S.B. No. 1038
AN ACT
1-1 relating to public school lands and other lands in the public
1-2 domain, including their sale and patenting.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 51.070, Natural Resources
1-5 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) Unpaid and delinquent interest on sales of public school
1-7 land shall bear interest at a rate set by the board, which interest
1-8 shall be payable at the times and on such terms as are established
1-9 by the board by rule or by contract <compounded annually as it
1-10 accrues on the date of payment set by the board>.
1-11 SECTION 2. Section 51.244, Natural Resources Code, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 51.244. DELIVERY OF PATENT. (a) When a patent is
1-14 ready for delivery, the commissioner shall send it, together with
1-15 the check for payment of the fee required by Section 51.242 of this
1-16 code and the name and address of the owner or his agent, by
1-17 certified <registered> mail to the clerk of the proper county.
1-18 (b) On receiving the patent, the clerk shall record it and
1-19 shall send the patent, together with the name and address of the
1-20 owner or his agent and the remaining recording fees, by certified
1-21 <registered> mail to the clerk of another proper county until the
1-22 patent has been recorded in each county in which all or part of the
1-23 land is located.
2-1 (c) After the patent is recorded in all the proper counties,
2-2 it shall be sent by certified <registered> mail to the proper
2-3 party.
2-4 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 51.054, Natural Resources
2-5 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-6 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, land
2-7 <Land> dedicated to the permanent school fund shall be sold subject
2-8 to a reservation set by the board <School Land Board> of not less
2-9 than one-eighth of all sulphur and other mineral substances from
2-10 which sulphur may be derived or produced and not less than
2-11 one-sixteenth of all other minerals to the state; provided, that if
2-12 leasing rights are retained hereunder, the reserved minerals shall
2-13 be subject to lease as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 52,
2-14 Natural Resources Code, and Subchapters B and E, Chapter 53,
2-15 Natural Resources Code. The mineral reservation to the state shall
2-16 be determined by the board before the land is offered for sale. If
2-17 the board determines that a mineral reservation under this section
2-18 would substantially reduce the value of the surface of land by
2-19 restricting its suitability for agricultural, commercial, or
2-20 residential use, the board may take such action or waive such
2-21 rights as are in the best interest of the permanent school fund,
2-22 including, without limitation, establishing designated exploration
2-23 or drilling sites, waiving surface or other rights of access or
2-24 development, or conveying the land with no mineral reservation.
2-25 SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 53.013, Natural Resources
3-1 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-2 (a) The <After receipt of the rental payment set by the
3-3 commissioner, the> commissioner may <shall> issue to the first
3-4 applicant a permit to prospect the area designated in the
3-5 applicant's application for a period up to <of> one year from the
3-6 date the application is filed. If the commissioner elects to grant
3-7 the application for a permit to prospect under the provisions of
3-8 this subchapter, the permit shall not be issued until after the
3-9 land office receives the rental payment set by the commissioner.
3-10 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-16 passage, and it is so enacted.