Any state lands offered for sale by the commissioner may be sold at the commissioner's discretion for cash or upon payment of not less than one-tenth of the purchase price in cash and payment of the balance in amortized installments for any period up to thirty years with interest on the principal balance at a rate to be set by the commissioner in the notice of auction pertaining to the particular sale in advance. Additional payments on the principal may be made at any time, but such payments shall not be effective for credit until the date the next installment is due. The purchase contract shall be upon a form prescribed by the commissioner prior to publication of the notice of auction and shall contain the terms and conditions the commissioner may deem to be in the best interest of the state and consistent with law. Should a purchaser die before completing the contract, the due date of the next installment payment shall, upon written application, be deferred by the commissioner for one year. In addition, the commissioner is authorized to convey for any period of time state lands under the commissioner's jurisdiction having value for commercial development or public use purposes, provided that:

A. all of the requirements for the disposition of lands set forth in the constitution of New Mexico and the New Mexico Enabling Act are complied with, including but not limited to those pertaining to appraisal at true value, advertising and public auction;

B. the term and nature of the estate to be conveyed is set forth in the public notice of auction pertaining to the particular conveyance; and

C. if the conveyance is a business lease for real estate planning or development purposes, then, notwithstanding the term of the lease, it shall only be issued after notice and competitive bid.

History: 1953 Comp., § 7-8-9, enacted by Laws 1971, ch. 93, § 1; 1981, ch. 278, § 1; 1989, ch. 179, § 1; 2009, ch. 219, § 1.

Cross references. — For issuance of limited patent with reservation of minerals on lands sold on deferred payment plan with reservation of minerals or classified as mineral lands prior to full payment or issuance of patent, see 19-10-27 NMSA 1978.

For the Enabling Act, see the New Mexico Territorial Laws and Treaties on NMOneSource.com..

For obligation of lessee or purchaser to destroy rodent pests, see 77-15-4 NMSA 1978.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 171, § 1, effective April 2, 2019, provided:

A. The legislature finds that:

(1) the transfer of land and buildings of the Mesilla Valley Bosque state park by the commissioner of public lands by quitclaim deed to the state game commission in June 2018 was without required legislative approval;

(2) the land and buildings of the Mesilla Valley Bosque state park are not in excess of the reasonable needs of the state parks division of the energy, minerals and natural resources department for use as a state park; and

(3) the provisions of Section 13-6-3 and 17-4-3 NMSA 1978 shall not apply to the transfer of property required by Subsection B of this section.

B. The state game commission shall return to the energy, minerals and natural resources department by quitclaim deed for use by the state parks division of the department as a state park all land, buildings and interests in the following thirteen and thirty-nine hundredths acres, more or less, situated in Dona Ana county, New Mexico, and described as follows:

A tract of land situated within the Mesilla Civil Colony Grant in Sections 2 & 3, T.24S., R.1E., and Section 34, T.23S., R.1E., N.M.P.M. of the U.S.R.S. Surveys being U.S.R.S. Tracts Map 12-12, 12-13, 12-14, 12-15, 12-16A, 12-16C, 12-16D, 12-16E & 12-34, and being more particularly described as follows, to wit:

Beginning at a 1/2" iron rod set on the East line of the Picacho Drain for a corner of the tract herein described; whence meander corner No. 20 on the Mesilla Civil Colony Grant bears N.46 deg. 43'29"W., 4155.14 feet;

Thence from the point of beginning and leaving said Picacho Drain, N.58 deg.30'00"E., 597.65 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set for a corner of this tract;

Thence S.31.deg. 30'00"E., 424.07 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set on the West line of a 60 foot wide road for a corner of this tract and point of curvature;

Thence along the West line of said 60 foot wide road the following courses and distances, around the arc of a curve to the left, having a radius of 1055.81 feet, through a central angle of 42 deg. 21'00" and whose long cord bears N.20 deg. 00'18"E., 762.75 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set;

Thence N.01 deg. 08'54"W., 1184.93 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set a point of curvature;

Thence around the arc of a curve to the left, having a radius of 1819.90 feet, through a central angle of 41 deg. 03'48" and whose long cord bears N.21 deg. 39'44"W., 1276.57 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set;

Thence N.42 deg. 11'36"W., 1248.73 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set for a corner of this tract;

Thence N.19 deg. 05'52"W., 152.96 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set on the West line of the Rio Grande for the most Northerly corner of this tract;

Thence along the West line of the Rio Grande the following courses and distances, S.42 deg. 11'36"E., 1389.48 feet to an I.B.C. Pipe found and point of curvature;

Thence around the arc of a curve to the right, having a radius of 1879.90 feet, an arc length of 1347.26 feet, through a central angle of 41 deg. 03'43" and whose long chord bears S.21 deg. 39'42"E., 1318.61 feet to an I.B.C. Pipe found;

Thence S.01 deg. 08'54"E., 1184.91 feet to an I.B.C. Pipe found and point of curvature;

Thence around the arc of a curve to the right, having a radius of 1115.81 feet, an arc length 1237.36 feet, through a central angle of 63 deg. 32'14" and whose long chord bears S.30 deg. 35'57"W., 1174.93 feet to an I.B.C. Pipe found;

Thence S.62 deg. 21'12"W., 161.86 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set at the Southwest intersection of the Rio Grande and Picacho Drain for Southwest corner of this tract;

Thence along East line of the Picacho Drain the following courses and distances, N.41 deg. 30'00"W., 161.24 feet to a 1/2" iron rod found and point of curvature;

Thence around the arc of a curve to the right, having a radius of 1095.90 feet, an arc length of 202.02 feet, through a central angle of 10 deg. 33'44" and whose long chord bears N.36 deg. 46'52"W., 201.74 feet to a 1/2" iron rod set;

Thence N.31 deg. 30'00"W., 158.85 feet to the point of beginning, containing 13.392 acres of land, more or less.

C. The real property transferred pursuant to Subsection B of this section shall be used to reestablish Mesilla Valley Bosque state park as that park existed prior to the transfer of the property by quitclaim deed of the commissioner of public lands on June 18, 2018.

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, added Subsection C.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, in the first sentence substituted "commissioner may" for "commissioner of public lands shall", inserted "not less than", and substituted "amortize installments for any period up to thirty years" for "thirty equal annual installments"; in the next-to-last sentence deleted "annual" preceding "installment"; and in the last sentence deleted "of public lands" following "commissioner" and "in excess of five years" following "time".

Rock was a reserved mineral. — Where in 1919, the state land office classified all land owned by the state as mineral land and required the state to reserve all minerals when selling state lands; in 1930, the original purchaser, plaintiff's predecessors in title, applied to purchase state land for grazing purposes; the purchaser and the appraiser stated that the land was non-mineral grazing land; in the sales contract, the purchaser agreed that the land was being purchased for purposes of grazing and agriculture, and that if minerals were discovered on the land, minerals would be reserved to the state; the patent for the land reserved to the state "all minerals of whatsoever kind"; and rock on the land had commercial value for use as railroad ballast and other construction aggregates, substantial evidence supported the finding that the intent of the parties to the original sale of the state land was that rock on the land constituted a mineral reserved to the state under the reservation of "all minerals of whatsoever kind". Prather v. Lyons, 2011-NMCA-108, 267 P.3d 78, cert. granted, 2011-NMCERT-010.

Taxation. — Under former 72-1-3, 1953 Comp., deferred payment purchasers' legal and equitable interests in state lands were taxable at full cash value, and the state could enforce collection of the tax against said interests. Board of Equalization v. Heights Real Estate Co., 1964-NMSC-059, 74 N.M. 101, 391 P.2d 328.

Issuance of patent prior to completion of payment. — No specific authority is given the commissioner to issue a patent to a portion of a tract of land sold under contract when only that part covered by the patent has been paid for and the balance due under said contract has not been paid at the time the patent is issued. Zinn v. Hampson, 1956-NMSC-088, 61 N.M. 407, 301 P.2d 518.

Sale of school lands. — Under N.M. Const., art. XIII, § 2, and former C.S. 1929, § 132-162, the state land commissioner could alienate public lands held in trust for the public schools within the limits and under the terms of the Enabling Act. Application of Dasburg, 1941-NMSC-024, 45 N.M. 184, 113 P.2d 569.

Exchange of state trust lands. — The commissioner of public lands may exchange state trust lands for other public or private lands of equal or greater value provided that the exchange transaction is in substantial conformity with the requirements of the Enabling Act. 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 91-15.

The commissioner may not exchange state trust lands for lands of equal value whether held in private ownership or by other state agencies, local governing bodies, trust land beneficiary institutions and federal agencies, other than the Department of the Interior. 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 88-35, overruled by 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 91-10.

Partial assignment. — Under this section a partial assignment of land under contract can be made, but any assignment, whether it be to the whole or to a portion of the land, is subject to final payment of the whole; if an assignment is made to a part, the commissioner, before issuing a patent to that portion, must await full and final payment of all of the contract. 1955 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 55-6130.

Extensions under former law. — Under former 7-8-13, 1953 Comp., which provided for extensions of purchase contracts, the commissioner could extend present form of purchase contracts up to 30 years or the term of the original contract when doing so appeared in the interest of the state and of the purchaser. 1944 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 43-4282.

Lease by purchaser. — Purchaser of state lands under this plan is not authorized to lease the lands. 1919 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 19-2191.

Terms of sale. — The terms of sale of state lands must conform to this section, and no further sales can be made under the terms formerly in force. The holder of a contract under the old statute may surrender the same and take advantage of the new terms. 1917 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 17-1972.

Law reviews. — For annual survey of New Mexico law relating to property, see 12 N.M.L. Rev. 459 (1982).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 73A C.J.S. Public Lands § 184.