Opinion ID: 1841264
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Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the nature of corporeal immovables owned by the state

Text: Things under Louisiana law are divided into common, public and private; corporeals and incorporeals; and movables and immovables. La.C.C. art. 448. We are concerned with a corporeal immovable in this case and therefore address only the distinctions among the first three categories of things: common, public, and private. Common Things La.C.C. art. 449 provides: Common things may not be owned by anyone. They are such as the air and the high seas that may be freely used by everyone comformably with the use for which nature has intended them. Public Things La.C.C. art. 450 provides: Public things are owned by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as public persons. Public things that belong to the state are such as running waters, the waters and bottoms of natural navigable water bodies, the territorial seas, and the seashore. Public things that may belong to political subdivisions of the state are such as streets and public squares. (Emphasis provided.) La.C.C. art. 452 provides: Public things and common things are subject to public use in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Everyone has the right to fish in the rivers, ports, roadsteads, and harbors, and the right to land on the seashore, to fish, to shelter himself, to moor ships, to dry nets, and the like, provided that he does not cause injury to the property of adjoining owners. The seashore within the limits of a municipality is subject to its police power, and the public use is governed by municipal ordinances and regulations. (Emphasis provided.) Private Things La.C.C. art. 453 provides:  Private things are owned by individuals, other private persons, and by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as private persons.  (Emphasis provided.) Additionally some private things may be subject to public use. La.C.C. art. 455 provides: Private things may be subject to public use in accordance with law or by dedication. As noted in the comment (c) of La.C.C. art. 450: According to civilian theory, the state and its political subdivisions have dual personality. At times they act as public persons, that is, in a sovereign capacity, and at times as private persons, that is, as private citizens or corporations. Property of the state, then, may be in the nature of public things or in the nature of private things. Public things are those held out of commerce .... dedicated to public use, and held as a public trust, for public uses. City of New Orleans v. Carrollton Land Co., 131 La. 1092, 1095, 60 So. 695, 696 (1913). Public things are inalienable under legislative and constitutional provisions. See generally comments, La.C.C. art. 450. The state constitution specifically designates certain public things as inalienable. La. Const. art. IX § 3 (bed of navigable water body); La. Const. art. IX § 4(A) (mineral rights on property sold by the state). Additionally the state constitution specifically provides that no public property... shall be subject to seizure (La. Const. art. XII § 10(C)) and that [l]ands and mineral interest of the state ... shall not be lost by prescription (La. Const. art. IX § 4(B)). By contrast, private things of the state or its political subdivisions are alienable in accordance with existing statutes and regulations. Wright v. Sabine River Authority, 308 So.2d 402 (La.App. 3rd Cir.), writ refused, 313 So.2d 245 (La.1975). Accord Anderson v. Thomas, 166 La. 512, 117 So. 573 (1928); Landry v. Council of Parish of East Baton Rouge, 220 So.2d 795 (La.App. 1st Cir.1969). Concerning private things generally, La.C.C. art. 454 provides that the (o)wners of private things may freely dispose of them under modifications established by law. Comment (c) to this article states unequivocally: Things belonging to the state, its political subdivisions, and agencies, may be disposed of in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.