Article VII, Section 2B of the Texas Constitution

Added November 6, 2001:

(a) The legislature by law may provide for the release of all or part of the state's interest in land, excluding mineral rights, if: (1) the land is surveyed, unsold, permanent school fund land according to the records of the General Land Office; (2) the land is not patentable under the law in effect before January 1, 2002; and (3) the person claiming title to the land: (A) holds the land under color of title; (B) holds the land under a chain of title that originated on or before January 1, 1952; (C) acquired the land without actual knowledge that title to the land was vested in the State of Texas; (D) has a deed to the land recorded in the appropriate county; and (E) has paid all taxes assessed on the land and any interest and penalties associated with any period of tax delinquency.

(b) This section does not apply to: (1) beach land, submerged or filled land, or islands; or (2) land that has been determined to be state-owned by judicial decree.

(c) This section may not be used to: (1) resolve boundary disputes; or (2) change the mineral reservation in an existing patent.

Editor Comments

None.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

None.

Library Resources

• Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (multi-volume and up-to-date resource available at all law and many municipal libraries)

• The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (one-volume resource available at most law and some municipal libraries)

• The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (two-volume resource available at most law and some municipal libraries)

Online Resources

• Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (resource published online and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)

• Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (resource published online and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)

• Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (resource published online and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)