Senate Bill 2573

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TO ACQUIRE AND DISPOSE OF ANY REAL PROPERTY ON BEHALF OF ANY STATE INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING; TO AMEND SECTION 37-113-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT TO SELL CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY ON BEHALF OF MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-115-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI TO ACQUIRE AND DISPOSE OF REAL PROPERTY ON BEHALF OF SAID UNIVERSITY AND ITS SUBDIVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) For the purpose of this section, the term "institution" refers to any state institution of higher learning specified in Section 37-101-1. The provisions of this section shall supersede the authority of any institution and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning to acquire and dispose of any real property on behalf of any institution.

(2) After June 30, 2012, the sale or purchase of any real property on behalf of any institution shall require legislative approval and shall be subject to this section, Section 27-104-107 and Section 29-1-1.

(3) The Department of Finance and Administration is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to acquire by purchase, gift, or otherwise, any real property required by and for the use of any institution, and said institution may hold, use and operate such real property in conducting its authorized and necessary program of work. Said institution and its subdivisions may hold and operate real property needed in its program of operations without the benefit of state funds specifically appropriated for the purchase of such properties. Such properties shall be acquired or purchased on the recommendation of the president of said institution and approved by the Department of Finance and Administration.

(4) The Department of Finance and Administration may sell any such real property purchased or otherwise acquired under the authority of this section for the use of the institution or its subdivisions when such property is not needed in the institution's programs of operations. Such properties shall be sold on the recommendation of the president of the institution and approved by the Department of Finance and Administration. The proceeds from the sale of such properties may be used to purchase other real properties for the use of the institution or may be retained by the institution for its operations. Consideration for the sale of real property under this section shall not be less than the fair market price thereof as determined by a professional property appraiser selected and approved by the Department of Finance and Administration. Said appraisal shall be filed with the Department of Finance and Administration at least thirty (30) days prior to the proposed sale of said property. Appraisal fees shall be shared equally by the institution and the purchaser.

(5) The title to all lands held by any institution 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 institution for whose benefit and 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.

(6) Prior to July 1, 2012, each institution shall inventory any state-held lands which are titled in the name of the institution. The institution shall execute quitclaim deeds and any other necessary documents to transfer the name and title of the property to the State of Mississippi. Institutions shall furnish to the Secretary of State certified copies of the quitclaim deeds and all other deeds whereby the institution has acquired or disposed of state-held land.

SECTION 2. Section 37-113-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-113-7. (1) The Department of Finance and Administration is hereby authorized and empowered to sell the following described property owned by Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, to wit:

Commence at the Northeast corner of the Southeast Quarter of Section 15, Township 19 North, Range 15 East, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi and use as the point of beginning. Thence run West along the North boundary of the South Half of Section 15 a distance of 3,997 feet to the East right-of-way of Macon-Aberdeen Road; thence run South along said right-of-way a distance of 20 feet; thence run East a distance of 800 feet; thence run South 78 degrees 41' East a distance of 102 feet; thence run East a distance of 410 feet; thence run South a distance of 1,107 feet; thence run East a distance of 2,687 feet to the East boundary of Section 15; thence run North along said East boundary of Section 15 a distance of 1,147 feet to the point of beginning. Being 71.56 acres located in the East Three Quarter of the South Half of Section 15, Township 19 North, Range 15 East, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi.

The proceeds from the sale of said property shall be used by the Department of Finance and Administration to purchase other real property adjacent or in close proximity to the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, or its subdivisions, suitable for use in the university's programs of operation. Consideration for the sale and purchase of said property shall be for the fair market price thereof as determined by a professional property appraiser selected and approved by the Department of Finance and Administration. Said appraisals shall be filed with the Department of Finance and Administration at least thirty (30) days prior to the proposed sale or purchase of said property. Appraisal fees shall be shared equally by the university and the purchaser in the case of the sale herein authorized, and by the university and the seller(s) in the case of the purchase herein authorized.

(2) The Department of Finance and Administration is hereby authorized and empowered to sell the following described property owned by Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in George County, Mississippi, to wit:

The South West Quarter of the North West Quarter of Section Twenty, in Township One South of Range Six West, of the St. Stephens Meridian, Mississippi, containing Forty and Thirty One Hundredths of an acre.

(3) The Department of Finance and Administration is hereby authorized and empowered to sell the following described property owned by Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, to wit:

The Northeast Quarter of the Northeast Quarter of Section 2, in Township 6, Range 16 East, plus applicable easements and mineral rights thereto.

(4) When any property is sold by the Department of Finance and Administration pursuant to this section, the department shall retain for the State of Mississippi any mineral rights which the university has in such land.

SECTION 3. Section 37-115-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-115-1. The University of Mississippi, incorporated on the twenty-fourth of February, A.D., 1844, shall continue to exist as a body-politic and corporate by that name and style, with all its property, real and personal, and with all the franchises, rights, powers and privileges heretofore conferred on it by law or properly incident to such a body and necessary to accomplish the end of its creation; said university may receive and hold all real and personal property conveyed to it for such purpose.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.