2023 Texas Statutes › Natural Resources Code › Title 2 - Public Domain › Subtitle D - Disposition of the Public Domain › Chapter 51 - Land, Timber, and Surface Resources › Subchapter E. Sale and Lease of Vacancies › Section 51.172. Definitions

Sec. 51.172.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
(1)  "Administratively complete" means a vacancy application that complies with Section 51.176 and any rule adopted by the commissioner regarding the filing of a vacancy application.
(1-a)  "Applicant" means any person, including a good-faith claimant, who files a vacancy application.
(1-b)  "Application commencement date" means:
(A)  the date, as designated in the commissioner's notice to the applicant required by Section 51.177(b); or
(B)  the date, as designated in the commissioner's notice to the applicant required by Section 51.177(d), indicating that any deficiency in the vacancy application has been resolved.
(2)  "Good-faith claimant" means a person who, on the application commencement date:
(A)  occupies or uses or has previously occupied or used, or whose predecessors in interest in the land claimed to be vacant have occupied or used, the land or any interest in the land for any purposes, including occupying or using:
(i)  the surface or mineral estate for any purposes, including exploring for or removing oil, gas, sulphur, or other minerals and geothermal resources from the land;
(ii)  an easement or right-of-way; or
(iii)  a mineral royalty or leasehold interest;
(B)  has had, or whose predecessors in interest have had, the land claimed to be vacant enclosed or within definite boundaries recognized in the community and in possession under a chain of title for a period of at least 10 years with a good-faith belief that the land was included within the boundaries of a survey or surveys that were previously titled, awarded, or sold under circumstances that would have vested title in the land if the land were actually located within the boundaries of the survey or surveys;
(C)  is the owner of land:
(i)  that adjoins the land claimed to be vacant; and
(ii)  for which no vacancy application has been previously filed; or
(D)  holds title under a person described by Paragraph (A), (B), or (C) or is entitled to a distributive share of a title acquired under an application filed by a person described by Paragraph (A), (B), or (C).
(3)  "Interest" means any right or title in or to real property, including a surface, subsurface, or mineral estate.  "Interest" includes a right or title described as follows:
(A)  a fee simple title;
(B)  a determinable fee or other leasehold or mineral interest created under a conveyance instrument, including a mineral lease;
(C)  a mineral royalty, nonparticipating royalty, or overriding royalty interest described by Section 51.194(c);
(D)  a life estate;
(E)  a remainder or reversionary interest; or
(F)  a secured interest under a lien.
(4)  "Necessary party" means:
(A)  an applicant or good-faith claimant whose present legal interest in the surface or mineral estate of the land claimed to be vacant may be adversely affected by a vacancy determination;
(B)  a person who asserts a right to or who claims an interest in land claimed to be vacant;
(C)  a person who asserts a right to or who claims an interest in land adjoining land claimed to be vacant as shown in the records of the land office or the county records, including tax records, of any county in which all or part of the land claimed to be vacant is located;
(D)  a person whose name appears in the records described by Paragraph (C); or
(E)  an attorney ad litem appointed under Section 51.180.
(5)  "Survey report" means a written report of a survey conducted by a licensed state land surveyor or a county surveyor of the county in which a majority of the land claimed to be vacant is located.
(6)  "Vacancy" means an area of unsurveyed public school land that:
(A)  is not in conflict on the ground with land previously titled, awarded, or sold;
(B)  has not been listed on the records of the land office as public school land; and
(C)  was not, on the application commencement date:
(i)  subject to an earlier subsisting application;
(ii)  subject to a vacancy application denied with prejudice;
(iii)  the subject of pending litigation relating to state ownership or possession of the land; or
(iv)  subject to a previous vacancy application that has been finally adjudicated by the commissioner or a court of this state or the United States.
(7)  "Vacancy application" means a form submitted to the commissioner by an applicant to:
(A)  initiate a determination by the commissioner whether land claimed to be vacant is vacant; and
(B)  purchase or lease vacant land.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1418, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 874 (S.B. 1103), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2005.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1175 (H.B. 3461), Sec. 25, eff. June 19, 2009.