PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior must or may issue a land patent (a government deed) to someone who has openly and peacefully occupied and claimed public land under a claim or flawed title. The Secretary must do this when the person, their ancestors, or previous owners have held the land for more than 20 years and put valuable improvements on it or farmed part of it. The Secretary may also do this if they and their predecessors held the land from no later than January 1, 1901 up to the application date and paid state and local taxes during that time. A patent can cover up to 160 acres and costs at least $1.25 per acre. If more than 160 acres were held, the Secretary picks which 160-acre pieces to give. Coal and other minerals stay owned by the United States, and the government can lease or sell those rights. No patent is issued if someone else has a conflicting claim unless that claim is finally decided for the applicant.

Title 43, §1068

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of the Interior (a) shall, whenever it shall be shown to his satisfaction that a tract of public land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse, possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color of title for more than twenty years, and that valuable improvements have been placed on such land or some part thereof has been reduced to cultivation, or (b) may, in his discretion, whenever it shall be shown to his satisfaction that a tract of public land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse, possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color of title for the period commencing not later than January 1, 1901, to the date of application during which time they have paid taxes levied on the land by State and local governmental units, issue a patent for not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres of such land upon the payment of not less than $1.25 per acre: Provided, That where the area so held is in excess of one hundred and sixty acres the Secretary may determine what particular subdivisions, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, may be patented hereunder: Provided further, That coal and all other minerals contained therein are reserved to the United States; that said coal and other minerals shall be subject to sale or disposal by the United States under applicable leasing and mineral land laws, and permittees, lessees, or grantees of the United States shall have the right to enter upon said lands for the purpose of prospecting for and mining such deposits: And provided further, That no patent shall issue under the provisions of this chapter for any tract to which there is a conflicting claim adverse to that of the applicant, unless and until such claim shall have been finally adjudicated in favor of such applicant.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1953—Act July 28, 1953, provided for mandatory issuance of land patents to certain adverse possessors and broadened discretionary power of Secretary to issue patents to parties who have paid taxes on certain public lands since Jan. 1, 1901.

§1068 Lands Held in Adverse Possession; Issuance of Patent; Reservation of Minerals; Conflicting Claims

Summary

Title 43, §1068

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata