Chapter 24 — PUBLIC DOMAIN AND THE TRUST FUNDS

24.01 Definitions and classification. In chs. 23 to 29, unless the context requires otherwise or unless otherwise defined: (1) “Agricultural college lands” embraces all lands granted to the state by an act of congress entitled “An act donating public lands to the several states a…

24.02 Addition to the public lands. Addition to any class of lands specified in s. 24.01, except lands purchased for forest reserve and Marathon County lands, may be effected by grant, conveyance or devise made as a donation to the state for the purpose of the fund to which such …

24.03 Escheats. The board of commissioners of public lands shall, whenever it shall have reason to believe that any lands have escheated to the state for defect of heirs, cause due inquiry to be made to ascertain the rights of the state, and the attorney general shall bring any s…

24.04 Administrative receipts and disbursements. (1) RECEIPTS. The board shall collect from purchasers of land a fee of $5 for every certificate and $5 for every patent issued by it. The board shall pay the moneys collected, together with all moneys for expenses of advertising, d…

24.05 Survey of lands. Whenever it appears necessary to the board that surveys should be made in order to ascertain the true boundaries of any tract or portion of the public lands, or to enable the board to describe and dispose of any tract or portion of the public lands in suita…

24.06 Plat of lands. The board may subdivide any parcel of public lands into smaller parcels or village lots, with streets and alleys if necessary, whenever it believes a larger net price can be obtained by selling the land in smaller parcels or lots. A survey and plat of the sub…

24.07 Sale of land with water power. Whenever a water power exists upon any public lands offered for sale the board may sell together all the tracts or lots upon which such water power is situated and such other tracts or lots as are necessary for the use and enjoyment of the sam…

24.08 Minimum price. (1) LANDS APPRAISED. Every parcel of public land that was never appraised, every parcel of public land forfeited to the state under s. 24.28 and every parcel of land mortgaged to secure any loan of trust funds and bid in by the state at a sale of that land un…

24.09 Procedure before sale or exchange; withdrawal; resale. (1) (a) Except as provided under par. (c), the board may not sell or exchange any public lands which were not appraised or appraised under s. 24.08. Except as provided under pars. (b), (bg), (bm) and (c), the board may …

24.10 Procedure at sale. (1) If the sale is to be by public auction, at the time and place specified in the notice under s. 24.09 (1) (d), the board shall commence the sale of the lands described in the notice and thereafter continue the same from day to day, Sundays excepted, be…

24.11 Terms of sales. (1) FOR CASH OR INSTALLMENTS. (a) Except as provided under sub. (4), public lands may be sold for cash to be paid at the time of the sale or according to the terms specified under par. (b). (b) The first payment shall be not less than 15 percent of the purch…

24.12 Forfeit for failure to pay. Every purchaser of any lot or tract at any sale under s. 24.11 shall pay the amount of the purchase money required by the terms of sale to be paid as provided in s. 24.11 (1). If the purchaser refuses or neglects to so pay, the lot or tract bid o…

24.14 Rights of swampland purchasers. (1) In this section, “subject lands” means lands patented to this state as swamp May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26) 24.14 Updated 23-24 Wis. Stats. PUBLIC DOMAIN AND TRUST FUNDS and overflowed lands, or lands patented …

24.145 State-owned swamplands; proceeds; disposition. (1) It is declared that none of the swamp and overflowed lands granted to this state pursuant to an act of congress entitled “An Act to enable the state of Arkansas and other states to reclaim the swamp lands within their limi…

24.15 Private sale. All public lands, including forfeited lands and mortgaged lands bid in by the state, which have once been offered or reoffered at public sale and remain unsold, shall be subject to private sale at the minimum price fixed for the sale of the land by law to the …

24.16 Applications for private sale. Every person making application under s. 24.15 for the purchase at private sale of any public lands shall file in the office of the board an application in writing, describing the lot or tract that the person proposes to purchase by the proper…

24.17 Receipt and certificate. (1) When the purchaser of 4 any public lands makes payment to the secretary of administration of the amount required to be paid on the sale and, in case of a private sale, produces the memorandum described in s. 24.16, the secretary of administratio…

24.18 Entry of sale and patent. When any sale of public lands is made, the board shall make a note of the sale in the book of entries, entering the day of sale, the name of the purchaser, the number of the certificate or patent, the sum paid, the amount of purchase money unpaid, …

24.19 Certificate of sale. All original and duplicate certificates of sale issued under s. 24.17 shall be properly numbered, and the original shall be filed in the office of the board. As many distinct lots or tracts of land purchased by one person in one section at the same time…

24.20 Payments and accounts. All money paid on account of sales of public lands shall be paid to the secretary of administration who shall credit the proper fund with the amount paid, crediting the general fund with the proceeds of sales of Marathon County lands. The secretary of…

24.21 Accounts with purchasers. The board shall open and keep an account with each purchaser for every lot or tract of land that is sold, either at public or private sale, in books kept for that purpose, in which the board shall charge the purchaser with the whole purchase money …

24.22 Excessive payments to be refunded. (1) Whenever full payment of the principal due upon any certificate of sale by the state is made subsequent to the payment of the annual interest on the principal, the excess of the interest so paid shall be refunded to the person entitled…

24.23 Title; patents. The title and fee of all public lands shall remain in the state until patents for the land are issued. No patent shall be issued except upon full payment of the purchase money and interest and all taxes returned and lawful charges on the lands being purchase…

24.24 Effect of certificate. (1) Except when voided by forfeiture under s. 24.28, a certificate of sale issued under s. 24.17 entitles the purchaser, or the purchaser’s heirs or assigns, to all the rents, benefits, and provisions of any lease existing on the lands described in th…

24.25 Issuance and record of patent. (1) Whenever full payment is made for any lands described in a certificate of sale issued under s. 24.17, as required by law, and the purchaser, or the purchaser’s legal representatives, produces to the board the duplicate certificate of sale,…

24.251 Patents, issuance; county may record. Whenever it appears to the board that all the conditions relating to the issuance of patents have been complied with, the board may issue patents, and the county board of any county may cause the patents to be recorded in the county an…

24.26 Patentee’s rights. Except as provided under s. 24.11, any person, or the person’s heirs or assigns, who receives a patent pursuant to law for any public lands acquires the right to all timber, lumber, trees, wood, bark, stone, earth, and other materials cut, dug, taken, or …

24.27 Purchase money a loan. The purchaser of public lands, when the balance of the purchase money becomes due, may retain the same as a loan from year to year on payment annually in advance, or on or before May 31, of the interest on the sum due, at the rate of interest specifie…

24.28 Forfeiture. (1) A certificate of sale issued under s. 24.17 becomes void upon the occurrence of any of the following, May 22, 2026, are designated by NOTES. (Published 5-22-26) 24.28 PUBLIC DOMAIN AND TRUST FUNDS and the purchaser of the lands described in the certificate, …

24.29 Redemption. At any time before the 5 days next preceding the reoffering at public sale of any land forfeited under s. 24.28, the former purchaser, or the former purchaser’s assigns or legal representatives, may prevent the resale of the forfeited lands and revive the origin…

24.30 Liability of former purchaser. In case of a forfeiture of lands under s. 24.28, the former purchaser of the forfeited lands shall be liable for any waste or unnecessary injury that the former purchaser may have done to the forfeited lands or to the timber or minerals locate…

24.31 Advertisement and resale of forfeited lands. Whenever any public lands have been forfeited under s. 24.28 for the nonpayment of principal, interest, or taxes, and the lands have remained forfeited for 3 months, the board shall first cause the forfeited lands to be appraised…

24.32 Resale and redemption. (1) Unless the resale of lands forfeited under s. 24.28 is prevented by payment under s. 24.29, the forfeited lands shall be offered for sale at public auction to the highest bidder in the manner and upon the terms provided for original sales and, if …

24.33 Resale may be canceled. (1) The board, within 3 months after a resale under s. 24.32, may by a written recorded order, a copy of which shall be immediately served on the purchaser of the resold land, avoid and cancel the resale and restore and revive the certificate issued …

24.34 Void sales. In the event that the sale of any public lands are made by mistake or not in accordance with law, or are obtained by fraud, or in the event that the state had no title to the lands sold, or the state’s title has failed, the sale of the lands shall be void and no…

24.341 Offset to refund on void sales. Whenever any claim is made for a refund on a void land sale under s. 24.34, the board shall make an investigation and determination, and offset the value of the use of the land, property removed from the land, and damage or injury to the lan…

24.35 Annulment of certificates and patents. Whenever the board has erroneously or improperly issued any certificate or patent for any public lands whereby wrong or injustice has been or may be done, including cases in which the state had no title to the lands, or its title has f…

24.355 Limitation of actions. All claims under s. 24.34 or 24.35 shall be barred, unless application for a payment refund is made within 5 years from the time of the payment, or, in cases in which the state never had title, from the time when the invalidity of the title of the st…

24.36 Lost certificates and patents. Whenever any duplicate certificate of sale has been lost or destroyed before the patent has been issued, or whenever any patent has been lost or destroyed, the board, upon satisfactory proof of the fact, established by affidavit filed with the…

24.37 Ejectment. If any person holds or continues in possession of any public lands without written permission from the board, or contrary to the conditions or covenants of any lease or written agreement, or after the lands have been forfeited to the state, that person shall be l…

24.38 Boundaries. The lines, boundaries, and descriptions of the swamp lands as exhibited by the plats and field notes of the PUBLIC DOMAIN AND TRUST FUNDS 24.39 United States survey are adopted and deemed conclusively to be the true lines, boundaries, and descriptions of those s…

24.39 Leases of public lands. (1) The board of commissioners of public lands may grant leases of parts or parcels of any public lands except state park lands and state forest lands; grant easements, leases to enter upon any of said lands to flow the same or to prospect for and to…

24.40 Easements; annexation. (1g) In this section, “telecommunications service” has the meaning given in s. 182.017 (1g) (cq). (1r) Every board, commission, department and agency of the state having real estate belonging to the state under its control may grant easements in said …

24.51 Constitutional board. The board created by article X, section 7, of the constitution may be styled in any law or any action or proceeding in court as “The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands”. History: 1979 c. 34 s. 699g; Stats. 1979 s. 24.51; 1983 a. 192.

24.52 Jurisdiction. Together with the power and duty of selling the school and university lands and investing the funds arising therefrom, prescribed for the board by article X, section 7, of the constitution, it is invested with power to dispose of all other public lands and all…

24.53 Investigate land claims; deduct expenses. The board of commissioners of public lands shall investigate the rights of the state to school lands, normal school lands, university lands and agricultural college lands. The expenses incurred in making these investigations and tak…

24.54 Records; copies as evidence. (1) The department of administration shall provide an office for the board. The board shall conveniently arrange and preserve in that office all records, books, reports, surveys, maps, field notes, plats and other papers pertaining to the public…

24.55 Executive secretary; deputy; staff; appointments; duties; oath. The board shall appoint an executive secretary outside the classified service. The executive secretary shall appoint a deputy who shall, during the absence of the executive secretary, have all of the authority …

24.56 Not to buy lands. The board, and all persons employed by it or about any of its respective offices, are prohibited from purchasing any of the public lands, directly or indirectly, either in their own name or in the name of any other person in trust for them or either of the…

24.57 Report of board. The board shall include in any report submitted under s. 15.07 (6) a report of its official proceedings for the period since the proceedings reported in the most recent report, showing the quantity of land sold or leased and the amount received therefor, th…