MCA Chapter 3

MCA Chapter 3
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-1 Board of education to have control; management of lands and funds as trust property; disapproval by board of supervisors of rental value of lands; definitions.

Sixteenth section school lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, constitute property held in trust for the benefit of the public schools and must be treated as such. The board of education under the general supervision of the state land commissioner, shall have control and jurisdiction of said school trust lands and of all funds arising from any disposition thereof heretofore or hereafter made. It shall be the duty of the board of education to manage the school trust lands and all funds arising therefrom as trust property. Accordingly, the board shall assure that adequate compensation is received for all uses of the trust lands, except for uses by the public schools. In the event the board of supervisors declines to approve the rental value of the land set by the board of education, the board of education shall within ten (10) days appoint one (1) appraiser, the board of supervisors shall within twenty (20) days appoint one (1) appraiser and the two (2) appraisers so appointed shall within twenty (20) days appoint a third appraiser whose duty it shall be to appraise the land, exclusive of buildings and improvements, the title to which is not held in trust for the public schools, and to file a written report with each board setting forth their recommendation for the rental value of the land within thirty (30) days. The cost of the appraisal shall be paid from any available sixteenth section school funds or other school funds of the district. If no appeal is taken within twenty (20) days as provided hereunder, the lease shall be executed in accordance with said recommended rental value within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the appraisers’ report. In the event any party is aggrieved by the decision of the appraisers setting forth the appraised rental value, the party so aggrieved shall be entitled to an appeal to the chancery court in which the land is located. Such appeal shall be taken within twenty (20) days following the decision. The chancery court, on appeal, may review all of the proceedings, may receive additional evidence, and make findings of fact, as well as conclusions of law to insure that a fair and reasonable return may be obtained on the sixteenth section lands or lands in lieu thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-1.1 1. Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein, unless the context shall otherwise require. “Board of education” shall mean that school board of the school district in whose present jurisdiction (i) is situated a sixteenth section of land, or (ii) was originally situated a sixteenth section of land for which land has been granted in lieu thereof. Provided, however, that in the event a sixteenth section is situated within two (2) or more school districts, the term “board of education” shall mean that school board whose school district embraces the greatest land area within the township in which said sixteenth section is located. “Superintendent of education” shall mean that superintendent of schools of a school district whose board of education has control and jurisdiction over any sixteenth section lands or lands granted in lieu thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-2 Secretary of State to assist in school trust land management.

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to assist the local school districts, when so requested, in establishing and maintaining local school trust land management systems. The Secretary of State shall also identify and coordinate consultative services which might be available to the school districts from other agencies within the state.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-3 Suits to establish title.

The board of education may employ one (1) or more competent persons to ascertain the true condition of the title and to institute and prosecute, in the chancery court of the county where the land lies, all necessary suits to establish and confirm the title to each parcel of such land and to fix the date of the expiration of any lease of the same. If any person claim any of said land in fee simple or upon any other terms than that of a lease to expire at a fixed date with absolute reversion to the state in trust, or if the title to such lands rest in parol by destruction of records or otherwise, suit shall be instituted at once or as soon as practicable to test the legality of such claims or to re-establish the lost record.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-5 Abstracts of title; alternative title searches by attorneys.

A complete abstract of title may be made of each parcel of said land, and such abstract shall contain references, by book and page, to the acts of congress, the acts of the legislature, and to all records relating thereto. Every such abstract shall be duly certified and recorded in the record of deeds, and be styled and indexed under the head of “School Trust Lands, S _______________ , T _______________ , R _______________ .” Said abstract shall be so styled and indexed whether the land be in a sixteenth section or in another section taken in lieu of it, and the original shall be deposited in the land office. As an alternative to the requirements of subsection (1), a personal examination of the sixteenth section land records by a licensed practicing attorney of the State of Mississippi shall be sufficient, provided it is accompanied by an attorney’s title certificate and opinion certifying to the ownership of each sixteenth section. Said title certificate and opinion shall include a complete listing of all persons entitled to possession of said lands and the true condition of the title of said lands.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-7 Adverse possession.

Adverse possession for a period of twenty-five (25) years, under a claim of right or title, shall be prima facie evidence in such case that the law authorizing the disposition of the lands has been complied with and the lease or sale duly made. If the claim be under a lease, the time at which the lease expires shall be fixed by the court.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-9 Compliance with title requirements.

In all cases where this chapter has not been complied with, the official involved shall forthwith comply with same. It shall be the duty of the state land commissioner to ascertain whether or not said statutes have been complied with. If said state land commissioner shall find that said statutes have not been complied with in any case, he shall call the same to the attention of the board of education involved. If any board of education shall fail or refuse to comply with the mandate of this section, then the action of mandamus shall lie to compel such compliance, and such action may be brought either by the attorney general or any resident citizen of the State of Mississippi on the relation of the attorney general. If the state land commissioner shall find that any board of education is failing to take the necessary steps to effectively comply with said statutes in any case, he shall so certify to the attorney general. It shall thereupon be the duty of the attorney general to institute an action for issuance of a writ of mandamus as hereinabove provided, and to such end he is hereby authorized and empowered to employ competent local counsel to assist him in the prosecution of the same. It shall also be the duty of the state land commissioner in conjunction with the attorney general, to submit a special report in writing to the next regular session of the legislature, which said report shall set forth any instances of noncompliance with said chapter and the steps which have been taken to secure compliance with same.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-11 Board of education to ascertain whether county has title to lieu lands; certification to land commissioner where it does not.

It shall likewise be the duty of the board of education to ascertain whether or not such county has title to all lieu lands to which it may, by law, be entitled. If it is determined that such county does not have title to all such lands, the board of education shall certify the fact to the state land commissioner who shall institute proper proceedings to secure such lands for such county.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-13 Exchange of lieu land with state.

When the state owns land in a county which owns land located in another county granted in lieu of the sixteenth section school lands, generally known as “lieu lands,” the Governor and land commissioner acting for the state and the board of education acting for such county may, by written agreement, exchange the land owned by the state in such county for “lieu lands” owned by such county in another county. The title to the state-owned land shall be conveyed to such county by a patent signed by the Governor and land commissioner as other patents are executed under the law. The title to the lieu lands shall be conveyed to the state by deed signed by the superintendent of education on order of the board of education. The written agreement between the state and the county shall be recorded in the minutes of said board of education.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-15 Sale of lieu lands situated outside county.

Land granted in lieu of sixteenth section lands in this state and situated outside of the county holding or owning the same may be sold. Such lands shall be sold in accordance with the provisions of Sections 29-3-15 through 29-3-25, and the proceeds from such sales may be invested in the manner prescribed by law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-17 Lieu land commission.

A commission is hereby established to be known as the lieu land commission, hereinafter referred to as the commission, and such commission shall consist of the attorney general, who shall be ex officio chairman, the secretary of state and the state land commissioner, who shall be ex officio secretary. Said lieu land commission shall have authority to sell all lands granted in lieu of sixteenth section land and located out of the county owning such land situated in the State of Mississippi. From and after July 1, 1981, said lieu land commission shall proceed to sell all such lands granted in lieu of sixteenth section land and located out of the county owning such land situated in the State of Mississippi.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-19 Purchase of lieu lands.

Any person desiring to purchase such lands shall file his application for the purchase of same with said lieu land commission upon application blanks to be supplied by said commission for said purpose, and said commission shall fix the price to be charged for said land; provided, however, in no event shall more than one hundred sixty (160) acres of said lands be sold to one (1) person within one (1) year, and in no event shall said lands be sold for less than the fair market value of the land. If the commission approves the application, said application shall then be forwarded to the superintendent of education of the county owning said land. In the event the superintendent and board of education approve said sale, the approval by said board of education being made by order of said board duly entered on its minutes, agreeing on the purchase price of said lands, then the Secretary of State and the Governor shall issue to such applicant a patent to such lands at and for the price agreed upon, such patent to be signed in accordance with the law governing the issuance of state patents. The money received therefor shall be paid into the proper principal fund as provided in Section 29-3-113. Provided, however, the proceeds from the sale of such lieu lands may be used to purchase equivalent lands in the county which owned such lieu lands so sold, said purchase to be made as provided in Section 29-3-27.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-21 Mineral rights in lieu lands.

All oil and mineral rights in and to the lieu lands disposed of under the provisions of Sections 29-3-15 through 29-3-25 shall be retained by said lieu land commission and shall remain the property of the township owning said lieu land.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-23 Proceeds of sale of lieu lands.

The proceeds derived from such sales shall be used for the benefit of the schools situated in the township owning the lands. The principal derived from the sale of such land shall not be spent, but only the interest and income derived from such funds may be spent. [Repealed]

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-25 Report of sale of lieu lands.

Said lieu land commission shall make a report to the Legislature every year, setting forth a statement of all such lands sold during that year, and shall file a copy of said report with the Secretary of State.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-27 Sale of lands situated within school district.

No sixteenth section lands or lands granted in lieu thereof, in whole or in part, situated within the school district holding or owning the same shall ever be sold, except that the board of education may, under the procedures hereinafter provided, sell such lands for industrial development thereon, therein, or thereunder to any persons, firms, or corporations in fee simple, or any lesser estate therein, for a purchase price not less than the fair market value thereof; and when any such sale is made, the deed shall be executed in the name of the State of Mississippi by the superintendent of the said board of education. As used in this section and in Sections 29-3-29 and 29-3-61, the term “industrial development” shall include restoration as a tourist attraction the place where an organization was founded, which said organization has since been expanded to be national or international in its membership, scope, and influence. As used in this section and in Sections 29-3-29 and 29-3-61, the term “industrial development” shall also include the consolidation of multiple parcels, each less than 160 acres and not to exceed 320 acres total, of forested sixteenth section lieu land as originally contained in Indemnity List 1 of School Sections approved February 26, 1859, and located in the same county as its controlling school district. Said consolidated parcels shall be utilized to facilitate significant timber industry research. This provision shall stand repealed on December 31, 2016. The proceeds of the sale in fee simple of any sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, in whole or in part, or such part of said proceeds as may be required to purchase acreage of equivalent fair market value, shall be used by the board of education, to purchase other land in the county, which land shall be held in the name of and reserved by the State of Mississippi for the support of the township schools in lieu of the land thus sold, as other sixteenth section lieu land is held, and shall be subject to all laws applicable thereto. Every such sale and every such purchase of land in lieu thereof shall be reported by the secretary of the board of education to the Secretary of State and to the State Forestry Commission within ninety (90) days after the consummation of each such sale and purchase. Any funds from a sale in fee simple of any sixteenth section land, or land granted in lieu thereof, in excess of any amount used to purchase said land in lieu thereof, shall be treated as corpus and shall be invested by the board of education as provided by law. Only the income from such investment shall be expended for current operating expenses of the schools.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-29 Sales for use as industrial parks.

Before any sixteenth section school land or land granted in lieu thereof may be sold or leased for industrial development thereon, therein or thereunder under the provisions of this chapter, the board of education controlling such land shall first determine that such sale or lease will be fair market value. In the determination of the fair market value of said land the comparative sales method shall be used, and the highest and best use of said sixteenth section lands shall be determined on the basis of finding that said land shall be susceptible to any use that comparative land in private ownership may be used, that there will be prompt and substantial industrial development on, in, or under said land after the sale or lease, that the acreage to be sold or leased is not in excess of the amount of land reasonably required for immediate use and for such future expansion as may be reasonably anticipated, and that such sale or lease will be beneficial to and in the best interest of the schools of the district for which said land is held. All of said findings, including the amount of the sale price or gross rental for said land, shall be spread on the minutes of the board of education. Also, if the board of education proposes to sell said land, said board shall first enter into a contract or obtain a legal option to purchase, for a specified price not in excess of fair market value, other land in the county of acreage of equivalent fair market value, and such contract or option shall be spread on the minutes of said board. However, not more than one hundred (100) acres in any one (1) sixteenth section school lands in any county may be sold under this chapter for the purpose of being made an industrial park or a part of such industrial park, provided the provisions of this section and Sections 57-5-1 and 57-5-23 are fully complied with. A certified copy of the resolution or order of the board of education, setting out the foregoing findings, together with a certified copy of the order approving and setting out the terms of the contract or option to purchase other lands where a sale of land is proposed and an application to the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board for the certificate authorizing said sale or lease, shall be forwarded to the county board of supervisors, which board shall make an independent investigation of the proposed sale or lease and of the proposed purchase of other land. If said county board of supervisors shall concur in the finding of fact of the board of education, and shall find that it is to the best interests of the schools of the district to enter into such sale or lease, it may enter on its minutes a resolution or order approving the action of the board of education. If the said county board of supervisors shall not concur in the findings of the board of education, or shall find that the proposed sale or lease will not be in the best interest of the schools of the district, then it may, by resolution or order, disapprove the proposed sale or lease, and such action shall be final. Except as otherwise permitted by Section 57-75-37(4)(f), there shall be reserved all minerals in, on, and under any lands conveyed under the provisions hereof. Provided, however, that in any county bordering on the State of Alabama, traversed by the Tombigbee River, in which U.S. Highway 82 intersects U.S. Highway 45 and in which is situated a state supported institution of higher learning, upon the sale of any sixteenth section lands for industrial purposes as provided by law, the board of education, the superintendent of education and the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board, may sell and convey all minerals except oil, gas, sulphur and casinghead gas on, in and under the said sixteenth section lands so sold for industrial purposes. Said oil, gas, sulphur and casinghead gas shall be reserved together with such rights of use, ingress and egress as shall not unreasonably interfere with the use of the lands by the purchaser. Prior written approval for such use, ingress and egress, shall be obtained from the surface owner or, if such approval is unreasonably withheld, may be obtained from the chancery court of the county in which said land is located. Certified copies of the resolutions or orders of the board of supervisors and of the board of education and of the application to the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board shall be transmitted to the county superintendent of education, if there be one in the county, who, if he approves the proposed sale or lease, shall so certify and forward same to the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board. If there be no county superintendent of education in the county, then the board of education whose district embraces the entire county shall so certify and transmit said copies to the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board for further action. Upon receipt of the aforesaid application and certified copies of the said resolution and orders, the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board shall make investigation to determine whether or not the proposed sale or lease of said land will promote prompt and substantial industrial development thereon, therein, or thereunder. If the board finds that such sale or lease will promote prompt and substantial industrial development thereon, therein or thereunder, and further finds that the person, firm or corporation who proposes to establish said industry is financially responsible, and that the acreage to be sold or leased is not in excess of the amount of land reasonably required for immediate use and for such future expansion as may be reasonably anticipated, then the board, in its discretion, may issue a certificate to the board of education of said district so certifying, and said certificate shall be the authority for the board of education to enter into the proposed sale or lease. If the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board does not so find, then it shall decline to issue said certificate which action shall be final. The Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board, when issuing a certificate to the county board of education certifying its findings and authorizing said sale or lease, may, nevertheless, in its discretion, make such sale or lease conditioned on and subject to the vote of the qualified electors of said district. Upon receipt of a certificate so conditioned upon an election, or upon a petition as hereinafter provided for, the board of education, by resolution spread upon its minutes, shall forward a copy of the certificate to the board of supervisors who by resolution upon its minutes, shall call an election to be held in the manner now provided by law for holding county elections, and shall fix in such resolution a date upon which such an election shall be held, of which not less than three (3) weeks notice shall be given by the clerk of said board of supervisors by publishing a notice in a newspaper published in said county once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks preceding the same, or if no newspaper is published in said county, then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein, and by posting a notice for three (3) weeks preceding said election at three (3) public places in said county. At such election, all qualified voters of the county may vote, and the ballots used shall have printed thereon a brief statement of the proposed sale or lease of said land, including the description and price, together with the words “For the proposed sale or lease” and the words “Against the proposed sale or lease,” and the voter shall vote by placing a cross (x) or check (v) opposite his choice of the proposition. Should the election provided for herein result in favor of the proposed sale or lease by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast being in favor of the said proposition, the board of supervisors shall notify the board of education who may proceed forthwith to sell or lease said land in accordance with the proposition so submitted to the electors. If less than two-thirds (2/3) of those voting in such special election vote in favor of the said sale or lease, then said land shall not be sold or leased. The board of education shall further be required, prior to passing of a resolution expressing its intent to sell said land, to publish a notice of intent to sell said land for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in said county or, if there be none, in a newspaper having a general circulation in said county, and to post three (3) notices thereof in three (3) public places in said county, one (1) of which shall be at the courthouse, for said time. If within the period of three (3) weeks following the first publication of said intent, a petition signed by twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of said county shall be filed with the board of supervisors requesting an election concerning the sale, then an election shall be called as hereinabove provided.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-31 Survey and classification of lands in Choctaw Purchase.

It is hereby made the duty of the board of education, using the services of all appropriate public agencies, to survey and classify all sixteenth section lands in the Choctaw purchase and lands granted in lieu thereof reserved for the support of township schools. Said lands shall be classified into eight (8) categories, as follows: (1) forest land; (2) agricultural land; (3) industrial land; (4) commercial land; (5) farm-residential land; (6) residential land; (7) recreational land; and (8) other land. The classifications shall be applied to said lands based upon the finding of the highest and best use of each parcel or tract for producing a maximum of revenue by proper utilization. In determining the highest and best use of these lands, the same principles shall be followed as are applied in determining the highest and best use of land in private ownership. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, all land that is being used as “residential land” or “farm-residential land” shall continue to be classified as “residential land” or “farm-residential land” until such land ceases to be used as a residence. All sixteenth section lands in the Choctaw purchase and lands granted in lieu thereof, regardless of classification, shall be deemed to contain oil, gas and minerals, including the following: (a) oil, gas, carbon dioxide and other gaseous substances; (b) metals, compounds of metals or metal-bearing ores; (c) coal, including anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, lignite and their constituent components and products and minerals intermingled or associated therewith; and (d) sulphur, salt, sand, gravel, fill dirt and clay. Such oil, gas and minerals shall be leased for exploration, mining, production and development as provided for in Section 29-3-99, regardless of the classifications of the lands in, on or under which such oil, gas and minerals are situated. Statutory procedures for the leasing of the surface of the land in such eight (8) classifications shall not apply to such oil, gas and minerals in, on or under such lands. Such oil, gas and minerals shall be deemed a separate classification of sixteenth section lands for the purpose of Section 211 of the Mississippi Constitution.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-33 Lands defined for classification.

For the purpose of determining the proper category for such lands and the oil, gas and other minerals in, on and under such lands, the following definitions shall be controlling unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: “Forest land” shall mean all land at least ninety percent (90%) of the total area of which is at present forest or wasteland, or land which will produce a maximum of revenue by utilization to produce timber or other forest products, shall be classified as forest land. The unit of measurement to be used in arriving at the classification of forest land shall be the smallest division of the government survey covering said lands in counties where such government survey has been made, and in other counties shall be forty (40) acres. “Agricultural land” shall mean land most suitable for pasturage or cultivation. “Industrial land” shall mean land most suitable for port, harbor, industrial, manufacturing or warehousing use. “Commercial land” shall mean land most suitable for wholesale or retail businesses, financial institutions, professional offices and clinics, service trades and occupations, privately owned public utilities and similar businesses. “Residential land” shall mean any tract of land upon which the lessee or board-approved sub-lessee is residing. Such lands shall be set up, as nearly as possible, in a rectangular form so as to include the houses and such other permanent improvements as may have been placed thereon by said lessee or his predecessor in title; provided, however, that such tract of land shall not exceed five (5) acres. “Farm residential land” shall mean any tract of land upon which a leaseholder resides not exceeding one hundred sixty (160) acres in size existing on July 1, 1978, which is utilized for agricultural purposes. Provided, however, that farm residential land may consist of two (2) noncontiguous tracts not exceeding one hundred sixty (160) acres in the aggregate (a) with reasonable easements connecting the residential and outlying tracts; or (b) within the residential tract situated a distance not exceeding one and one-half (11/2) miles from the outlying tract. Provided further that no sixteenth section lands or lands granted in lieu thereof, situated in a county lying wholly or partially within a levee district shall be classified as farm residential land. “Recreational land” shall mean land most suitable for uses which provide for activities or services of a recreational nature. Recreational nature shall include, but not be limited to, parks, campsites, lodges and similar uses and facilities. “Catfish farming land” shall mean land most suitable for the construction of catfish ponds and for wholesale or retail catfish farm raising and harvesting. “Other land” shall mean any land which is not suitable for any of the uses described above. “Oil, gas and minerals” shall mean the following: (i) oil, gas, carbon dioxide and other gaseous substances; (ii) metals, compounds of metals, or metal-bearing ores; (iii) coal, including anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, lignite and their constituent components and products and minerals intermingled or associated therewith; and (iv) sulphur, salt, sand, gravel, fill dirt and clay, in, on and under the lands classified above. Such oil, gas and minerals shall be a classification of land separate and distinct from the classifications set forth above in paragraphs (a) through (h) inclusive.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-35 Public agencies to assist in classification.

The board of education is authorized and empowered to supervise and direct the classification of all sixteenth section lands or lieu lands, according to the definition hereinabove set out. In making the classifications provided by Sections 29-3-31 through 29-3-39, the board of education is authorized and empowered to request the services of any public agency within this state which is equipped and qualified to assist in such classification. It is hereby made the duty of any such agency when so requested to assist the board of education in making such classification.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-37 Objections to classification.

At any time when any or all portions of such land lying in a county shall have been classified as hereinabove required, a classification report shall be compiled by the board of education and filed with the public lands division of the secretary of state who shall provide forms for such purpose. The board of education shall immediately cause notice to be given of the completion of such classification, such notice to be published in a newspaper in said county once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks, or if no newspaper is published in said county then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein, listing all lands so classified and notifying all parties in interest that they will have a right to appeal and object to the classification as made. If no objections are made as to the classification of any particular parcel of said land by the public lands division of the secretary of state or any other party in interest, which objection must be reduced to writing and filed with the chancery clerk within thirty (30) days from the date of the final publication, the classification as to such parcel or parcels of land shall be final. A copy of such notice shall be mailed by the superintendent of education to each lessee of any part of such lands, such notice to be so mailed not later than the date of the first publication of the notice of the classification of such land, which notice shall also set forth the classification which has been established for all lands under lease by such lessee. If objections are filed, then the matter shall be heard by the chancery court in term time or in vacation, and the court shall either confirm or modify the classification as the circumstances shall demand. Upon the filing of such objection by an individual other than the public lands division of the secretary of state, the chancery clerk shall immediately forward a certified copy of such objection to the public lands division of the secretary of state and the appropriate board of education, along with any necessary service of process. The public lands division of the Secretary of State and any other person aggrieved by the order of the chancery court shall have the same rights of appeal as is provided by law for appeals from other orders of the chancery court, and such appeal shall be perfected as other appeals are now required to be so perfected. The cost of any such classification or reclassification under Section 29-3-39 shall be paid from any available sixteenth section school funds or other school funds of the district.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-39 Reclassification of lands.

It shall be the duty of the board of education to survey periodically the classification of all sixteenth section land under its jurisdiction and to reclassify that land as it may deem advisable because of changes of conditions, and when any land is so reclassified, the board of education shall file a report thereof with the Secretary of State. From time to time the Secretary of State may institute proceedings to reclassify any sixteenth section lands which he may deem advisable and when any land is so reclassified, the Secretary of State shall file a report thereof with the board of education. When any land is reclassified under this section, notice thereof, rights to object thereto and rights to appeal therefrom shall be given in the same manner provided in Section 29-3-37 with reference to the original classification. However, all sixteenth section land shall be classified, or reclassified as is necessary, within one (1) year prior to the expiration date of any existing lease, and within sixty (60) days of the terminating of any lease of sixteenth section land by final court order. In all litigation which may result from the classification or reclassification of lands by the Secretary of State under Sections 29-3-31 through 29-3-39, the Secretary of State shall be represented by the Attorney General, who shall have control of the litigation except as otherwise authorized in Section 7-5-39, but it shall be the duty of the various boards of education to furnish local legal assistance when requested so to do by the Attorney General.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-40 Farm residential or residential lands exchanged for other lands of equal value.

The land commissioner is authorized, in his discretion, to make a feasibility study to determine if sixteenth section lands and lieu lands classified as farm residential or residential lands could be exchanged for other lands of equal value located within the same county, without injury to the value of the lands held in trust for the public schools.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-41 Lease of forest lands restricted.

After any parcels of sixteenth section lands have been classified as hereinabove provided, all land which has been classified as forest land and which is not now under lease shall hereafter not be leased. The lands classified as forest lands which may be under a lease that has a fixed date of expiration shall not be re-leased when said lease expires; nor shall the lessee be permitted to cut or remove any timber therefrom except according to the terms of his lease. Such lands shall be reserved and kept as forest lands. Provided further, that the mineral rights in all such lands may be leased for oil, gas, or mineral purposes, and the board of education may grant leases to the surface of said lands classified as forest, which are limited to hunting and fishing rights and activities in relation thereto, and which shall not extend for a period longer than fifteen (15) years. It shall be the duty of the board of education to lease said hunting and fishing rights at public contract after having advertised same for rent in a newspaper published in said county or, if no newspaper be published in said county, then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein, for two (2) successive weeks, the first being at least ten (10) days prior to said public contract. Said hunting and fishing rights shall be leased to the person offering the highest annual rental. Bids received by the board of education in response to the advertisement shall be opened at a regular or special meeting of the board. The board of education, at its option, may reject all bids or accept the highest and best bid received in response to the advertisement, or the board of education may hold an auction among those who submitted bids in response to the advertisement, provided that three (3) or more persons who submitted bids in response to the advertisement participate in the auction. The opening bid at the auction shall be the highest bid received in response to the advertisement. Provided that if the board of education receives an acceptable bid or elects to hold an auction, the most recent holder of said hunting and fishing rights if it shall have made an offer, shall have the final right to extend its lease for the term advertised at the annual rental equal to said highest offer received by the board of education, or equal to the highest bid offered at the auction, as the case may be. If no bid acceptable to the board of education is received after said advertisement, the board of education may, within ninety (90) days, lease same by private contract for an amount greater than the highest bid previously rejected. If the board of education determines to lease the land by private contract, the most recent holder of said hunting and fishing rights, if it shall have made an offer, shall have the final right to extend its lease on the same terms and conditions as those contained in the private contract proposed to be accepted by the board of education.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-43 Improvements on forest lands.

If any sixteenth section land is declared forest land at the end of a lease, the board of education shall make an appraisal and either pay a suitable amount to the lessee for the improvements or allow lessee to remove the same from the section land.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-45 Management of forest lands.

The board of education shall, by order placed upon its minutes, enter into an agreement with the State Forestry Commission for the general supervision and management of all lands classified as forest lands and of all timber or other forest products under the control of the board on sixteenth section lands, and lieu lands which have not been so classified. However, any school board may contract with private persons or businesses for the reforestation of sixteenth section lands and may contract with a registered forester to be paid from the 16th Section Interest Fund for a review of any forestry management decision or forestry practice including the sale of timber for sixteenth section forest land provided that any implementation of a forestry management decision or forestry practice to be taken as a result of the review described in this subsection shall be subject to the approval of both the commission and the Secretary of State. When such agreement has been entered into, no timber or other forest products shall be sold from any of the sixteenth section lands or lieu lands except such as have been marked or approved for cutting by the State Forestry Commission’s employees. The Forestry Commission, or its designated employee, shall fix the minimum total cash price or minimum price per unit, one thousand (1,000) feet or other measure, at which the marked timber or other forest products shall be sold. The sales may be made for a lump sum or upon a unit price as in the opinion of the board may be calculated to bring the greatest return. Sales shall be made upon such other terms and conditions as to manner of cutting, damages for cutting of unmarked trees, damages to trees not cut and other pertinent matters as the board of education shall approve. The State Forestry Commission shall have the sole authority and control in scheduling of all cutting and harvesting of timber or other forest products when such timber stands or other forest products are determined by the State Forestry Commission to be economically ready for cutting and harvesting. Should a school board disagree with the Forestry Commission concerning the time of cutting and harvesting, the board may make an appeal to the Forestry Commission at a regular monthly scheduled meeting of the commission. If the school board is not satisfied after the appeal to the commission, the board may then appeal to the Secretary of State who will make the final decision as to the time for cutting and harvesting. In the event that the local school board is divested of its management authority under subsection (3) hereof, the Secretary of State after due consultation with the Forestry Commission shall retain the right to make final decisions concerning the management and sale of timber and other forest products. It is hereby made the duty of the State Forestry Commission, from time to time, to mark timber which should be cut from the lands, to determine what planting, deadening or other forestry improvements should be made, giving due consideration to food and habitat for wildlife, and to report to the appropriate board of education. The State Forestry Commission and the board of education shall supervise the cutting of any timber or harvesting of other forest products sold from the lands herein designated and shall have authority to require any timber-cutting operations on the lands to cease until proper adjustment is made, whenever it shall appear that timber is being cut in violation of the terms of the sale. In the event that it is desired to lease any of such lands or standing timber for turpentine purposes, such lease shall only cover such trees as the State Forestry Commission shall designate, and the commission through its employees shall approve the number of faces, method of chipping and boxing of such timber, and shall fix a minimum total cash price or minimum price per unit. No sale of any timber, turpentine or other forest products lease shall be made until notice of same shall have been published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in such county. The first publication of such notice shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date fixed for the sale, and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days prior to such date. If no newspaper is published in such county, then such notice shall be given by publishing the same for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation in such county and, in addition thereto, by posting a copy of such notice for at least twenty-one (21) days next preceding such sale at three (3) public places in such county. Notwithstanding the above provision pertaining to the sale of any timber, turpentine or other forest products, in the event that timber must be cleared from an existing road or existing utility right-of-way, the public notice requirement may be waived. Prior to waiver of the public notice requirement, the State Forestry Commission must make a finding that, due to the small area of timber to be cleared, a public notice sale would not be in the best interest of the local board of education. If the State Forestry Commission makes such a finding, then it shall set the value of the timber to be paid to the local board of education by the party requesting the timber be removed. Provided, however, in the case of damage by fire, windstorm or other natural causes which would require immediate sale of the timber, because the time involved for advertisement as prescribed herein would allow decay, rot or destruction substantially decreasing the purchase price to be received had not such delay occurred, the advertisement provisions of this section shall not apply. The local board of education, with a written recommendation from a designated employee of the State Forestry Commission filed in the minutes of the local board of education, shall determine when immediate sale of the timber is required. When the board of education shall find an immediate sale necessary for the causes stated herein, it shall, in its discretion, set the time for receipt of bids on the purchase of the timber, but shall show due diligence in notifying competitive bidders so that a true competitive bid shall be received. A local board of education having control of the sixteenth section lands in the Hurricane Katrina Disaster of 2005 shall be granted emergency powers to take any and all actions of a reasonably prudent trustee acting under emergency conditions to recover damaged timber, prevent further loss or damage to timber, and to minimize economic loss. All such actions shall be taken in consultation with and shall be subject to the prior approval from the Secretary of State and the State Forestry Commission. The emergency powers shall be as follows: Contract with any individual or entity for management advice, sale of timber, clearing of damage to timber producing lands, transporting of timber, repairing access roads to timber lands, conducting aerial spraying, or taking any other type of action to prevent further loss of timber or diminution in value of existing timber as the result of the incident which necessitated the declaration of a natural disaster. In contracting with any individual or entity, the local board of education shall use its best efforts to ensure that all costs incurred are reasonable and that a fair price is received for all sales. Enter into agreements with any individual, private company, or other governmental entities for the pooling of resources, or the sharing of costs so as to maximize the mitigation of loss and minimize the expense of mitigating the loss of timber. Apply for any state, federal, or private party grant or nonrepayable funds to cover costs associated with emergency management contracts, sale timber, including loss for diminution of value, transporting of timber, replanting of timber, repairing access roads to timber, conducting aerial spraying, or reimbursement for any other action taken to prevent further timber damage, as well as mitigating the loss of funds due to damage. The emergency powers granted herein shall be for a period of one (1) year from the date of designation as a disaster area due to Hurricane Katrina. The emergency powers may be extended for one (1) additional one-year period upon prior written approval from the Secretary of State. The emergency powers shall also apply to the management of timber by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. In the event a local board of education is unable to acquire the services of the State Forestry Commission or the Secretary of State to meet an immediate need to salvage, remove or take other appropriate action on damaged timber, the local board of education shall unilaterally be granted the authority to take such actions as necessary regarding the management or sale of timber or other forest products. In exercising emergency powers, a local board of education or the Secretary of State shall exercise the general powers of a trustee with the same general restrictions and general liabilities of a trustee and shall exercise the care and skill of an ordinary prudent person to protect the beneficiaries of the trust under such emergency circumstances. Any contractor with a local board of education or the Secretary of State shall be entitled to rely on representations by such board of education or the Secretary of State as to who has authority to enter contracts for the management or sale of timber or other forest products, and reliance on such representations shall not be grounds for voiding any contract. In the event that any member of a local board of education may have a personal interest, either direct or indirect, in the decisions regarding the management or sale of timber or other forest products or in a contract for the sale of timber or other forest products from sixteenth section school lands under the jurisdiction and control of the board, then the board of education shall automatically be divested of all authority and power to manage and sell timber or other forest products on sixteenth section lands under its control and jurisdiction. The divestiture shall extend for the period of service, and for one (1) year thereafter, of the board member having a direct or indirect personal interest in the sale or decision to sell timber or other forest products. During the time in which any local board of education may be divested of authority and power to manage and sell timber and other forest products, such authority and power shall be vested in the Secretary of State, as supervisory trustee of sixteenth section lands. Upon the appointment or election of a member of a local board of education who may have such an appointment or election of a member of a local board of education who may have such an interest in decisions and contracts regarding the management and sale of timber or other forest products, the board of education shall immediately notify the Secretary of State in writing. Likewise, the board shall give written notification to the Secretary of State within thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of any such divestiture period. Any contractor with a local board of education or the Secretary of State shall be entitled to rely on representations by such board or the Secretary of State as to who has authority to enter contracts for the management or sale of timber or other forest products, and reliance on such representations shall not be grounds for voiding any contract. The laws providing for the management and sale of timber and other forest products by local boards of education shall apply to the management and sale of timber and other forest products by the Secretary of State. The Mississippi Forestry Commission shall provide the Secretary of State with advice and services in the same manner as provided to local boards of education. The Secretary of State shall be paid all monies derived from the sale of timber or other forest products and shall promptly forward the same to the superintendent of education for such school district with instructions for the proper settlement, deposit and investment of the monies. Such local school board shall reimburse the Secretary of State for all direct costs relating to the management and sale of timber or other forest products, and in the case of a sale of timber or other forest products, the Secretary of State may deduct such direct cost from the proceeds of sale. The Secretary of State shall furnish an itemized listing of all direct cost charged to the local school district.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-47 Forestry escrow fund.

For its services the state forestry commission shall be entitled to receive its actual expenses incurred in the discharge of the duties herein imposed. In order to provide funds with which to pay for the general supervision and sale of forest products, fifteen percent (15%) of all receipts from the sales of forest products shall be placed by the board in a forestry escrow fund and reserved to pay for work performed by the state forestry commission. Such payments shall be equal to the actual expenses incurred by the commission as substantiated by itemized bills presented to the board. Money in the forestry escrow fund may be used to pay for any forestry work authorized during the period of the agreement and shall not be subject to lapse by reason of county budget limitations. In each school district having need of tree planting and timber stand improvement, the board of education is authorized to place additional amounts in the forestry escrow fund to reimburse the state forestry commission for actual expenses incurred in performing this work, or to pay for any work done under private contract under the supervision of said commission. Such additional amounts may be made available from forest products sales receipts, funds borrowed from the sixteenth section principal fund as is provided for in Section 29-3-113, or any other funds available to the board of education excluding minimum foundation program funds. Expenditures from the forestry escrow fund for tree planting, timber stand improvement, and other forestry work will be limited to payment for work recommended by the forestry commission and agreed to by the board of education. When it becomes evident that the amount of money in the forestry escrow fund is in excess of the amount necessary to accomplish the work needed to achieve the goals set by the board of education and the forestry commission, the state forestry commission shall advise said board to release any part of such funds as will not be needed, which may then be spent for any purpose authorized by law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-49 Agreements for timber improvement.

It shall be the duty of the State Forestry Commission, in the manner provided in Section 29-3-45, to enter into agreements for timber improvement purposes with the board of education upon the request of the board. The contract shall provide for the carrying out of a long-term program of timber improvement, including any or all of the following: The deadening of undesirable hardwoods, the planting of trees, the cutting and maintaining of fire lanes, and the establishment of marked boundaries on all lands classified as forest lands in the agreements, which provide for the reimbursement of all current costs incurred by the State Forestry Commission and the carrying out of the duties required by such agreements. In the alternative, the commission, in its discretion, may have the option to contract with a private contractor, subject to the approval of the board, to perform this work under the supervision of the commission. Payment of the reimbursements as hereinabove set forth to the Forestry Commission, or of compensation due under any such contract with private contractors shall be made upon presentation of itemized bills by the commission or the private contractors, as the case may be, and may be made out of any sixteenth section funds to the credit of, or accruing to, any school district in which such work shall be done, or out of any other funds available to such district, excluding minimum foundation program funds.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-51 Determination of lands subject to lease.

The chancery courts have jurisdiction to determine, on bill or petition, what lands are or may be subject to lease under provisions of this chapter; but all sixteenth sections, or lands taken in lieu thereof, are presumed to be so subject unless the contrary be shown clearly.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-52 Prima facie validity of leases executed and recorded in substantial conformity with law.

Any lease of sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, including leases and any renewal, replacement or extension of such leases granted pursuant to Section 29-3-99, executed and recorded in substantial conformity with the applicable provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be prima facie valid, and defects in ministerial or procedural acts alone shall not affect the validity of any such lease, as far as a bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value of any such lease is concerned. Any such purchaser or encumbrancer shall be entitled to rely upon the validity of any such lease insofar as the interest of the state or any political subdivision thereof, the public, or any school district is concerned. Nothing in this section shall prohibit any party from challenging the validity of any lease on the grounds of inadequacy of consideration given for the lands involved in the lease.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-53 Term lessee defined.

Any lease executed pursuant to this chapter shall inure to the benefit of the lessee therein named, his heirs and assigns, and in case the lessee be a corporation, to such lessee and its assigns.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-54 Posting of leased land against trespassers.

Any leaseholder of sixteenth section land, or land granted in lieu thereof, shall be authorized to post such land against trespassers; provided that such posting shall not prohibit the inspection of said lands by individuals responsible for the management or supervision thereof acting in their official capacity. In the event hunting or fishing rights have been leased on lands classified as forest land, the holder of such rights and the state forestry commission shall be authorized to post such land against trespassers.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-55 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-55 . [Codes, 1942, § 6598-17; Laws, 1958, ch. 303, § 17] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-55 provided for the terms and conditions of leases, and execution thereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-57 Superintendent of education to docket leases and collect rentals.

The superintendent of education shall keep a current docket as to the expiration date of all leases on sixteenth section lands; likewise, he shall keep a correct current docket upon the existing leases or any extensions thereof as to the amounts and time of payment of rentals provided for by such lease. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of education to collect promptly all rentals due and all principal and interest due upon loans and investments of sixteenth section funds. Upon a sixty (60) day default in payment of any rentals according to the terms of such lease, the lease shall be declared terminated unless the board of education finds extenuating circumstances were present, and the board shall inaugurate the proper legal proceedings to terminate such lease. The superintendent of education, with the approval of the board of education, may employ an attorney or other person to aid in collecting any such funds when in his opinion the same is necessary, and may pay reasonable compensation therefor out of funds collected, not to exceed in any case twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount actually collected. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of education to supervise generally the administration of all sixteenth section lands within his jurisdiction. In all cases where leases of sixteenth section lands are entered into, it shall be the duty of the superintendent of education to take the notes of the lessees for the rents provided by said lease and turn them over to the county depository and attend to their collection. In the case of the leasing of agricultural lands, the school district shall have the same rights and remedies for the security and collection of such rent as are given by law to agricultural landlords.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-59 Proceeds of leases.

All rentals, or other revenue payable under any leases executed pursuant to this chapter shall be paid to and collected by the superintendent of education and shall be credited to the township school fund and used and expended in the same manner and subject to the same restrictions as provided by law in the case of other money belonging to such funds. Any superintendent of education receiving any such revenue shall make annual report thereof to the state superintendent of education.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-61 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-61 . [Codes, 1930, § 6759; 1942, § 6597; Laws, 1924, ch. 283; Laws, 1930, ch. 278; Laws, 1946, ch. 443, § 1; Laws, 1948, ch. 497, § 1; Laws, 1961, 2nd Ex Sess ch. 2, § 1; Laws, 1962, ch. 364, § 1; Laws, 1968, ch. 411, § 1] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-61 provided for lease of lands for industrial development.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-63 Right to re-lease or to extend existing lease; minimum annual rental.

The holder of a lease of sixteenth section or lieu land, at the expiration thereof, shall have a prior right, exclusive of all other persons, to re-lease or to extend an existing lease as may be agreed upon between the holder of the lease and board of education subject to the classification of said land. Provided, however, no holder of a lease of sixteenth section land classified as agricultural land shall have any priority rights in extending his lease contract, except as otherwise provided in Section 29-3-81. Provided, however, the compensation on an annual basis shall be the fair market rental of the land excluding buildings and improvements made on such land by the lessee, the title to which is not held in trust for the public schools, but in no event shall the compensation be less than the minimum amounts prescribed in subsection (2) of this section. The board of education shall not lease or extend a lease on land classified as industrial or commercial at an annual rental less than five percent (5%) of the current market value, exclusive of buildings or improvements not owned by the school district. Such minimum acceptable percentage shall not apply to land classified as farm-residential, residential, recreational and other land; however, fair market rental will apply to those lands as determined by appraisal, comparative analysis or comparison with the private sector. The prior right to re-lease or extend an existing oil, gas and mineral lease, or any part thereof, granted under this section shall be conditioned upon the existence of production of oil, gas or other minerals thereunder in paying quantities, or the existence of a well capable of such production, or the existence of drilling or reworking operations at the time of lease expiration. Provided, however, that said lease may, in the discretion of the board of education, be extended only as to the lands included in a unit or units as defined by the appropriate agency having jurisdiction over said unit or units. The replacement lease shall be upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the holder of the lease and the board of education, provided that the rental and royalty provisions shall not be less than the rental and royalty provisions as set out in the expired lease and the primary term shall not exceed the limitations in Section 29-3-99. Bonus payment for the replacement lease shall be consistent with the requirements set out in Sections 29-3-65 with respect to oil, gas and mineral leases. Where used in this section and Section 29-3-65, the term “oil and gas lease” or “oil, gas and mineral lease” shall include all leases originally executed pursuant to Section 29-3-99. The right to re-lease an oil, gas and mineral lease provided in subsection (3) above extends to oil, gas and mineral leases which have already expired as of the effective date of this section, subject to an accounting for production from the date of lease expiration to the date of the replacement lease authorized herein.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-65 Appraisal of lands; adjustment of rental amounts.

One (1) year prior to the date, when any such lands, not subject to competitive bid procedures, shall become available for lease, the board of education shall appoint a competent appraiser to appraise the land and report to the board his recommendation for the fair market rental amount. The board shall then determine whether the same be a reasonable amount, and shall grant the lease pursuant to Section 29-3-63. Provided that in the event any such land becomes available for lease prior to July 1, 1979, an appraisal shall be required prior to the granting of said lease. The board of education may use rent escalation clauses or other such devices to adjust rental amounts during the lease term. Owners of leaseholds under a lease granted prior to July 1, 1978, which have improvements constructed thereon, shall not be charged for such improvements in successive lease periods unless the lease contract clearly specifies otherwise. The cost of the appraisal under this section shall be paid from any available sixteenth section school funds or other school funds of the district. The appraisal pertaining to renewal oil, gas and mineral leases executed pursuant to Section 29-3-63 may be made either before or after the expiration of the original lease and shall appraise the fair market value for the bonus to be paid for a renewal lease containing the terms and conditions agreed upon by the holder of the lease and the board of education.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-67 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-67 . [Codes, 1942, § 6597-06; Laws, 1946, ch. 443, § 12; Laws, 1948, ch. 497, § 7; Laws, 1961, 2d Ex Sess, ch. 2, § 3] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-67 provided for use of gross sum rentals.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-69 Lease for ground rental.

The board of education may lease school trust lands classified as industrial, commercial, farm-residential, residential, recreational, catfish farming or other for a term not exceeding forty (40) years for a ground rental, payable annually. All leases, except leases of residential or farm-residential lands, made for a ground rental shall contain rent adjustment clauses or other such provisions requiring that the consideration for every lease of such lands shall be adjusted not less than once every ten (10) years from the date of the lease to reflect the current fair market rental value of the lands, exclusive of any improvements thereon. In leases of lands which are or which are to become residential or farm-residential land, the board of education may require a rent adjustment clause in which rents are to be adjusted, provided that such adjustments will not exceed the fair market rental value of the lands, exclusive of improvements thereon, as of the rental adjustment dates. If a rent adjustment clause is not contained in a lease of lands which are or which are to become residential or farm-residential land, the reasons for not including such clause in the lease shall be stated in the lease and entered on the minutes of the board. In the case of uncleared lands, the board of education may lease them for such short terms as may be deemed proper in consideration of the improvement thereof, with the right thereafter to lease or to hold on payment of a ground rental. The board of education may lease not more than three (3) acres of any such lands for a term not exceeding ninety-nine (99) years for a ground rental, payable annually, to any church having its principal place of worship situated on such lands, which has been in continuous operation at that location for not less than twenty-five (25) years at the time of the lease. The consideration for every lease of such lands to a church shall be renegotiated not less than once every twenty-five (25) years from the date of the lease to reflect the current fair market rental value of the lands, exclusive of any improvements thereon. The board of education may, at any time, by agreement with any lessee of lands, except for lands classified as forest or agricultural, cancel an existing lease and execute a new lease contract on such land where major capital improvements have been made or for the purpose of facilitating the addition of major capital improvements, provided that the rental amount of such new lease shall not be less than the rental amount in the prior lease. The term of such new lease shall not exceed forty (40) years for a ground rental, payable annually, provided that prior to the execution of such new lease contract, the provisions of all applicable statutes setting forth the procedure and requirements for the execution of a lease for sixteenth section lands or lieu lands have been satisfied. The board of education may find that in the interest of good trust management it may be necessary to grant in the original lease contract an option to renew any lease not subject to competitive bid procedures, for a term not to exceed twenty-five (25) years. If such a finding be made, it shall be entered on the minutes of the board and the option granted; provided that the execution of a new lease shall be required to effectuate the additional lease period and the provisions of all applicable statutes setting forth the procedure and requirements for the execution of a lease for sixteenth section lands or lieu lands have been satisfied. Subleasing or assignment of any lease of school trust lands executed after July 1, 1978, shall only be allowed when provided in the lease contract or at the discretion of the board of education; provided that permission to sublease or assign shall not be arbitrarily withheld.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-71 Leaseholds subject to taxes.

Sixteenth section lands reserved for the use of schools, or lands reserved or granted in lieu of or as a substitute for the sixteenth sections, shall be liable, after the same shall have been leased, to be taxed as other lands are taxed during the continuance of the lease, but in case of sale thereof for taxes, only the title of the lessee or his heirs or assigns shall pass by the sale.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-73 Lands liable for drainage taxes.

Where any school land, generally known as sixteenth sections, reserved for the use of schools, or land reserved or granted in lieu of or substituted for sixteenth sections lies within or partly within any drainage district created under the laws of this state, and will be benefited by such drainage district, such land so benefited shall be liable for its pro rata share of the costs, expenses, taxes, and assessments relating to said district as if owned by an individual, and shall be assessed accordingly, as other lands are assessed. But in case of a sale of such lands for such taxes or assessments, only the title of the lessee holding such lands under lease at the time of the sale shall pass by the sale. Where such sixteenth section land, or land taken in lieu thereof, shall be held by any lessee, whether his lease shall have heretofore been acquired or shall hereafter be acquired, all such drainage taxes and assessments accruing thereon during such lease shall, in the discretion of the board of education, either be paid by the lessee, his grantees or assigns, or by the board of education, but the liability for such drainage taxes shall be fixed by the lease contract when said lands are leased. Where said lands have been leased by the superintendent of education, with the consent of the board of education in open session, and said lease contract provides that the lessee shall pay all such drainage taxes and assessments, and the lessee has actually entered upon and occupied said lands as lessee and is recognized as such, the school district in which said sixteenth section is located shall not be liable for such drainage taxes on account of the negligence of the secretary in failing to enter the order of the board approving said lease contract on its minutes. All such drainage taxes and assessments accruing on any such lands while the same are not leased shall be paid by the board of education of the school district in which such lands are situated, out of any sixteenth section funds belonging to the township in which such lands are located, which may be on hand at the time when such drainage taxes or assessments become due or which may be thereafter at any time collected or acquired. For the purpose of paying such drainage taxes and assessments, the board of education may borrow all money necessary to pay the same. When any such funds are borrowed as aforesaid, for the purposes aforesaid, the same shall be repaid out of the first sixteenth section fund thereafter derived from the sixteenth section lands so taxed and assessed.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-75 Insurance.

Any leaseholder shall have the right at his own expense to keep his interest in the buildings and other improvements on the leased premises insured against loss or damage by fire and windstorm.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-77 Disposition of buildings.

Where buildings are located on sixteenth section lands which are not subject to an existing lease and such buildings have ceased to be used for the purpose for which they were constructed, the board of education may sell and dispose of such buildings pursuant to the procedures prescribed in Sections 37-7-451 through 37-7-483.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-79 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-79 . [Codes, 1942, § 6597-10; Laws, 1946, ch. 443, § 11; Laws, 1948, ch. 497, § 11] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-79 authorized the waiver of a lien for rent.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-81 Leasing of land classified as agricultural land.

Sixteenth section lands, or any lands granted in lieu of sixteenth section lands, classified as agricultural may be leased for the cultivation of rice, or pasturage, for a term not to exceed ten (10) years. All other sixteenth section or lieu lands classified as agricultural may be leased for a term not exceeding five (5) years. All leases of land classified as agricultural shall be for a term to expire on December 31. Except in those cases when the holder of an existing lease on agricultural land elects to re-lease such land, as authorized under this subsection, it shall be the duty of the board of education to lease the sixteenth section or lieu lands at public contract after having advertised such lands for rent in a newspaper published in the county or, if no newspaper is published in the county, then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein, for two (2) successive weeks, the first being at least ten (10) days before the public contract. The lease form and the terms so prescribed shall be on file and available for inspection in the office of the superintendent from and after the public notice by advertisement and until finally accepted by the board. However, before the expiration of an existing lease of land classified as agricultural land, except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) for lands intended to be reclassified, the board of education, in its discretion and subject to the prior approval of the Secretary of State, may authorize the holder of the existing lease to re-lease the land, on no more than one (1) occasion, for a term not to exceed five (5) years and for a rental amount that is no less than one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the total rental value of the existing lease. If the holder of the existing lease elects not to re-lease the land, the board of education shall publish an advertisement of agricultural land for rent which publication shall be not more than four (4) months before the expiration of the term of an existing lease of the land. An election by the holder of the existing lease not to re-lease the land shall not preclude his participation in the bidding process established under this section. Subject to the classification of the land, the board of education shall enter into a new lease on agricultural land before the expiration of an existing lease on the same land, and the new lease shall take effect on the day immediately following the day on which the existing lease expires. The board of education may require bidders to furnish bond or submit evidence of financial ability. Bids received by the board of education in response to the advertisement shall be opened at a regular or special meeting of the board. The board of education, at its option, may reject all bids or accept the highest and best bid received in response to the advertisement, or the board of education may hold an auction among those who submitted bids in response to the advertisement. If the board of education elects to hold an auction, no bidder shall be granted any preference. The opening bid at the auction shall be highest bid received in response to the advertisement. If, during the final year of an existing lease, the board of education notifies the holder of the existing lease that the board of education intends to reclassify the land under Section 29-3-39, the holder of the existing lease may re-lease the land for a term of five (5) years and for a rental amount that is equal to one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the total rental value of the then existing lease. Thereafter, the board of education shall have the option to proceed with the reclassification of the land or may re-lease the land for one (1) additional term of five (5) years after advertising for bids or holding an auction in the same manner as provided in subsection (1) of this section, and the new classification will be implemented upon the expiration of the then existing lease. This subsection does not apply if the board of education intends to reclassify the land under the “commercial” or “industrial” land classification based on a valid business proposal presented to and approved by the board of education. If the board of education receives an acceptable bid in response to the advertisement and elects not to hold an auction among those submitting bids, then the holder of the existing lease may submit a second bid in an amount not less than one hundred five percent (105%) of the highest acceptable bid received if the holder of the existing lease: (i) submitted a bid in response to the advertisement; and (ii) constructed or made improvements on the leasehold premises after receiving approval of the board of education during the term of the existing lease. For purposes of this subsection, the term “improvements” shall not include any work or items that are done customarily on an annual basis in the preparing, planting, growing, cultivating or harvesting of crops or other farm products. If the holder of the existing lease elects to submit a second bid, the board of education shall hold an auction among those who submitted bids in response to the advertisement. The opening bid at the auction shall be the second bid of the holder of the existing lease. However, no leaseholder may submit a second bid if: (i) any rent, taxes or other payment required under his lease are past due; or (ii) he is otherwise in default of any term or provision of the lease and such default has not been corrected or cured to the satisfaction of the board of education after more than thirty (30) days’ notice to the leaseholder of the default. If an auction is held, the auction may be conducted at the meeting at which bids are opened or at a subsequent regular or special meeting. The board shall announce the time and place of the auction at the meeting at which bids are opened, and no further notice of the auction is required. If no bid acceptable to the board of education is received after the advertisement or at auction, the board of education may lease, within ninety (90) days, the lands by private contract for an amount greater than the highest bid previously rejected in order to acquire a fair rental value for the lands. If no bids are received in response to the advertisement, the board of education may negotiate a private contract for a fair rental value, and the term of such contract shall expire on December 31 of the same calendar year in which the contract is made. The board of education may take the notes for the rent and attend to their collection. The board has the right and remedies for the security and collection of such rents given by law to the agricultural landlords. If an existing lease is terminated before the expiration of the term originally set therein, upon finding that immediate action is necessary to prevent damage or loss to growing crops or to prevent loss of opportunity to lease the land for the current growing season, the board of education may negotiate a private contract for a fair rental value, and the term of such lease shall expire on December 31 of the same calendar year in which the contract is made. Any holder of a lease on agricultural land that: (a) was granted before July 1, 1997; and (b) has an expiration date on or after April 1 but before December 31 during the final year of the lease term, may extend the term of such lease to December 31 next following the expiration date originally provided for in the lease. If such lease is extended, the rent for the period from the original expiration date in the lease to December 31 next following the original expiration date shall be one hundred five percent (105%) of the annual rent provided in the existing lease prorated over the period of the lease extension. At the expiration of the extended lease term or at the expiration of the original lease term if the lease holder does not extend such lease, the land shall be offered for lease as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-82 Leasing of land not classified as agricultural land.

The following procedure shall be followed for the leasing of sixteenth section school lands or lands granted in lieu thereof which are not classified as agricultural land: Any present leaseholder who desires to renew his lease, or any person who desires to lease sixteenth section or lieu lands, shall make application to the superintendent of education. Upon receipt of an application for the lease of such lands, the superintendent of education shall promptly give consideration to the application and he shall record his recommendation in writing and present it to the board of education at the next regular meeting of the board. The board of education, at its meeting, shall consider the application and recommendation of the superintendent of education and may receive any other information which it considers bearing upon the approval of the application and lease of such land. Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of an application, the board shall act on the application and if such action is favorable, the board of education shall submit to the superintendent of education a suggested lease agreement. The superintendent of education shall then present the lease to the board of supervisors of the county where such land is located. Within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the lease, the board of supervisors shall accept or reject the proposed rental amount. If the board of supervisors accepts the lease as proposed by the board of education, the superintendent of education shall execute the lease to the applicant under the terms and conditions set forth in the lease. If the board of supervisors refuses to accept the rental value set by the board of education in the proposed lease, the rental value of the lease shall be determined under the provisions set forth in Section 29-3-1(2). All sixteenth section or lieu land leases shall be reduced to writing and signed in triplicate by the president of the board of supervisors, the president of the board of education and the superintendent of education. The chancery clerk shall certify one (1) copy of the lease to the superintendent of education and one (1) copy to the state land commissioner, and shall record the original on the deed records of the county, abstract the lease as a mesne conveyance, and record it on the minutes of the board of supervisors. The chancery clerk shall charge and collect from the lessee the full recording fees.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-83 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-83 . [Codes, 1942, § 6597-13; Laws, 1948, ch. 497, § 14] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-83 authorized the lease of lands lying partially within a levee district.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-85 Reservation of rights in lease.

In all surface leases of sixteenth section land made by the board of education, whether such leases be original leases or extensions of existing leases, title to all timber, minerals, oil, and gas on such lands shall be reserved, together with the right of ingress and egress to remove same, whether such provisions be included in the terms of any such lease or not; and no timber shall be cut and used by the lessees except for fuel and necessary repairs and improvements on the leased premises. The board of education, notwithstanding the fact that such land may have been leased for other purposes, shall have the right, from time to time, to sell all merchantable timber on such lands in the manner hereinabove provided. In all cases where surface leases were outstanding on June 28, 1958, and have at least five (5) years remaining of the term thereof wherein the right to sell timber has not been reserved, either expressly or by operation of law, the board may, by agreement with the lessee, sell such timber under the procedure herein set out. In all such cases the forestry commission shall only cause to be marked for cutting such timber as, in its judgment, should be harvested in the best interest of the reversionary estate, and the board may agree to pay to the lessee a portion of the proceeds of such sales from time to time, not to exceed fifty percent (50%) thereof after the deduction of the fifteen percent (15%) escrow money, hereinbefore mentioned, and all other costs of the sale. In any surface lease, the board of education shall reserve the right to grant or sell rights-of-way across any of said land for a road, highway, railroad, or any public utility line, provided only that the leaseholder be paid a reasonable rental for the unexpired term of his lease by the grantee of such right-of-way. If any surface lessee of any such sixteenth section land shall commit, cause to be committed, or permit the commission of any act of waste on any sixteenth section lands under lease to such lessee, then such lease shall thereupon, as to such lessee, cease and terminate and shall thenceforth be null and void; and the board of education shall have the right to institute an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to secure the cancellation of same of record, to recover damages for such waste, and to maintain an action in ejectment to recover possession of the same. To this end, the board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to employ competent counsel to institute and maintain any such action or actions on behalf of the board.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-87 Reservation of lands for school building site, public park, or recreational area.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this or any other statute, the several boards of education are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion and by resolution spread upon the minutes, to set aside, reserve, and dedicate any available sixteenth section lands or lands in lieu thereof for use by such school district as a site for school buildings, which such dedication and reservation shall be for such length of time, not exceeding fifty (50) years, and upon such terms and conditions as the board of education, in its discretion, shall deem proper. Any such reservation or dedication of sixteenth section lands shall automatically cease and terminate if, at any time, the land involved shall cease to be used for the purpose for which the dedication or reservation is made. The reservation or dedication shall cover the surface of said lands only and shall not prevent the board of education from leasing said lands for oil, gas, and mineral exploration and development in a manner otherwise provided by law. In the same manner and subject to the same provisions hereinabove set forth the board of education having a timber management and marketing agreement with the state forestry commission or National Forest Service, may set aside, reserve and dedicate any available sixteenth section lands or lands granted in lieu thereof, which has been classified as forest land under the provisions of Section 29-3-31 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, to be utilized for public parks and recreation areas. The board of supervisors or the governing authorities of any municipality wherein such lands or any portion thereof lie may expend any funds otherwise available for park or recreational areas in the construction and maintenance of improvements to be located thereon. The setting aside, reservation and dedication of any such sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof by a board of education to the state park commission for the purpose of locating a state park thereon may be for a length of time not exceeding ninety-nine (99) years. No sixteenth section or lieu land which is subject to an existing lease shall be set aside, dedicated, and reserved as a school building site or for public park or recreational purposes under the provisions of this section unless the school district involved shall acquire the unexpired leasehold interest from the leaseholder, or unless such lease and leasehold interest shall be surrendered and relinquished by the leaseholder.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-88 Acquisition of land for construction of school buildings or structures.

The board of education is authorized and empowered to acquire in its own name by purchase, contribution or otherwise all land situated in its district within sixteenth section or lieu lands and under a lease contract which shall be necessary and desirable in connection with the construction of any public school building or structure. If the board shall be unable to agree with the lessee of any such land in connection with any such project, the board shall have the power and authority to acquire any such land by condemnation proceedings in the manner otherwise provided by law and, for such purpose, the right of eminent domain is hereby conferred upon and vested in said board.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-89 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-89 . [Codes, 1942, § 6597.5; Laws, 1956, ch. 268] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-89 authorized the leasing of vacant school lands to fair associations.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-91 Compensation for easement or right of way exception.

Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, whenever the United States or any agency thereof, or the state or any agency or subdivision thereof, or any private organization, corporation, association, or person acquires, by condemnation or otherwise, any easement or right-of-way across any sixteenth section land or lieu land, then adequate compensation therefor shall be paid by the party acquiring the same to the board of education concerned; and the sum or sums so received shall be placed in the principal fund or funds of the school district or districts concerned. If the local board of education, by resolution duly adopted and spread upon its minutes, determines that a new road is necessary to provide access to and on sixteenth section land or lieu land, that the new road will enhance the value of the sixteenth section land or lieu land, and requests that a county or city construct and maintain the road, then, upon agreement by the county or city to bear all costs of construction and maintenance, the local board of education may provide a right-of-way for the new road without compensation from the county or city if the initial cost of constructing the new road exceeds the value of the right-of-way. The local board of education shall have sole discretion in determining the location of any new road constructed under the authority of this subsection. This subsection shall not apply to state road projects or to any change or improvement to or relocation of existing roads under the jurisdiction of a county or city.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-92 Purchase of easements for access to sixteenth section or lieu lands; use of eminent domain to acquire easement access prohibited.

The school board of a school district may acquire, in the name of the district, by purchase, all easements that are necessary and desirable for access to sixteenth section lands or lieu lands.Whenever the purchase price for property on which an easement is to be located is greater than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), the school board may not purchase the property for an amount exceeding the fair market value of the property, as determined by the average of at least two (2) independent appraisals by certified general appraisers licensed by the State of Mississippi. In no event shall eminent domain be used against any private land owner by any local school board or local governing authority to acquire easement access to sixteenth section lands or lieu lands.If a landowner objects or refuses to sell an easement right in his or her property to the local school board, the board shall seek another means to gain access to those lands that does not interfere with the landowner’s quiet use and enjoyment of his or her property.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-93 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-93 . [Codes, 1930, § 6761; 1942, § 6599; Laws, 1924, ch. 283; Laws, 1930, ch. 278; Laws, 1954, ch. 256, § 1]. § 29-3-95 . [Codes, 1942, § 6599.3; Laws, 1954, ch. 256, § 2; Laws, 1956, ch. 160]. § 29-3-97 . [Codes, 1942, § 6606-11; Laws, 1956, ch. 272, §§ 1-3]. Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-93 authorized the sale of timber, gravel, and acid iron earth, and lease for turpentine or pasturage. Former § 29-3-95 authorized the sale of timber, gravel, etc., in counties lying in De Soto National Forest and Homochitto National Forest. Former § 29-3-97 authorized the use of principal funds for construction and equipment of school buildings.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-99 Leases for oil, gas and mineral exploration, mining, production and development.

The board of education is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to let, demise and lease sixteenth section lands, included in the Choctaw Purchase, or the lands held in lieu of same whether located therein or elsewhere, reserved for the support of township schools, for exploration, mining, production and development by any method of oil, gas, and minerals, including (a) oil, gas, carbon dioxide and other gaseous substances, (b) metals, compounds of metals, or metal-bearing ores, (c) coal, including anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous, lignite and their constituent components and products and minerals intermingled or associated therewith, and (d) sulphur, salt, sand, gravel, fill dirt and clay, upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration as the board of education, in its discretion, shall deem proper and advisable. Such leasing shall, except as hereinafter provided, be done by competitive bids only, made upon at least three (3) weeks public notice given by advertisement in a newspaper published in the county wherein such lands are situated, or if no newspaper be published in said county then in a newspaper having general circulation therein. Such advertisement shall give an accurate legal description of the lands to be leased, inviting sealed proposals thereon to be filed with the superintendent of education. Before bids are requested, the board shall prescribe the form of the lease and shall prescribe the royalty to be retained by the lessor, the annual rental to be paid by the lessee during the primary term of the lease, and shall have as subject to bid only the bonus to be paid by lessee, and, for leases of coal, the bonus to be paid by lessee for any renewal term as hereinafter provided. The lease form and the terms so prescribed shall be on file and available for inspection in the office of the superintendent from and after the public notice by advertisement and until finally accepted by the board. The board of education shall award the lease to the highest bidder in the manner provided by law. Said school lands shall not be leased for oil, gas, and minerals, including metals, compounds of metals, or metal-bearing ores, coal and clay, exploration, mining, production, and development for a bonus of less than One Dollar ($1.00) per acre and a renewal rental or renewal bonus of less than One Dollar ($1.00) per acre per annum during the primary term. Such lands shall not be leased for oil, gas, and other minerals for a primary term of more than five (5) years and so long thereafter as oil, gas or other minerals are being produced and mined from said lands, or so long as the lease is being maintained by other lease provisions, except that a lease shall in no event extend longer than permitted by Section 211 of the Mississippi Constitution. Such lands shall not be leased for coal for a primary term of more than twenty (20) years and so long thereafter as coal is being mined and sold or utilized by lessee from such lands or from adjoining lands within a mine plan which includes such lands or so long as mining operations are being prosecuted on such lands on a continuous basis; provided, however, that any lease of coal may provide for one (1) renewal term of not more than twenty (20) years from and after expiration of the initial term upon payment by lessee of a renewal bonus of not less than One Dollar ($1.00) per acre. Any mine plan referred to in this paragraph shall not contain more than five thousand (5,000) acres. The royalties to be paid shall not be less than (a) on oil, one-eighth (1/8) of that produced and saved from said lands; (b) on gas, including casinghead gas or other gaseous substances produced from said land and sold or used off the premises or in the manufacture of gasoline or other products therefrom, the market value at the well of one-eighth (1/8) of the amount realized from such sale; (c) on coal mined on such land and sold or utilized by lessee, one-twentieth (1/20) of the market value at the mine of each ton of two thousand (2,000) pounds; (d) on all other minerals produced, mined and marketed, one-sixteenth (1/16) either in kind or value at the well or mine at lessor’s election, except that on sulphur mined and marketed, the royalty shall be not less than Fifty Cents (50¢) per long ton, except, further, that on salt the royalty shall be not less than Five Cents (5¢) per ton mined. Lessee shall have free use of oil, gas, coal, and water from said land, except water from lessor’s wells, unless lessor shall agree in writing to the use of water from lessor’s wells, for all operations hereunder, and the royalty on oil, gas, and coal shall be computed after deducting any so used. In leasing said lands for the mining and removal of clay, sand, gravel and fill dirt, the bid shall be by the cubic yard truck measure and to the highest and best bidder, provided that these materials shall not be sold therefrom for less than the regular market price thereof, such price to include the value of the royalty provided for herein. The board of education shall not lease any sixteenth section land that was sold and conveyed in fee simple forever by a board of supervisors prior to 1890. It is further specifically provided that such leases shall not be let at a special meeting of the board of education. Leases for metals, coals, sand, gravel, fill dirt or clay may be executed covering land upon which leases are outstanding for the exploration, mining, and development of oil, gas, and other minerals, provided proper safeguards are incorporated in the lease for the protection of the other leaseholders. All such leases shall contain suitable provisions for adequate compensation to the surface lessee, if any, for any damage done to the leasehold estate in such lands and for the use of a substantial portion of the surface thereof for such mining and/or developing or processing purposes, and for rights of ingress and egress, and all such leases shall further contain suitable provisions for adequate compensation to the board of education for any permanent damage done to the surface of the land or any timber thereon. Any future lease of said land after expiration of the present lease thereon will be subject to the rights of any lessee under provisions hereof. If the lessor commits any error in the leasing procedure which renders the lease void or voidable, the lessee shall be entitled to recover the consideration paid to secure the lease. No clay shall be leased nor removed within the boundary of any incorporated municipality as such boundary existed on January 1, 1964, nor within one hundred fifty (150) feet of any dwelling house which is either occupied or has been vacant less than ninety (90) days, without the written consent of the leaseholder of the surface from which such clay is to be leased or removed, regardless of classification of such lands.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-101 Rights of mineral lessee.

Every such lease shall empower the lessee to enter upon the premises leased and explore and develop such premises for oil, gas, or either of them, or such other mineral as may be included in the terms of said lease, and to do all things necessary or expedient for the production and preservation of any of such products; and shall inure to the lessee, his heirs or assigns.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-103 Confirmation of leases.

Any person holding or claiming any sixteenth section school land under a lease or extension thereof made by the board of education or by their authority or direction, may proceed by bill in chancery court to have such lease or extension thereof confirmed and quieted. He shall set forth in his bill his claim for title under the lease or extension thereof which he asks to have confirmed, the date of such lease or extension, to whom made, the consideration, and the amount paid and to be paid, if any. The superintendent of education of the district in which the bill is filed and in which the land may be located shall be made a party defendant, and process shall be served on him as in other cases in chancery. Such suits shall be brought in the county in which the sixteenth section or some part thereof is located, and shall be proceeded with as in other cases in chancery, except that the bill shall not be taken as confessed; and it shall be competent for the court to hear and consider evidence aliunde the records of the board of education as to whether the lease or extension thereof sought to be confirmed was legally made and whether the complainant is entitled to relief. If it is clearly proven that the requirements of law regulating such leases or extensions thereof were complied with, the proper relief shall be granted even though the records contain no such affirmative showing. The party claiming title under such lease or extension thereof shall be entitled to the benefits of this section whether the suit be filed by him or by the school district, as required by this chapter. The provisions of statute made by Sections 29-3-105 and 29-3-107 shall fully apply under this section.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-105 Decree of confirmation.

Should the court be of the opinion that the complainant is entitled to relief, it shall decree a confirmation of the lease under which complainant claims and fix the date of its commencement and termination; and such decree shall vest in the complainant a good and perfect title to the term of the lease for the time fixed in such decree. Nothing in this or the preceding sections shall be construed as releasing any person from the payment in full of any balance that may be due on any lease under which he may claim or hold any or all of such sixteenth section school lands, but he must either pay or tender in court any balance that may be due as aforesaid before the relief prayed for shall be granted.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-107 Illegal leases.

Should it appear to the court that the lease under which the complainant holds or claims title was illegally made and void, then the court may proceed to have an account stated of the amount of money, principal and interest which has actually been paid in consideration for such lease by the complainant and those under whom he may claim, and an account of the rents, issues and profits arising from said land, less the cost of any necessary, permanent, valuable, and not ornamental improvements made upon said land, and may decree any excess of money paid and interest and cost of improvements over the rent, issues, and profits to complainants. Such decree shall be a lien upon the rents, issues and profits accrued or to accrue from the particular sixteenth section involved in such suit until the same is fully paid and satisfied. Upon the rendition of such decree, the secretary of the board of education shall issue a warrant for the amount decreed to be paid to the complainant against the funds of such sixteenth section, and the same shall be paid out of the first available money to the credit of such funds. Any excess in the amount of the rents, issues and profits, after deducting the cost of improvements and amount paid by complainant, shall be decreed against him, together with a writ of possession in favor of the defendant. All court costs in suits brought shall be paid by the party or parties seeking relief under the provisions hereof.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-109 Crediting of funds derived from lands.

All expendable funds derived from sixteenth section or lieu lands shall be credited to the school districts of the township in which such sixteenth section lands may be located, or to which any sixteenth section lieu lands may belong. Such funds shall not be expended except for the purpose of education of the educable children of the school district to which they belong, or as otherwise may be provided by law. The board of education shall require additional securities from the county depository when necessary to protect such funds and, in the event of their failure so to do, they shall be liable therefor upon their official bond.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-111 Expenditure of moneys derived from lands.

All moneys heretofore or hereafter derived from the leasing of said lands for oil, gas and mineral purposes, including any bonus or delay rental payable under such leases, and all moneys derived from the annual payment of rents from the leasing of said lands for agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, grazing or other purposes, or derived as interest upon loans or investments of principal funds, and all moneys heretofore or hereafter derived from the sale of timber, may be expended for any of the purposes authorized by law. In cases where said moneys have been transferred to the principal fund and it is determined to expend same for any of the purposes authorized by law, such moneys shall be transferred to the proper fund for expenditure upon order of the board of education.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-113 Investment and lending of funds.

The principal fund shall be a permanent township fund which shall consist of funds heretofore or hereafter derived from certain uses or for certain resources of school trust lands which shall be invested and, except as otherwise provided in this section, only the interest and income derived from such funds shall be expendable by the school district. The principal fund shall consist of: Funds received for easements and rights-of-way pursuant to Section 29-3-91; Funds received for sales of lieu land pursuant to Sections 29-3-15 through 29-3-25; Funds received from any permanent damage to the school trust land; Funds received from the sale of nonrenewable resources including, but not limited to, the sale of sand, gravel, dirt, clays and royalties received from the sale of mineral ores, coal, oil and gas; Funds received from the sale of buildings pursuant to Section 29-3-77; Funds received from the sale of timber; and Funds received pursuant to Section 29-3-23(2). It shall be the duty of the board of education to keep the principal fund invested in any direct obligation issued by or guaranteed in full as to principal and interest by the United States of America or in certificates of deposit issued by a qualified depository of the State of Mississippi as approved by the State Treasurer. The certificates of deposit may bear interest at any rate per annum which may be mutually agreed upon but in no case shall said rate be less than that paid on passbook savings. The board of education is authorized to invest the funds in interest bearing deposits or other obligations of the types described in Section 27-105-33 or in any other type investment in which any other political subdivision of the State of Mississippi may invest, except that one hundred percent (100%) of the funds are authorized to be invested. For the purposes of investment, the principal fund of each township may be combined into one or more district accounts; however, the docket book of the county superintendent shall at all times reflect the proper source of such funds. Provided that funds received from the sale of timber shall be placed in a separate principal fund account, and may be expended for any of the purposes authorized by law. The board of education shall have authority to borrow such funds at a rate of interest not less than four percent (4%) per annum and for a term not exceeding twenty (20) years, for the erection, equipment or repair of said district schools, to provide local funds for any building project approved by the State Board of Education or to provide additional funds for forest stand improvement as set forth in Section 29-3-47. In addition, the board may borrow the funds under the same interest restrictions for a term not exceeding ten (10) years to provide funds for the purchase of school buses. The board of education of any school district in any county that has an aggregate amount of assets in its principal fund in excess of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00), may deduct an amount not to exceed Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) for the purpose of covering the cost of asbestos removal from school district buildings. Such asbestos removal shall be construed to constitute the repair of school district facilities as prescribed in Section 29-3-115. No school land trust funds may be expended after the annual payment date until the payment is made on such loan. The annual payment can be made from any funds available to the school district except minimum foundation program funds. It shall be unlawful for the board of education to borrow any sixteenth section school funds in any other manner than that prescribed herein, and if any such funds shall be borrowed or invested in any other manner, any officer concerned in making such loan and investment or suffering the same to be made in violation of the provisions of this section, shall be liable personally and on his official bond for the safety of the funds so loaned.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-115 Use of expendable funds.

The expendable funds derived from sixteenth section or lieu lands may be expended for the building and repair of schoolhouses, teachers’ homes, and other school facilities, the purchase of furniture, school vehicles and equipment for same, the payment of teachers’ salaries, and for all other purposes in operating and maintaining the schools of the district to which such funds belong for which other available school funds may be expended. Such funds may also be expended for clearing, draining, reforesting and otherwise improving any sixteenth section lands of township to which any such available funds may belong. Such funds may also be expended for the purpose of paying any drainage district taxes, costs, expenses, and assessments for which the sixteenth section may be liable, and in such case the same shall be paid by the board of education out of any funds which would otherwise be paid over to the school district entitled thereto under the provisions of Sections 29-3-115 through 29-3-123. Such funds may also be expended to pay all reasonable and necessary attorneys’ fees incurred to clear the title on any sixteenth section lieu lands located outside the county.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-117 Revenues to be paid into maintenance or building fund.

All expendable sixteenth section revenues to which a school district shall become entitled, as provided in Sections 29-3-115 through 29-3-123 from annual rents, interest and other sources shall be paid into the maintenance or building fund of the school district entitled thereto on order of the board of education.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-119 Division of funds among school districts.

Where there is only one (1) school district in the township to which the available funds belong, such school district shall be entitled to the whole of such funds, and the funds shall be handled in the manner set forth in this section. In cases where a township having available funds is occupied by two (2) or more school districts or parts of school districts, the available funds of the township shall be divided between the districts lying wholly or partly within such township in proportion to the number of children residing in that portion of each district which lies within such township and who are enrolled in the schools of that district, as compared to the total number of children residing in such township and enrolled in the schools of all districts lying wholly or partly in that township. For such purpose, annual lists shall be made of all children who reside in the township and who are enrolled in the schools of each district lying wholly or partly in that township, which lists shall be made in accordance with Section 29-3-121. Municipal separate school districts shall be entitled to their pro rata part of such funds in the same manner as other school districts. Where there is no child residing in a township in which funds are available for distribution and where one or more school districts embrace all or part of any such township, such funds shall be distributed in the following manner: Where any such township is located wholly within one (1) school district, the available township funds shall be distributed to that school district. Where any such township having such funds available for distribution is located either in whole or in part in two (2) or more school districts, such available funds shall be distributed to the two (2) or more school districts in proportion to the number of children residing in that part of the two (2) or more school districts which is common or coextensive to each of the school districts, distribution being made on the basis of the enrollment of the school children in their respective school districts. The school district having jurisdiction and control of the sixteenth section or lieu lands in the township (the “custodial school district”) shall pay to each other school district lying wholly or partly in the township which is entitled to a part of the township funds the district’s pro rata share of the available township funds, as determined from the lists of children prepared pursuant to Section 29-3-121, promptly after collecting such funds. The custodial school district shall make its books and records pertaining to the income and funds of any shared township available for inspection and copying to all other school districts sharing in the income from the township upon reasonable notice of such request. Any district entitled to such funds which is not paid promptly may assert a claim against the custodial school district for its share of the funds not later than twelve (12) months from the end of the calendar year in which the custodial school district collected such funds.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-121 Superintendent of school district to make lists; recount; costs of recount.

It shall be the duty of the superintendent of each school district to make or cause to be made annual lists of the children enrolled in the schools of such district and who reside in such district, which lists shall be based upon the end of the first month enrollment required to be reported to the State Department of Education for the then current school year. The lists shall be made separately as to the townships in which such children reside. Such lists shall be filed with the superintendent of the custodial school district on or before December 31 of each year, and the lists shall be used in making the division of the available funds of each township during the ensuing calendar year, as provided by Section 29-3-119. The superintendent of the custodial school district shall make such lists available, upon request, to each school district sharing in the revenues of the township. Any school district failing to timely provide the list to the superintendent of the custodial school district shall forfeit its right to such funds unless the school board of the custodial school district and the school board of the other district or districts entitled to such funds have executed a written agreement providing for the distribution of such funds in a manner agreed upon by the school districts. All such lists shall be retained and preserved by the superintendent of the custodial school district as a public record. Such lists shall not be made, however, as to any township which is wholly within one (1) school district. If any superintendent of a school district participating in the division of such funds shall challenge in writing the accuracy of any such list, the Office of the State Auditor, upon receipt of such challenge, may, in its discretion, order and arrange for and supervise a recount of the children enrolled in the schools of such district and who reside in such district. All costs incurred in conducting the recount shall be borne by the challenging district and the district in which the recount is conducted on a pro rata basis, as determined from the results of the recount. Such costs may be paid from the school district’s share of the available township funds. Such recount, when obtained, shall supersede the original list for the purposes of Sections 29-3-115 through 29-3-123.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-123 Lists of educable children required before payment of funds.

It shall be unlawful for any township funds to be expended by the custodial school district or paid over to school districts as provided in Sections 29-3-115 through 29-3-123, where there are two (2) or more school districts or parts of school districts in the township until lists of the children residing in each district or part of district within such township who are enrolled in the schools thereof have been made as required under Section 29-3-121. Such lists shall be made annually before any payment of the expendable sixteenth section revenues shall be made to school districts as provided in Sections 29-3-115 through 29-3-123. Any member of a local school board or any superintendent of a school district who shall order the payment of such funds or who shall issue a pay certificate therefor in violation of the provisions of this section shall be liable upon his bond for the amount so paid. Nothing in Sections 29-3-115 through 29-3-123 shall repeal or restrict the expenditure of funds by the Board of Supervisors of Claiborne County under Chapters 661, 662 and 663, Laws of 1950; or the expenditure by the Board of Supervisors of Adams County of any funds under Chapter 615, Laws of 1950.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-125 Repealed.

Repealed by Laws, 1978, ch. 525, § 55, eff from and after July 1, 1978. § 29-3-125 . [Codes, 1942, § 6626; Laws, 1934, ch. 271] Editor’s Notes — Former § 29-3-125 pertained to uninhabited townships.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-127 Inter-county townships.

Where a township is divided so that parts are situated in different counties, the county in which the sixteenth section or lands in lieu thereof may be situated shall have jurisdiction thereof and of the funds derived from it; and if the section or land in lieu thereof be in several counties, each county has jurisdiction of the part lying in it, or the counties may co-operate in the management thereof. In any case the fund shall be accounted for with each county according to the number of educable children in the part of the township in it as compared with the whole number in the township. Any county now having and hereafter receiving and collecting funds belonging to another county shall immediately thereafter pay over such funds, transfer and sign all notes, deeds of trust, and security for funds loaned out, to the depository of the county entitled thereto.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-129 Division of damages to land in two school districts.

Where sixteenth section or lieu land allotted the township in lieu of a sixteenth section shall lie in two (2) or more school districts and trespass shall have been committed on said sixteenth section or lieu land, and suit shall have been filed and money collected because of said trespass or for any cause, it shall be the duty of the board of education where the money shall have been collected and deposited to the credit of the said district, unless the decree or order of the court provides otherwise, to divide said money so collected so that each county shall receive its share in proportion to the area in said sixteenth section lying in or allotted to each county; and the money, when so paid over to the respective district or districts, shall be placed to the credit of said township fund, to be invested and the interest therefrom to be used as now provided by law. This method of division provided herein shall apply to moneys collected and paid into any district treasury.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-131 Expenses incurred.

The expenses incurred by the board of education for the performance of their duties under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid out of proper sixteenth section funds. The boards of education are also authorized to expend reasonable sums from the school land trust expendable funds, for school land management assistance when the needed assistance is not available from the Secretary of State or other public agencies within the state.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-132 Effect of chapter on power of other entities to make zoning and land use laws, ordinances or regulations.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to supersede or modify any power or authority of a county, municipality, or combination thereof, or any zoning or planning board or agency, or similar public authority, to adopt and enforce zoning or land use laws, ordinances or regulations.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-133 Construction of roads or streets upon lands in certain counties; authorization.

The board of supervisors of any county within the state having a population of more than two hundred thousand (200,000) according to the latest federal census, upon receipt of a resolution adopted by the county board of education of any such county requesting it so to do, is authorized and empowered to construct roads or streets upon any sixteenth section lands lying within the boundaries of any municipality in such county having a population of more than one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) according to the latest federal census.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-135 Construction of roads or streets upon lands in certain counties; payment of cost.

The cost of the construction of any roads or streets performed under the terms of Section 29-3-133 shall be paid upon the order of the board of supervisors of any such county by the county board of education of such county out of any funds which would otherwise be paid over to the school district entitled to the revenues from the sixteenth section land upon which any such construction is done.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-137 Disbursement of funds to Chickasaw counties; powers and duties of State Department of Education; issuance of promissory notes by school districts in Chickasaw counties to purchase school buses.

Beginning with the 1985-1986 fiscal year the Legislature of the State of Mississippi shall appropriate to the State Department of Education a sum of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) to be disbursed to the Chickasaw counties, and an additional One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) each succeeding fiscal year thereafter until a maximum appropriation of Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) is made for the fiscal year 1989-1990. Beginning with the appropriation for the 1990-1991 fiscal year, the amount appropriated under the provisions of this section shall not exceed the total average annual expendable revenue per teacher unit received by the Choctaw counties from school lands, or Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00), whichever is the lesser. The State Department of Education is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to allocate for distribution such funds appropriated each year under subsection (1) of this section in proportion to the number of teacher units allotted under the minimum program, to such school districts affected by the sale of Chickasaw cession school lands. School districts not wholly situated in Chickasaw cession affected territory shall receive a prorated amount of such allocation based on the percentage of such lands located within the district. Provided further, that the State Department of Education shall in addition deduct from each affected school district’s allocation the amount such district shall receive from interest payments from the Chickasaw School Fund under Section 212, Mississippi Constitution of 1890 for each fiscal year. The total number of teacher units in the Chickasaw counties shall be computed by the State Department of Education. The department shall document the foregoing computation in its annual budget request for the appropriation to the Chickasaw School Fund, and shall revise its budget request under such formula as the average annual revenues from sixteenth section school lands fluctuate. [Repealed]

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-139 Disbursement of funds under Section 29-3-137 as affecting sums paid under Section 212 of Mississippi Constitution.

In no event shall any sums to be paid to the Chickasaw counties on schools therein pursuant to Section 212, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, be reduced by operation of this to an amount below that required by Section 212. It is the intent of the Legislature to increase the annual appropriation to the Chickasaw counties in order to equitably compensate them for each acre of sixteenth section land which they have lost through sale by the state.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-141 County board of education to ascertain whether county has title to Chickasaw lands; lease of lands.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 29-1-63, it shall be the duty of the county board of education in any county within the Chickasaw cession to ascertain whether or not such county has title to any Chickasaw lands to which it may, by law, be entitled by virtue of long-term leases. If it is determined that any such land does exist, the board shall proceed to settle the title to such property and, if possible, lease the land pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 3, Title 29, Mississippi Code of 1972, applicable to the management of sixteenth section and lieu lands.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-151 Declaration of purpose.

The purpose of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 is to authorize the improvement, development, management and maintenance of sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, within any county in Mississippi with a population in excess of two hundred thousand (200,000) at the time of the 1970 census, in order that such lands may be made suitable for leasing for commercial, industrial, and/or recreational use, including the authority necessary to finance the improvement and development thereof and to manage, maintain and lease said lands in order to derive the maximum public benefit and to earn maximum income from the lands for the public schools receiving the income. No lease shall be for a term in excess of twenty-five (25) years.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-153 Definitions.

Whenever used in Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183, unless a different meaning clearly appears in the context, the following terms, whether used in the singular or plural, shall be given the following respective definitions: “Trustees” shall refer to the board of trustees of the sixteenth section development authority. “Authority” shall refer to the sixteenth section development authority. “Project” shall refer to the area served by and to the facilities for use by commerce and related activity, such as water supply, storage and distribution; sewage and waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal; waste and refuse collection and disposal; gas, fuel and power supply and distribution; railroad construction, operation and maintenance; fire prevention, protection and extinguishing; storm drainage, collection and disposal; site preparation and development of commercially oriented sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, and to the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, authorized to be developed by Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183. “Development” shall mean the planning, surveying, platting, financing, improving and/or otherwise making sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, suitable for commercial, industrial, and/or recreational use. “Sealed bid procedure” shall refer to the procedure designated under Section 31-19-25, as supplemented by appropriate sections of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-155 Creation of sixteenth section development authority; acquisition of easements; interim financing.

The board of supervisors of any county with a population of two hundred thousand (200,000) or more shall have the authority to create, by appropriate order spread on its minutes and approved by vote of at least three-fifths (3/5) of its members, a sixteenth section development authority for the purpose of developing all or any part of a sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, controlled by the board; provided, however, that said authority shall not be created by said board unless and until the county school board and, in the event the sixteenth section or lands granted in lieu thereof is located within a municipal separate school district, the trustees of the municipal separate school district submit to the board a resolution, properly adopted, requesting the creation of said authority and designating the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed and leased. The order shall designate the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed in whole or in part by the authority; provided, however, that the order shall designate only one sixteenth section, or one section of land granted in lieu thereof, to be developed in whole or in part by the authority. The board of supervisors of the county may acquire by condemnation any necessary easements for traffic thoroughfares or utility rights-of-way upon specific recommendation and request by the trustees, but for no other purpose shall the right of condemnation be allowed. Any condemnation award shall be paid from the funds of the authority. The county school board and, in the event the sixteenth section or lands granted in lieu thereof is located within a municipal separate school district, the trustees of the municipal separate school district are specifically authorized to lend to the authority such funds for interim financing of development as may be available to the said board and trustees and deemed desirable. In the event that any such loan is made by the county school board and the trustees of the municipal separate school district, the participation of each in such loan shall be determined by the percentage of revenue from the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed by the authority which each received in the most prior year of receipt.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-157 Selection of trustees of authority; vacancies; qualifications; compensation.

All powers of the authority shall be exercised by a board of trustees to be selected and composed as follows: There shall be five (5) members of the board of trustees. One (1) member shall be appointed by the board of supervisors to serve one (1) year and four (4) members shall be appointed by the county board of education, one (1) of whom shall serve two (2) years, one (1) of whom shall serve three (3) years, one (1) of whom shall serve four (4) years, and one (1) of whom shall serve five (5) years after June 30, 1973; provided, however, that in the event any part of the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed by the authority is located within the corporate limits of any municipal separate school district, then the aforesaid two (2) members of the authority serving an initial term of three (3) and five (5) years shall be appointed by the trustees of the municipal separate school district. The terms of office of the respective members shall expire June 30 of each year, and after their initial term, each member shall be appointed to a term of five (5) years or until his successor has been appointed and has accepted. The superintendent of the Hinds County School Board shall be an ex officio member of the board and shall act as chairman thereof. The member of the authority serving the initial five-year term shall be the secretary of the board of trustees. In the event a vacancy occurs, the appointment or the unexpired term shall be made in the same manner as provided for the original appointment. Members of the board of trustees of the authority may succeed themselves upon reappointment by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the appointing authority. No member shall be appointed as a trustee who is not a qualified elector and bona fide resident of the county. Each member of the board of trustees shall take and subscribe to the general oath of office required by Section 268 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi before the chancery clerk of the county in which the authority is created that he will faithfully discharge the duties of the office, which oath shall be filed with the said clerk and by him preserved. Each trustee not being paid for the day of the meeting by a political subdivision of the state shall receive not more than Twenty-two dollars and Fifty Cents ($22.50) per diem while actually performing the business of the authority and Ten Cents (10¢) per mile for distance traveled while actually on the business of the authority. Provided, however, that the compensation herein authorized shall apply for not more than fourteen (14) days per member during any calendar year.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-159 General powers of authority.

The authority, through its trustees, is hereby empowered: To develop land or any interest in land or property under its jurisdiction. To acquire, construct, improve, reconstruct, cause to be constructed, extend, expand, maintain, use and operate all facilities of any kind necessary or convenient for the purpose for which the authority was created, including, but not limited to, drainageways, ditches, storm sewers, sanitary sewers, streets, sidewalks, water mains, fire protection systems, gas, power and light systems, trash, waste and garbage disposal facilities, and such other utilities and services as required in the furtherance of the purposes of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183. Provided, however, the right to acquire, construct, improve, reconstruct, cause to be constructed, extend, expand, maintain, use and operate all facilities or utilities of all kinds shall not apply in any case where an existing utility is furnishing a similar service, unless and until the public service commission has determined, after hearing, that the service being furnished by such existing utility is not reasonably adequate. To lease such property or interest in property and under such terms and conditions at such time as the benefit has been accomplished and/or the improvements completed; provided, however, that no property shall be leased for less than the fair rental value thereof as determined by a real estate board appraiser; provided further, that the authority may lease such property for recreational purposes to any of the governmental entities authorized by Section 29-3-173, under such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the trustees. To sue and be sued in its corporate name. To adopt, use and alter a corporate seal. To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its affairs. To make or cause to be made or to cooperate in making engineering surveys, feasibility studies and cost-benefit estimates relating to the providing of any services within the development. To apply for, and accept, government grants and loans, whether federal, state or local, when such are available; to borrow from other federal, state and municipal agencies and from private persons or groups, including corporations; and to expend or utilize such funds so obtained in the furtherance of the objectives of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183. To maintain, use and operate any and all property of any kind, real, personal or mixed, or any interest therein, within the boundaries of the development and necessary for the purposes of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183. To make contracts and to execute instruments necessary to the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges and functions conferred upon the authority by Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183. To employ planners, engineers, attorneys, fiscal advisors, appraisers and all other agents and employees necessary to the exercising of the powers, rights, privileges or functions conferred upon the authority by Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183, and to properly finance, construct, operate and maintain the project and the services it renders and to pay reasonable compensation for such services. The trustees shall have the right to employ a general manager who shall, at the discretion of the trustees, have the power to employ and discharge employees. To make such contracts in the issuance of bonds as may be necessary to insure the marketability thereof. To fix and collect charges and rates for any services, facilities or commodities furnished by it in connection with said project and to impose penalties for failure to pay such charges and rates when due. Subject to the provisions of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183, from time to time, to lease any property of any kind, real, personal or mixed, or any interest therein, within the project area or acquired outside the project area as authorized by said sections for the purpose of furthering the business of the authority.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-161 Issuance of bonds authorized.

The board of trustees of the authority is hereby authorized and empowered to issue bonds of the authority for the purpose of paying the costs of acquiring, owning, constructing, operating, repairing and maintaining the projects and works specified herein, including related facilities, and including all financing and financial advisory charges, interest during construction, engineering, legal, and other expenses incidental to and necessary for the foregoing, or for the carrying out of any power conferred by Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183. Said board of trustees is authorized and empowered to issue such bonds at such times and in such amounts as shall be provided for by resolution of the said board of trustees. Provided, however, the bonds herein authorized shall not be issued until the board shall have published notice of its intention to issue same; said notice to be published once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks in some newspaper in the county, but not less than twenty-one (21) days nor more than sixty (60) days intervening between the time of the first notice and the meeting at which said board proposes to issue such bonds. If, within the time of giving notice, not less than fifteen hundred (1500) of the qualified electors of the county shall file a written petition with the board of trustees of the authority protesting the issuance of the bonds, the board of supervisors shall call an election on the question of issuing the bonds. Such election shall be held and conducted by the election commissioners of the county as nearly as may be in conformity with the provisions of Sections 19-9-13 through 19-9-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, governing bond elections, in which election all qualified electors of the county may vote. All such bonds so issued by said authority shall be secured solely by pledge of the net revenues which may now or hereafter come to the authority and by pledge of the rental income from the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed by the authority which may now or hereafter come to the county school board and/or the trustees of the municipal separate school district. Such bonds shall not constitute general obligations of the State of Mississippi, or of the county creating the authority, and such bonds shall not be secured by a pledge of the full faith, credit and resources of said state or of said county. “Revenues” as used in Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 shall mean all charges, tolls, rates, gifts, grants, moneys, rentals and proceeds from the leasing for commercial and/or industrial use of the lands actually developed by the authority under said sections, and all other funds coming into the possession of the authority by virtue of the provisions of said sections, except the proceeds from the sale of the bonds issued hereunder. “Net revenues” as used in Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 shall mean the revenues after payment of costs and expenses of management and maintenance of the project and related facilities. “Rental income” shall mean all rentals, moneys or funds derived pursuant to Sections 29-3-27 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, from the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed by the authority, except such rentals, moneys, or funds derived from the leasing for commercial and/or industrial use of the lands actually developed by the authority.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-163 Payments on bonds when net revenues are insufficient.

In the event net revenues of the project are insufficient to pay fully the principal and interest on bonds when due, the authority is hereby specifically authorized to pay, and shall pay, all or the remainder of said principal and interest from rental income. The county school board and the trustees of the municipal separate school district are hereby specifically authorized to pay, and shall pay, to the authority, if necessary, such sums as are sufficient to pay all or the remainder of said principal and interest from rental income, and the part of such sum to be paid by the said county school board and the trustees of the municipal separate school district, respectively, to the authority for this purpose shall be determined by the percentage of revenue from the sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, to be developed by the authority which each received in the most prior year of receipt.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-165 Sale of bonds.

On all revenue bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 and hereafter sold, the trustees shall advertise them for sale on sealed bids for at least two (2) times in a newspaper within the county in which the bonds are to be sold, the first publication to be made at least ten (10) days preceding the date fixed for the reception of bids, such notice to give the time and place of sale. The procedure further demands that each bid shall be accompanied by a cashier’s check, certified check, or exchange payable to the authority, issued or certified by a bank located in the state in the amount of not less than two percent (2%) of the par value of the bonds offered for sale, as a guaranty that the bidder will carry out his contract and purchase the bonds if the bid is accepted. If the successful bidder fails to purchase the bonds pursuant to his bid and contract, the amount of such good faith check shall be retained by the authority and covered into the proper fund as liquidated damages for such failure.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-167 Issuance of bonds to defray expenses of authority.

The board of trustees, subject to the call for an election as outlined in Section 29-3-161, is authorized and empowered, in its discretion, for the purpose of providing funds to assist in defraying expenses of the authority created under Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183, to issue from time to time negotiable revenue bonds of the authority in such amount or amounts as its board of trustees shall deem necessary; provided, however, that not more than the aggregate amount of One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00) of said bonds shall be outstanding at any one (1) time.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-169 General terms and conditions as to bonds.

All such bonds provided for by Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 shall be securities within the meaning of Article 8 of the Mississippi Uniform Commercial Code, being Sections 75-8-101 et seq. They shall be lithographed or engraved and printed in two (2) or more colors to prevent counterfeiting. They shall be in denominations of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), and may be registered as issued. Each such bond shall specify on its face the purpose for which it was issued, the total amount authorized to be issued and the interest on the bond. Such bonds shall bear interest at such rate or rates as may be determined by the sale of such bonds, provided that the bonds of any issue shall not bear a greater overall maximum interest rate to maturity than that allowed in Section 75-17-103. They shall mature annually in such amounts and at such times as shall be provided by the resolution of the board of trustees. Provided, however, that no bonds shall have a longer maturity than twenty-five (25) years from date of issuance, and the first maturity date thereof shall be not more than five (5) years from the date of such bonds. The denomination, form and place or places of payment of such bonds shall be fixed in the resolution of the board of trustees of the authority. Such bonds shall be signed by the chairman and the secretary of the board of trustees, with the corporate seal affixed thereto, but the coupons may bear only the facsimile signatures of such chairman or secretary. No bond shall bear more than one (1) rate of interest; each bond shall bear interest from its date to its stated maturity date at the interest rate specified in the bid (all bonds of the same maturity shall bear the same rate of interest); all interest accruing on such bonds so issued shall be payable semiannually, or annually, except that the first interest coupon attached to any such bond may be for any period not exceeding one (1) year. No interest payment shall be evidenced by more than one (1) coupon and supplemental coupons will not be permitted; and no interest coupon shall vary more than twenty-five percent (25%) in interest rate from any other interest coupon in the same bond issue. Each interest rate specified in any bid must be in a multiple of one-eighth of one percent (1/8 of 1%) or one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%) and a zero rate of interest cannot be named. Notice of the sale of any such bonds shall be published at least two (2) times, with the first publication not less than fourteen (14) days prior to the date of sale, and shall be so published in one or more newspapers having a general circulation in the area in which the development is located and in one or more other newspapers or financial journals with a large circulation. One (1) proof of publication shall be filed in the minutes of the board of trustees. Such bonds may be called in, paid and redeemed as authorized in the resolution authorizing the issue on any interest date prior to maturity upon not less than thirty (30) days’ notice to the paying agent or agents designated in such bonds. Provided, however, that in no case shall any premiums exceed seven percent (7%) of the face value of such bonds. All bonds issued by the authority shall contain in substance a statement to the effect that they are secured solely by a pledge of the net revenues and by pledge of rental income, and that they do not constitute general obligations of the State of Mississippi or of the county in which the development is located, and are not secured by a pledge of the full faith, credit and resources of said state or of such county. All such bonds as provided for herein shall be sold under the sealed bid procedure at public sale as now provided in Section 31-19-25, Mississippi Code of 1972. No such sale shall be at a price so low as to require the payment of interest on the money received therefor at more than a greater overall maximum interest rate to maturity than that allowed in Section 75-17-103. Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 shall be full and complete authority for the issuance of the bonds provided for herein, and no restriction or limitation otherwise prescribed by law shall apply except as included in statutes governing and controlling issuance of all municipal bonds. Provided, however, the board of trustees shall have the authority to enter into cooperative agreements with the state or federal government, or both, and to execute and deliver at private sale notes or bonds as evidence of such indebtedness in the form and subject to the terms and conditions as may be imposed by the state or federal government, or both, and to pledge the income and revenues of the authority in payment thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, bonds referred to hereinabove may be issued pursuant to the supplemental powers and authorizations conferred by the provisions of the Registered Bond Act, being Sections 31-21-1 through 31-21-7.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-171 Validation of bonds.

All bonds issued pursuant to Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 shall be validated as now provided in Sections 31-13-1 through 31-13-11, inclusive, Mississippi Code of 1972.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-173 Cooperation with other governmental agencies.

The authority shall have authority to act jointly with political subdivisions of the state and agencies, commissions and instrumentalities thereof, with municipalities, and with the federal government and other agencies thereof, in the performance of the purposes and services authorized in Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 upon such terms as may be agreed upon by the trustees.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-174 Immunity from tort actions except for wilful or gross negligence.

Except for willful or gross negligence, no action or suit sounding in tort arising out of the lease or use of the land for recreational purposes shall be brought or maintained against the authority or the trustees on account of any act or omission done in performance of the purposes and services authorized in Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-175 Exemptions from state taxation.

The accomplishment of the purposes stated in Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 being for the benefit of the people of the county and for the improvement of their properties, the authority, in carrying out the purposes of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183, will be performing an essential public function and shall not be required to pay any tax or assessment on the project and related facilities or any part thereof except as provided herein, and the interest on the bonds issued hereunder shall at all times be free from taxation within this state; and the state hereby covenants with the holders of any bonds to be issued hereunder that the authority shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments imposed by the state or any of its political subdivisions or taxing districts on improvements funded from the avails of the issue except assessments for municipal utilities benefiting the property.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-177 Bonds as legal investments and as security for deposits of public funds.

All bonds of the authority shall be and are hereby declared to be legal and authorized investments for public funds of counties, cities, towns, school districts, banks, savings banks, trust companies, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, and insurance companies, and for funds of the Mississippi Public Employees’ Retirement System. Such bonds shall be eligible to secure the deposit of any and all public funds of cities, towns, villages, counties, school districts, or other political corporations or subdivisions of the State of Mississippi; and such bonds shall be lawful and sufficient security for said deposits to the extent of their value when accompanied by all unmatured coupons appurtenant thereto.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-179 Construction contracts.

All construction contracts by the authority where the amount of the contract shall exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) shall be made upon at least three (3) weeks’ public notice by advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the area, which notice shall state the thing to be done and invite sealed proposals, to be filed with the secretary of the authority, to do the work; and in all such cases, before the notice shall be published, the plans and specifications for the work shall be filed with the secretary of the authority and there remain; and the board of trustees of the authority shall award the contract to the lowest bidder who will comply with the terms imposed by such trustees and enter into bond with sufficient sureties to be approved by the trustees in such penalty as shall be fixed by the trustees, but in no case to be less than the contract price, conditioned for the prompt, proper and efficient performance of the contract.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-181 Deposit of authority’s funds.

All funds of the authority shall be deposited in the bank or banks utilized as depositories for other sixteenth section funds.

Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-183 Bond proceeds may be utilized to pay preliminary expenses.

The authority is hereby authorized to pay from the proceeds of any bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 29-3-151 through 29-3-183 the preliminary expenses, including engineers’ reports, attorneys’ fees, and organization or administration expenses and any expenses incurred by the county in planning and creating the project and its development.