1-1 By: Cook (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister) H.J.R. No. 52
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2001;
1-3 April 19, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Natural Resources; April 30, 2001, reported favorably by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 30, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
1-7 proposing a constitutional amendment clearing land titles by
1-8 relinquishing and releasing any claim of sovereign ownership or
1-9 title to an interest in certain lands in Bastrop County.
1-10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 2A, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 2A. (a) The State of Texas hereby relinquishes and
1-14 releases any claim of sovereign ownership or title to an undivided
1-15 one-third interest in and to the lands and minerals within the
1-16 Shelby, Frazier, and McCormick League (now located in Fort Bend and
1-17 Austin counties) arising out of the interest in that league
1-18 originally granted under the Mexican Colonization Law of 1823 to
1-19 John McCormick on or about July 24, 1824, and subsequently voided
1-20 by the governing body of Austin's Original Colony on or about
1-21 December 15, 1830.
1-22 (b) The State of Texas relinquishes and releases any claim
1-23 of sovereign ownership or title to an interest in and to the lands,
1-24 excluding the minerals, in Tracts 2-5, 13, 15-17, 19-20, 23-26,
1-25 29-32, and 34-37, in the A. P. Nance Survey, Bastrop County, as
1-26 said tracts are:
1-27 (1) shown on Bastrop County Rolled Sketch No. 4,
1-28 recorded in the General Land Office on December 15, 1999; and
1-29 (2) further described by the field notes prepared by a
1-30 licensed state land surveyor of Travis County in September through
1-31 November 1999 and May 2000.
1-32 (c) Title [, and title] to such interest in the lands and
1-33 minerals described by Subsection (a) is confirmed to the owners of
1-34 the remaining interests in such lands and minerals. Title to the
1-35 lands, excluding the minerals, described by Subsection (b) is
1-36 confirmed to the holder of record title to each tract. Any
1-37 outstanding land award or land payment obligation owed to the state
1-38 for lands described by Subsection (b) is canceled, and any funds
1-39 previously paid related to an outstanding land award or land
1-40 payment obligation may not be refunded.
1-41 (d) The General Land Office shall issue a patent to the
1-42 holder of record title to each tract described by Subsection (b).
1-43 The patent shall be issued in the same manner as other patents
1-44 except that no filing fee or patent fee may be required.
1-45 (e) A patent issued under Subsection (d) shall include a
1-46 provision reserving all mineral interest in the land to the state.
1-47 (f) This section is self-executing.
1-48 SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
1-49 submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
1-50 The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or against
1-51 the proposition: "The constitutional amendment providing for
1-52 clearing of land titles by the release of a state claim of its
1-53 interest to the owners of certain land in Bastrop County."
1-54 * * * * *