands under its control on which coal exists.

Any person who mines, removes, or causes to be mined or removed, from any lands subject to the control of the board of university and school lands, any coal, lignite, uranium, oil and gas, or potash, unless mined or removed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, or any perso…

The board of university and school lands may: 1. Lease any lands under its control believed to contain resources, including oil, gas, coal, cement materials, sodium sulfate, sand and gravel, road material, building stone, chemical substances, metallic ores, critical minerals, rar…

1. Oil and gas leases must be made by the board of university and school lands at such annual minimum payments as are determined by the board, but the royalty may not be less than twelve and one-half percent of the gross output of oil from the lands leased. Oil and gas leases mad…

The word "improvements" must be construed to mean surface improvements, machinery, and other equipment used and necessary for the operation of drilling on the land for oil or gas and the extraction of coal, cement materials, sodium sulfate, sand and gravel, road materials, buildi…

The board of university and school lands may provide by rule or lease term for the sale, disposal, removal, or acquisition of improvements placed on lands by a lessee.

All leases made for the purpose of obtaining and extracting oil, gas, coal, cement materials, sodium sulfate, sand and gravel, road material, building stone, chemical substances, metallic ores, or colloidal or other clays must be separate and distinct from any lease of the land f…

The board of university and school lands may require the lessee to execute a good and sufficient bond conditioned for the payment of all moneys, rentals, and royalties stipulated by the terms of the lease and for the full compliance with and observance of all rules and regulation…

Leases made for the purpose of obtaining or extracting oil, gas, coal, cement materials, sodium sulfate, sand and gravel, road material, building stone, chemical substances, metallic ores, or colloidal or other clays may not be assigned nor transferred except with the written con…

The state geologist, department of health and human services, or department of environmental quality, on the request of the board of university and school lands, shall visit any land leased under section 15-05-09 and shall make a report of the visit to the board. The state geolog…

Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 38-09, the board of university and school lands may enter into mineral leasing agreements for sand and gravel, road material, building stone, and construction aggregate or colloidal or other clays under rules adopted by the board. No leas…

There is appropriated annually the amounts necessary to pay expenses for minerals controlled by the board of university and school lands, including appraisal fees, consulting fees, refunds, and expenses determined by the board as necessary to manage, preserve, and enhance the val…

The term "original grant lands" means all of the public lands which heretofore have been or hereafter may be granted to the state by the United States for the support and maintenance of the common schools or for the support and maintenance of the university, the school of mines, …

The chairman of the board of county commissioners and the county auditor of each county constitutes the county board of appraisers of the original grant lands of the state in their respective counties. The county director of tax equalization shall serve as an assistant in making …

When land has been sold on contract as provided in this chapter and the purchaser, or the purchaser's heirs or assigns, have been unable to pay for the land purchased within twenty years after the date of purchase and such contract is in default and subject to cancellation, and w…

When lands have been certified or conveyed erroneously or improperly to the state of North Dakota for school or other purposes by the United States, the governor of the state may reconvey or relinquish the title which the state may have to the lands by the execution, under the go…

Original grant school or institutional lands and any other lands controlled by the board of university and school lands may be exchanged for lands of like character and value belonging to the United States government when it appears that such exchange will be advantageous to the …

When an offer to purchase any particular tract of original grant land has been made to the board of university and school lands, the commissioner shall request the county board of appraisers to appraise such tract. Upon receipt of such request by the county auditor, the auditor s…

The county board of appraisers shall certify to the correctness of the appraisal and file the same with the county auditor who shall immediately transmit the same to the commissioner of university and school lands. The appraisal must be verified by each of the appraisers and must…

If any tract so appraised is not sold immediately, it may again be offered and sold without reappraisement if sold within two years of such appraisement.

The board of university and school lands shall cause a notice of sale of such tract to be published once each week for a period of three weeks prior to the day of sale in the official county newspaper where said land is situated and in such other newspapers as the board deems app…

At the time appointed for the sale, the commissioner of university and school lands, the commissioner's deputy, or any other person appointed by the commissioner shall proceed to sell or offer for sale the land so advertised to be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. The…

The board of university and school lands may sell original grant land either for cash or under contract. The highest bidder for any tract of land offered for sale under this chapter must be declared the purchaser thereof. A purchaser under contract shall pay twenty percent of the…

Immediately upon the sale by the board of university and school lands, the purchaser shall execute a purchase agreement for a cash sale or a contract in the form prescribed by the board. The failure of a purchaser to execute a purchase agreement or a contract constitutes a forfei…

Whenever the interests of the state will be promoted by dividing any portion of the land under its control into small parcels or city lots, the board of university and school lands may order the commissioner to cause the same to be done and to have the land appraised in the manne…

All parcels or lots appraised in accordance with sections 15-06-22 and 15-06-23 are subject to sale in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and at the prices not less than that at which they are appraised severally until a new appraisal is made, and the contract o…

When the commissioner of university and school lands divides any tract of land into small parcels or lots as provided in this chapter, the commissioner shall cause a correct map of the land to be entered of record in the county where the land is situated.

The purchaser may pay all or any installments of principal not yet due to any interest-paying date. If the purchaser so desires, the purchaser may pay the entire balance due on the contract, plus accrued interest to date of payment, at any time, and the purchaser will then be ent…

The board of university and school lands may renegotiate the terms of any contract made under this chapter when requested by a purchaser who has paid at least thirty percent of the purchase price and is unable to make the payments as required by the contract. The renegotiation ma…

The board of university and school lands may, in its discretion, designate any original grant lands more readily suitable for forestry than for agricultural purposes and suitable for forest management, and may direct the state forester to assume full control over the same and to …

The state forester shall assume control over all lands so designated and proceed to develop and improve the same by applying thereto accepted good forestry practices in the management and improvement thereof for the purpose of protecting and improving the forest potential of such…

The state forester shall apply the income so derived first to the payment of the cost of all care and development of such land, and, second, the net annual income must be paid to the board of university and school lands for the credit of the permanent school funds, the same to be…

The state forester shall report annually to the board of university and school lands the nature of the improvements, the conditions of the forest, the number of trees cut and the disposition thereof, the proceeds derived from the sale of forest products and the disposition thereo…

The terms "other than original grant lands" or "nongrant lands" mean all lands obtained by the board of university and school lands in any manner other than that described in section 15-06-01.

The board of university and school lands may make such rules and regulations not in conflict with the provisions of this title as it deems necessary as to the manner, place, and time of payment of principal and interest, the conduct of the business of selling and disposing of lan…

The board of university and school lands may sell nongrant land at either private or public sale as provided in this chapter. Any sale is subject to any existing lease of the land.

Any land sold under the provisions of this chapter must be by public auction or sealed bids, except purchases under the provisions of section 15-07-10.

When the purchase price of any nongrant land sold under the provisions of this chapter, together with any interest on deferred payments due under such contract, has been paid in full, the lands purchased must be conveyed to the purchaser, or the purchaser's heirs or assigns, by q…

In all cases where nongrant lands have been conveyed by conveyances executed otherwise than is provided by section 15-07-07, such conveyances are hereby in all things ratified and confirmed.

If any mortgagor or a member of the mortgagor's immediate family, including a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, or spouse, desires to repurchase land lost through foreclosure or by a deed given in lieu of foreclosure, such repurchase may be made by matching the high…

The board of university and school lands may lease nongrant lands under reasonable rules as it may establish. The rules may provide for leasing with or without advertisement or competitive bidding. Leases made under this section must be for cash only, and the rental must be colle…

Leases of nongrant lands are subject to cancellation upon like conditions and in like manner as leases of original grant lands.

There is appropriated annually the amounts necessary to pay expenses for trust land controlled by the board of university and school lands, including appraisal fees, survey costs, clean-up or demolition costs, weed and insect control costs, rural fire district reimbursements for …

All township and district assessors shall examine any lands designated by the commissioner of university and school lands and report thereon in the manner and form prescribed by the commissioner. Such assessors must be paid at the rate of three dollars per day for time actually d…

For performing any duties as members of the county board of appraisers, the county auditor and county superintendent of schools shall receive only their necessary traveling expenses, and the chairman of the board of county commissioners shall receive the same mileage and per diem…