Title NR, Natural Resources Code

Sec. 51.125. REJECTION OF BID OR OFFER TO LEASE. Any bid or offer to lease may be rejected by the commissioner for fraud, collusion, or other good and sufficient cause before the lease is signed. Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2426, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977. Amended …

Sec. 51.126. NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE AND EXECUTION OF LEASE. After the applications are received, the commissioner shall give written notification to the successful applicant that his bid or offer to lease is accepted and execute a lease to the applicant in the name and by the…

Sec. 51.127. RECORDING MEMORANDUM OF LEASE. (a) The commissioner shall prepare a descriptive memorandum of the lease at the time the lease is executed and deliver the lease and the memorandum to the lessee. (b) The lessee shall deliver the memorandum of the lease to the clerk of …

Sec. 51.129. LIEN. (a) During the continuance of the lease and after forfeiture, the state has a lien on all property owned by the lessee which is located on the leased premises to secure payment of rent due. (b) The lien is superior to all other liens. (c) A reservation of the l…

Sec. 51.131. SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION PLANS. (a) For each lease issued under this subchapter for agricultural or grazing purposes, the commissioner may require the lessee to implement a soil and water conservation plan approved by the commissioner. The commissioner, in reviewi…

Sec. 51.171. PURPOSE; APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW. (a) This subchapter controls the purchase and lease of vacant land and the authority of the commissioner and the board to: (1) determine whether a vacancy exists; and (2) sell and lease vacant land. (b) To the extent a provision of …

Sec. 51.172. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Administratively complete" means a vacancy application that complies with Section 51.176 and any rule adopted by the commissioner regarding the filing of a vacancy application. (1-a) "Applicant" means any person, including a good…

Sec. 51.173. DISPOSITION OF VACANT LAND. (a) Vacant and unsurveyed public school land shall be located, sold, and leased under this subchapter, except: (1) submerged lands within tidewater limits; (2) all islands, flats, and emergent lands within tidewater limits; (3) natural lak…

Sec. 51.174. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER. (a) The commissioner may: (1) delegate responsibility for implementing this subchapter; (2) perform any other act necessary to administer and implement the purposes of this subchapter, including entering into a contract with…

Sec. 51.175. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF BOARD. (a) The board shall set the terms and conditions for each sale and lease of a vacancy. (b) The board shall adopt rules governing the terms and conditions for the sale and lease of a vacancy. The rules shall be adopted and amended a…

Sec. 51.176. VACANCY APPLICATION; FILING. (a) To purchase or lease land claimed to be vacant, a person must file a vacancy application on a form prescribed by the commissioner. A completed application must include: (1) a description of the land claimed to be vacant that is suffic…

Sec. 51.177. PROCESSING VACANCY APPLICATION. (a) Not later than the 45th day after the date the commissioner accepts the duplicate copies as properly filed by the applicant as provided by Section 51.176(f), the commissioner shall: (1) determine whether the vacancy application is …

Sec. 51.178. DEPOSIT. (a) The commissioner may recover from the applicant state funds expended in evaluating and investigating the application, providing notice, preparing a survey, appointing an attorney ad litem, and conducting hearings under this subchapter. (b) The commission…

Sec. 51.179. DISPOSITION OF DEPOSITS. (a) The commissioner shall deposit all initial and supplemental deposits received under this subchapter to the credit of a separate trust account in the state treasury. The comptroller, on the commissioner's order, shall make disbursements fr…

Sec. 51.180. ATTORNEY AD LITEM. (a) If the applicant cannot provide evidence to the commissioner to establish the applicant's ownership of all interests as defined by Section 51.172 in the land surrounding the land claimed to be vacant, the commissioner shall investigate the owne…

Sec. 51.181. NOTICE TO NECESSARY PARTIES. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the application commencement date, and at any time after that date that the commissioner considers it necessary to notify an identified necessary party, the commissioner shall provide to each necessar…

Sec. 51.182. FILING OF EXCEPTIONS TO APPLICATION. (a) Not later than the 60th day after the date of the commissioner's notice under Section 51.181(a), a necessary party may file an exception to the vacancy application, any documentation attached to the application, or any other d…

Sec. 51.183. INVESTIGATION. (a) The commissioner shall conduct an investigation of the vacancy application. (b) The investigation shall include: (1) an evaluation of the vacancy application; (2) a determination that the vacancy application was filed as provided by Section 51.176;…

Sec. 51.184. COMMISSIONER'S SURVEY. (a) To investigate a vacancy application under Section 51.183, the commissioner may require a survey. If the commissioner requires a survey, the commissioner shall appoint a licensed state land surveyor who is not associated with the vacancy ap…

Sec. 51.185. SURVEYOR'S REPORT. (a) Not later than the 120th day after the date a surveyor is appointed under Section 51.184, the surveyor shall file a written report of the survey, the field notes describing the land and the lines and corners surveyed, a plat depicting the resul…

Sec. 51.186. COMPLETION OF SURVEY. (a) The commissioner shall serve a true copy of the survey report filed by the surveyor on each necessary party, including those named in the survey report, by certified mail, return receipt requested, not later than the 30th business day after …

Sec. 51.187. HEARING. (a) If the commissioner has not issued a final order with a finding of "Not Vacant Land" on or before the first anniversary of the application commencement date and one or more exceptions have been filed under Section 51.182(a) or 51.186(b), the commissioner…

Sec. 51.188. COMMISSIONER'S FINAL ORDER. (a) At any time during or after an investigation of or hearing regarding a vacancy application, the commissioner may determine that land claimed to be vacant is not vacant and issue a final order with a finding of "Not Vacant Land" or an o…

Sec. 51.189. APPEAL. (a) A final order with a finding of "Not Vacant Land" under Section 51.188 may not be appealed. The final order is conclusive regarding the land described in the vacancy application or the land investigated by the commissioner as a result of the vacancy appli…

Sec. 51.190. SCOPE OF REVIEW. In an appeal of the commissioner's final order determining that a vacancy exists, the district court shall conduct a trial de novo. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1418, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 874 (S.B.…

Sec. 51.191. ISSUES REVIEWABLE. The court may review the commissioner's declaration of good-faith-claimant status only in conjunction with a review of a final order determining that a vacancy exists. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1418, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001. Amended b…

Sec. 51.192. STANDING TO APPEAL. A person may appeal the commissioner's final order determining that a vacancy exists if the person: (1) is a necessary party; (2) has a present legal interest in the surface or mineral estate at the time a vacancy application is filed; or (3) acqu…

Sec. 51.193. APPLICATION FOR AND DETERMINATION OF GOOD-FAITH-CLAIMANT STATUS. (a) A necessary party may apply for good-faith-claimant status not later than the 90th day after the date the commissioner issues a final order finding that a vacancy exists. (b) The application must in…

Sec. 51.194. PREFERENTIAL RIGHT OF GOOD-FAITH CLAIMANT. (a) A good-faith claimant who has been notified by the commissioner that a vacancy exists under this subchapter has a preferential right to purchase or lease the interest claimed in the land before the land was declared vaca…

Sec. 51.195. PURCHASE OR LEASE BY APPLICANT. (a) If no good-faith claimant exists or if no good-faith claimant exercises a preferential right within the applicable period, the applicant has a preferential right to purchase or lease the land determined to be vacant on or before th…

Sec. 51.241. ISSUANCE OF PATENT. The commissioner shall issue a patent when the records of his office reflect that full payment for land has been made where required and fees that are due on the land have been paid to the land office and have not been withdrawn, including the fee…

Sec. 51.242. PATENT FEES. When a person applies for a patent, he shall pay to the land office in addition to all other required payments a fee set by the commissioner in an amount not less than $1 for each county in which all or a part of the land is located and shall give the na…

Sec. 51.243. REQUISITES OF A PATENT. (a) Each patent for land from the state shall be issued in the name and by authority of the state under the state seal and the land office seal and shall be signed by the governor and countersigned by the commissioner. (b) Before the patent is…

Sec. 51.244. DELIVERY OF PATENT. (a) When a patent is ready for delivery, the commissioner shall send it, together with the check for payment of the fee required by Section 51.242 of this code and the name and address of the owner or his agent, by certified mail to the clerk of t…

Sec. 51.245. DECEASED PATENTEE. A patent issued in the name of a person who is deceased at the time the patent is issued conveys and secures valid title to the heirs or assignee of the deceased person. Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2436, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977.

Sec. 51.246. ACQUISITION OF DEED OF ACQUITTANCE TO EXCESS ACREAGE. (a) If the area of a tract of land that is titled or patented exceeds the quantity provided in the title or patent and if under the existing law the title to all or a part of the tract may be affected by the exist…

Sec. 51.247. PATENTS FOR LAND THAT CANNOT BE PATENTED BY OTHER METHODS. (a) Any headright survey, homestead donation, preemption survey, scrip survey, or other survey awarded or sold before August 20, 1931, which has been held and claimed in good faith by a person for 10 years be…

Sec. 51.248. DOUBTFUL CLAIM. If it appears to the commissioner from the records of his office or from information given to him under oath that there is an illegality in a claim, the commissioner, if he considers it necessary, shall refer the matter to the attorney general, and th…

Sec. 51.249. CONFLICTING SURVEYS. If conflicts exist between surveys, the commissioner shall issue patents to the portions of the surveys that are free from conflict. Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2437, ch. 871, art. I, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1977.

Sec. 51.250. CONFLICTING TITLE. (a) If a patent to land is issued by mistake on any valid claim for land and is afterwards found to be in conflict with an older title, the owner of the patent or any part of the land embraced by the patent which is in conflict may return the paten…

Sec. 51.251. PARTIAL CONFLICT OF TITLE. If there is only a partial conflict of title under a patent, the commissioner in the manner provided in Section 51.250 of this code may cancel any patent presented to him and issue a patent to the applicant for the portion of the land that …

Sec. 51.252. REFUND OF PURCHASE MONEY. (a) If a patent cannot be issued for land because of a conflict, erroneous survey, or illegal sale or if a patent is issued for land and is later canceled, the comptroller, on proper proof, may issue his warrant to the proper parties for amo…

Sec. 51.253. CORRECTED PATENT. (a) An owner of land in one or more patented surveys may apply to the General Land Office for a corrected patent to correct scriveners' errors or obvious errors in the field note description of the original patent as determined by the commissioner. …

Sec. 51.291. GRANTS OF EASEMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the commissioner may execute grants of easements or other interests in property for rights-of-way or access across, through, and under unsold public school land, the portion of the Gulf of Mexico within t…

Sec. 51.292. EASEMENTS AND LEASES FOR CERTAIN FACILITIES. The commissioner may execute grants of easements or leases for electric substations, pumping stations, loading racks, and tank farms, and for any other purpose the commissioner determines to be in the best interest of the …

Sec. 51.295. CONDITIONS FOR EASEMENT. Telephone, telegraph, electric transmission, powerline, and pipeline right-of-way easements and easements or rights-of-way for irrigation canals, laterals, and water pipelines shall be executed on terms to be determined by the commissioner. A…