Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102
§859 Fee Simple to Pass in All Grants
Title 43 › CHAPTER 20 — RESERVATIONS AND GRANTS TO STATES FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES › § 859
Summary
When Congress gives land to a State or Territory but does not transfer full ownership or require patents, a list signed and sealed by the Secretary of the Interior or someone he names can be treated as giving full ownership for the lands that match what Congress intended. If a listed tract does not fit the grant or was not meant to be given, that entry is void and gives no right or title.
Full Legal Text
Title 43, §859
Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Where lands have been or may hereafter be granted by any law of Congress to any one of the several States and Territories, and where such law does not convey the fee-simple title of the lands, or require patents to be issued therefor, the list of such lands which have been or may hereafter be certified by the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate, under the seal of his office, either as originals or copies of the originals or records shall be regarded as conveying the fee simple of all the lands embraced in such lists that are of the character contemplated by such Act of Congress, and intended to be granted thereby, but where lands embraced in such lists are not of the character embraced by such Acts of Congress, and are not intended to be granted thereby, the lists, so far as these lands are concerned, shall be perfectly null and void, and no right, title, claim, or interest shall be conveyed thereby.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 2449 derived from acts Aug. 3, 1854, ch. 201, 10 Stat. 346; Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 139, § 8, 18 Stat. 475.
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
For
Transfer of Functions
of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out under section 1451 of this title. “Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate” substituted for “Commissioner of the General Land Office” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946. See note set out under section 1 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 859
Title 43, Public Lands
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102