By Cook                                               H.J.R. No. 52
         77R8401 PAM-D                           
                                 A JOINT RESOLUTION
 1-1     proposing a constitutional amendment clearing land titles by
 1-2     relinquishing and releasing any claim of sovereign ownership or
 1-3     title to an interest in certain lands in Bastrop County.
 1-4           BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 2A, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 2A.  (a)  The State of Texas hereby relinquishes and
 1-8     releases any claim of sovereign ownership or title to an undivided
 1-9     one-third interest in and to the lands and minerals within the
1-10     Shelby, Frazier, and McCormick League (now located in Fort Bend and
1-11     Austin counties) arising out of the interest in that league
1-12     originally granted under the Mexican Colonization Law of 1823 to
1-13     John McCormick on or about July 24, 1824, and subsequently voided
1-14     by the governing body of Austin's Original Colony on or about
1-15     December 15, 1830.
1-16           (b)  The State of Texas relinquishes and releases any claim
1-17     of sovereign ownership or title to an interest in and to the lands,
1-18     excluding the minerals, in Tracts 2-5, 13, 15-17, 19-20, 23-26,
1-19     29-32, and 34-37, in the A. P. Nance Survey, Bastrop County, as
1-20     said tracts are:
1-21                 (1)  shown on Bastrop County Rolled Sketch No. 4,
1-22     recorded in the General Land Office on December 15, 1999; and
1-23                 (2)  further described by the field notes prepared by a
1-24     licensed state land surveyor of Travis County in September through
 2-1     November 1999 and May 2000.
 2-2           (c)  Title [, and title] to such interest in the lands and
 2-3     minerals described by Subsection (a) is confirmed to the owners of
 2-4     the remaining interests in such lands and minerals.  Title to the
 2-5     lands, excluding the minerals, described by Subsection (b) is
 2-6     confirmed to the holder of record title to each tract.  Any
 2-7     outstanding land award or land payment obligation owed to the state
 2-8     for lands described by Subsection (b) is canceled, and any funds
 2-9     previously paid related to an outstanding land award or land
2-10     payment obligation may not be refunded.
2-11           (d)  The General Land Office shall issue a patent to the
2-12     holder of record title to each tract described by Subsection (b).
2-13     The patent shall be issued in the same manner as other patents
2-14     except that no filing fee or patent fee may be required.
2-15           (e)  A patent issued under Subsection (d) shall include a
2-16     provision reserving all mineral interest in the land to the state.
2-17           (f)  This section is self-executing.
2-18           SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
2-19     submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
2-20     The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against
2-21     the proposition: "The constitutional amendment providing for
2-22     clearing of land titles by the release of a state claim of its
2-23     interest to the owners of certain land in Bastrop County."