The following terms, when used in this subchapter, mean the following unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1) "Applicant" means any person, including a good-faith claimant, who files a vacancy application. (2) "Application commencement date" means the date determined by the commissioner following the agency's determination that the application is administratively complete, which generally will be not later than thirty days following the date of the letter determining that the application is administratively complete. (3) "Agency" means the General Land Office. (4) "Board" means the School Land Board. (5) "Chief surveyor" means the chief surveyor of the General Land Office. (6) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the General Land Office. (7) "Cost deposit" means an advance payment required to be made by the applicant to cover the anticipated costs of a vacancy proceeding. (8) "Eligible surveyor" means a duly elected county surveyor in a county that has an elected county surveyor or a licensed state land surveyor as defined in §1071.002(5) of the Texas Occupations Code. (9) "Exception" means an objection or protest. (10) "Exceptor" means the necessary party filing an exception to a survey or vacancy application. (11) "Good-faith claimant" means a person who, on the application commencement date: (A) occupies or uses or has previously occupied or used, or whose predecessors in interest in the land alleged to be vacant have occupied or used, the land or any interest in the land for any purposes, including occupying or using: (i) the surface or mineral estate for any purposes, including exploring for or removing oil, gas, sulphur, or other minerals and geothermal resources from the land; (ii) an easement or right-of-way; or (iii) a mineral royalty or leasehold interest; (B) has had, or whose predecessors in interest have had, the land alleged to be vacant enclosed or within definite boundaries recognized in the community and in possession under a chain of title for a period of at least ten (10) years with a good-faith belief that the land was included within the boundaries of a survey or surveys that were previously titled, awarded, or sold under circumstances that would have vested title in the land if the land were actually located within the boundaries of the survey or surveys; (C) is the owner of land: (i) that adjoins the land alleged to be vacant; and (ii) for which no vacancy application has been previously filed; or (D) holds title under a person described by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph or is entitled to a distributive share of a title acquired under an application filed by a person described by subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of this paragraph. (12) "Interest" means any right or title in or to real property, including a surface, subsurface, or mineral estate. (13) "Lease vacant land" means to obtain a mineral lease for the mineral estate appurtenant to the vacancy or any portion thereof. (14) "Mineral estate" means an estate in or ownership of all or part of the minerals underlying a specified tract of land, and a right of entry and use to obtain the minerals. (15) "Necessary party" means: (A) an applicant or good-faith claimant whose present legal interest in the surface or mineral estate of the land alleged to be vacant may be adversely affected by a vacancy determination; (B) a person who asserts a right to or who claims an interest in land alleged to be vacant; (C) a person who asserts a right to or who claims an interest in land adjoining land alleged to be vacant as shown in the records of the agency or the county records, including tax records, of any county in which all or part of the land alleged to be vacant is located; (D) a person whose name appears in the records described by subparagraph (C) of this paragraph; (E) an attorney ad litem appointed under §13.41 of this title (relating to Processing Vacancy: Attorney Ad Litem); or (F) only for purposes of notifications required to be sent to necessary parties under this subchapter, any surveyor involved in the vacancy application and any party who has notified the agency in writing that he or she is representing the interests of a necessary party. (16) "Permanent interest" means an interest established under any existing instrument or document that is not limited to a finite time period. (17) "Permanent School Fund land" means lands dedicated to fund public schools by Article VII, Sections 5(a) and (c) of the Texas Constitution. (18) "Surface estate" means an estate in or ownership of the surface of a particular tract of land. (19) "Survey report" means a written report of a survey conducted by a licensed state land surveyor or a county surveyor of the county in which a majority of the land alleged to be vacant is located. (20) "Unsurveyed" means land that was never surveyed out of the sovereign lands of the state and, for purposes of this subchapter, such land remains unsurveyed until the vacancy process has concluded, and the land is recorded in the records of the General Land Office as Permanent School Fund land. (21) "Vacancy" means an area of unsurveyed public school land that: (A) is not in conflict on the ground with land previously titled, awarded, or sold; (B) has not been listed on the records of the land office as public school land; and (C) was not, on the application commencement date: (i) subject to an earlier subsisting application; (ii) subject to a vacancy application denied with prejudice; (iii) the subject of pending litigation relating to state ownership or possession of the land; or (iv) subject to a previous vacancy application that has been finally adjudicated by the commissioner or a court of this state or the United States. (22) "Vacancy application" means a form submitted to the commissioner by an applicant to: (A) initiate a determination by the commissioner whether land alleged to be vacant is vacant; and (B) acquire an interest in vacant land under the provisions of this subchapter and Subchapter E of Chapter 51 of the Texas Natural Resources Code and under the terms and conditions set by the SLB. (23) "Vacant land" means the surface, subsurface or mineral estate, or any combination of the surface, subsurface and mineral estates, of land determined to be a vacancy, or any portion thereof. |
