(a) It shall be the duty of the Attorney General, and any assistant attorney appointed by the Governor on a contingency fee not to exceed twenty-five percent (25%), to institute suit in the name of the state to recover any forgotten, lost, or other outstanding public interest or property or to quiet title to any lands, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, whether known or hereafter discovered, to which the state, either in law or equity, may have or claim title, and which for any reason may not appear on the records of the Commissioner of State Lands.

(b) It shall also be the duty of the Attorney General and any assistant attorney to investigate the records of the Commissioner of State Lands for the purpose of determining whether title has been obtained to any of the state's lands by any illegal or fraudulent methods. If it shall appear that title is held by any person, company, or corporation to any lands through or by any conveyance from the state obtained by fraudulent or false acts or means, statements, or oaths, the Attorney General and assistant attorneys shall institute suit in the proper court to cancel the conveyance and recover those lands.

(c) It shall be the duty of the Attorney General and his or her assistants to make a detailed list and description of any such lands and file the list with the Commissioner of State Lands after the lands shall have been adjudicated as the property of the state.

(d) If suit is brought to recover or quiet title in equity, an order may be obtained for the sale of the land as in the case of sales of lands upon decree in equity, and, after paying expenses, the balance of the purchase money shall be deposited into the State Treasury.

(e) This section shall not apply to persons who hold title to lands at the time of any alleged forfeiture for taxes or to their grantees, where the taxes have been continuously paid since the alleged forfeitures.