House Bill 1447

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 29-1-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE ALL LANDS HELD BY STATE AGENCIES TO BE TITLED IN THE NAME OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, TO AUTHORIZE INTERAGENCY TRANSFERS OF STATE-HELD LANDS BETWEEN STATE AGENCIES, TO ALLOW THE SECRETARY OF STATE, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE GOVERNOR, TO ACCEPT DONATIONS OF LAND TO THE STATE, AND TO CLARIFY EXEMPTIONS FROM THE APPLICATION OF THIS SECTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 29-1-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

29-1-1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (7), (8) and (9) of this section, the title to all lands held by any agency of the State of Mississippi * * * shall appear on all deeds and land records under the name of the "State of Mississippi." A deed may also recite the name of the agency for whose benefit and the use the land is acquired, but the recital shall not be deemed or construed to be a limitation on the grant or an impairment of title held by the State of Mississippi. Use and possession of the land may be reassigned by act of the Legislature or by interagency conveyance where each agency has statutory to acquire and dispose of land. For the purpose of this section, the term "agency" shall be defined as set forth in Section 31-7-1(a). The provisions of this section shall not affect the authority of any agency to use any land held by the agency. No assets or property of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi shall be transferred in violation of Section 272A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Each state agency shall inventory any state-held lands * * * which are titled in the name of the agency. The agency shall execute quitclaim deeds and any other necessary documents to transfer the name and title of the property to the State of Mississippi. State agencies shall furnish to the Secretary of State certified copies of the quitclaim deeds and all other deeds whereby the state agency acquires or disposes of state-held land.

(2) The Secretary of State, under the general direction of the Governor and as authorized by law, shall sell and convey the public lands in the manner and on the terms provided herein for the several classes thereof; he shall perform all the administrative and executive duties appertaining to the selection, location, surveying, platting, listing, and registering these lands or otherwise concerning them; and he shall investigate the status of the various "percent" funds accrued and accruing to the state from the sale of lands by the United States, and shall collect and pay the funds into the Treasury in the manner provided by law. The Secretary of State, with the approval of the Governor, acting on behalf of the state, may accept gifts or donations of land to the State of Mississippi.

(3) In accordance with Sections 7-11-11 and 7-11-13, the Secretary of State shall be required to sign all conveyances of all state-held land. For purposes of this section, the term "conveyance" shall mean any sale or purchase of land by the State of Mississippi for use by any agency, board or commission thereof. Failure to obtain legislative approval pursuant to subsection (4) of this section and the signature of the Secretary of State on any conveyance regarding the sale or purchase of lands for the state including any agency, board or commission thereof, shall render the attempted sale or purchase of the lands void. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any state agency, board, commission or public official to convey any state-held land unless this authority is otherwise granted by law. The Secretary of State shall not withhold arbitrarily his signature from any purchase or sale authorized by the Mississippi State Legislature. Except for those lands forfeited to the state for the nonpayment of taxes, conveyed to another state agency or entity as provided in subsection (11) of this section or acquired by the Mississippi Transportation Commission under Section 65-1-123, no state-held land shall be sold for * * * less than the fair market value as determined by two (2) professional appraisers selected by the State Department of Finance and Administration, who are certified general appraisers of the State of Mississippi. The proceeds from any sale by an agency, board, commission or public official of state-held lands shall be deposited into the State General Fund unless otherwise provided by law.

(4) Before any state-held land is sold to any individual or private entity, thirty (30) days' advance notice of the intended sale shall be provided by the Secretary of State to the State Legislature and to all state agencies for the purpose of ascertaining whether an agency has a need for the land and for the purpose of ascertaining whether the sale of the land was authorized by law. If no agency of the state expresses in writing to the Secretary of State by the end of the thirty-day period a desire to use the land, then the Secretary of State, with the prior approval of the Mississippi Legislature to sell the state-held land, may offer the land for sale to any individual or private entity. Such notice to state agencies is given in aid of internal management of the real property inventory of the state, and this notice requirement shall not be applied to challenge or defeat any title heretofore or hereafter granted by the state under any law authorized by the Mississippi Legislature providing for the sale or disposal of property.

(5) A cultural resources survey may be performed on any state-held land before the disposition of the land if the State Department of Archives and History deems this survey necessary. The cost of the survey and any archaeological studies deemed necessary by the State Department of Archives and History shall be paid by the selling agency and recouped from the proceeds of the sale.

(6) Before any land may be purchased by the state for the benefit of any state agency, the Secretary of State, or his designee, shall search and examine all state land records to determine whether the state owns any land that may fit the particular need of the agency. The Secretary of State, or his designee, shall notify the agency if it is determined that any state-held land is available for use by the agency. The agency shall determine if such land accommodates its needs and shall determine whether to make an official request to the proper authorities to have the use of the land.

(7) This section shall not apply to: (a) any lands purchased or acquired for construction and maintenance of highways or highway rights-of-way by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, or (b) any lands acquired by the state by forfeiture for nonpayment of ad valorem taxes and heretofore or hereafter sold under authority of any other section of Chapter 1, Title 29, specifically relating to tax forfeited lands.

(8) This section shall not apply to any * * * lands purchased solely by the use of federal funds or lands for which authority to transfer or dispose of these lands is governed by federal law or federal regulations insofar as the application of this section limits or impairs the ability of the Secretary of State to acquire or dispose of the land. However, any state agency acquiring or disposing of land exempted from the application of this section by this subsection shall furnish the Secretary of State certified copies of all deeds executed for those transfers or disposals.

(9) Any lands purchased by the Mississippi Major Economic Impact Authority for a "project" as defined in Section 57-75-5 shall be excluded from the provisions of this section.

(10) The Secretary of State may recover from any agency, corporation, board, commission, entity or individual any cost that is incurred by his office for the record-keeping responsibilities regarding the sale or purchase of any state-held lands.

(11) Subsections * * * (4), (5) and (6) of this section shall not apply to sales or purchases of land when the Legislature expressly authorizes or directs a state agency to sell, purchase or lease-purchase a specifically described property. However, when the Legislature authorizes a state agency to sell or otherwise convey specifically described real property to another state agency or other entity such as a county, municipality, economic development district created under Section 19-5-99 or similar entity, without providing that the conveyance may not be made for less than the fair market value of the property, then the state agency authorized to convey such property must make the following determinations before conveying the property:

(a) That the state agency or other entity to which the proposed conveyance is to be made has an immediate need for the property;

(b) That there are quantifiable benefits that will inure to the state agency or other entity to which the proposed conveyance is to be made which outweigh any quantifiable costs to the state agency authorized to make the conveyance; and

(c) That the state agency or other entity to which the proposed conveyance is to be made lacks available funds to pay fair market value for the property. If the state agency authorized to convey such property fails to make such determinations, then it shall not convey the property for less than the fair market value of the property.

(12) This section shall not apply to the donation and conveyance of the Nanih Waiya State Park to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.