Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 2249 amends the Natural Resources Code to amend provisions relating to the sale and lease of public school land by the General Land Office. The bill authorizes the land office to contract for the services of a real estate broker to assist in real estate transactions and authorizes outside appraisers to determine market value of public school land. It requires the owner of land that surrounds any size tract of public school land to have a preference right to purchase the tract before the land is made available for sale to any other person and specifies that if the surrounding land is owned by more than one person the owners of land with a common boundary with a tract of 1,200 acres or less, instead of 700 acres or less, have the preference right of purchase. It provides that any unpaid principal and interest on public school land sales is considered delinquent after 30 days from the date payment is due. It decreases the amount of time to file a claim to reinstate a land purchase that has been forfeited for nonpayment of principal and interest from five years to six months from the date of the forfeiture and requires a reinstatement fee when a forfeited award is reinstated. The bill authorizes unsold public school land to be leased for any purpose the land commissioner determines is in the best interest of the state and authorizes, rather than requires, the commissioner to require a lessee of public school land for agricultural or grazing purposes to implement an approved soil and water conservation plan. House Bill 2249 authorizes the commissioner to waive or reduce an easement fee if the easement granted is to improve the infrastructure of the land, including production and transportation of alternative or renewable energy resources, and authorizes the lease of timber located on public land. Finally, the bill establishes that any sale of public land, timber, and surface resources must be for market value or higher and under any other terms and conditions that the commissioner determines are in the best interest of the state.