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Title 43 — Public LandsRelease 119-73not60

§992 Sale of Erroneously Designated Water-covered Areas in Arkansas

Title 43 › Chapter 23— GRANTS OF SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS › § 992

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can sell public lands in Arkansas that were mistakenly shown as water on official maps and that no qualified settler has legally claimed. United States citizens who, before September 21, 1922, in good faith claimed the land under a title-like claim or as a landowner next to the water, and who made valuable improvements or farmed the land, get first right to buy. They must file an application at the U.S. land office the Secretary names within 90 days after September 21, 1922 if the land was already surveyed and platted, or within 90 days after the plats are filed otherwise. Applicants must prove they qualify and that no one else legally occupies the land. The Secretary will have the land appraised at current value, not counting added value from the applicant’s farming improvements but including stumpage for timber removed. The buyer must pay the appraised price within 30 days after getting the appraisal notice. After payment, an official title (patent) will be issued. Sale money goes to the U.S. Treasury as law requires, and the Secretary can make rules and settle disputes about these sales.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §992

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of the Interior, in his judgment and discretion, is authorized to sell, in the manner hereinafter provided in this section, any of those public lands situated in the State of Arkansas which were originally erroneously meandered and shown upon the official plats as water-covered areas, and which are not lawfully appropriated by a qualified settler or entryman claiming under the public land laws. Any citizen of the United States who in good faith under color of title or claiming as a riparian owner, prior to September 21, 1922, placed valuable improvements upon or reduced to cultivation any of the lands subject to the operation of this section, shall have a preferred right to file in the office of the officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate, of the United States land office of the district in which the lands are situated, an application to purchase the lands thus improved by them at any time within ninety days from September 21, 1922, if the lands have been surveyed and plats filed in the United States land office; otherwise within ninety days from the filing of such plats. Every such application must be accompanied with satisfactory proof that the applicant is entitled to such preference right and that the lands which he applies to purchase are not in the legal possession of an adverse claimant. Upon the filing of an application to purchase any lands subject to the operation of this section, together with the required proof, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the lands described in said application to be appraised, said appraisal to be on the basis of the value of such lands at the date of appraisal, exclusive of any increased value resulting from the development or improvement thereof for agricultural purposes by the applicant or his predecessor in interest, but inclusive of the stumpage value of any timber cut or removed by the applicant or his predecessor in interest. An applicant who applies to purchase lands under the provisions of this section, in order to be entitled to receive a patent must within thirty days from receipt of notice of appraisal by the Secretary of the Interior pay to the officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate, of the United States land office of the district in which the lands are situated the appraised price of the lands, and thereupon a patent shall issue to said applicant for such lands as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine that such applicant is entitled to purchase under this section. The proceeds derived by the Government from the sale of lands hereunder shall be covered into the United States Treasury and applied as provided by law for the disposal of the proceeds from the sale of public lands. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe all necessary rules and regulations for administering the provisions of this section and determining conflicting claims arising hereunder.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

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. “Officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate” substituted for “register” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, which abolished all registers of district land offices and transferred functions of register of district land office to Secretary of the Interior. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 992

Title 43 — Public Lands

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60