36-7-403. Application for entry; certificate of location; payments.

Any adult citizen of the United States or any adult person having declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, may make application, under oath, to the board, to enter any of said land in an amount not to exceed one hundred and sixty (160) acres for any one (1) person; and such application shall set forth that the person desiring to make such entry does so for the purpose of actual reclamation, cultivation and settlement in accordance with the act of congress and the laws of this state relating thereto, and that the applicant has never received the benefit of the provisions of this act to an amount greater than one hundred and sixty (160) acres, including the number of acres specified in the application under consideration. Such application must be accompanied by an original signed copy or a certified copy of a contract for a water right, made and entered into by the party making the application with the person, company or association who have been authorized by the board to furnish water for the reclamation of said lands, or, if the person, company or association who has been authorized by the board to furnish water for the reclamation of said lands is not the owner of the water right attached and appurtenant to the land upon which the applicant seeks to file, then, with the bona fide owner of said water right; such application for entry shall be made within thirty (30) days from the time the applicant shall have contracted with the owners of the water right attached and appurtenant to the land for the purchase of a proportionate interest in said water right, and it shall be the duty of the owners of the water rights to notify the director whenever they have contracted with applicants for the purchase of proportionate interests in said water rights; and if said applicant has at any previous time entered lands under the provisions of this article, he shall so state in his application, together with description, date of entry and location of said land. The board shall thereupon file in its office the application and papers relating thereto, and, if allowed, issue a certificate of location to the applicant. All applications for entry shall be accompanied by a payment of twenty-five cents ($.25) per acre, which shall be paid as a partial payment on the land if the application is allowed; and all certificates when issued shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose. If the application is not allowed, the twenty-five cents ($.25) per acre accompanying it shall be returned to the applicant; provided, that where the construction company fails to furnish water to any settler under the provisions of its contract with the state, the state shall refund to such settler, all payments that he shall have made to the state. The board shall dispose of all lands accepted by the state under the provisions of this article at a uniform price of fifty cents ($.50) per acre, half to be paid at the time of entry and the remainder at the time of making final proof by the settler; and, provided, further, that whenever any citizen of the United States, or any person having declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, shall make application as provided in this section to enter any of said land in an amount not exceeding one hundred and sixty (160) acres, and shall further prove to the satisfaction of the board that he or she is the father or mother of eight (8) living children, it shall be the duty of the board to permit the application for entry by him or her without charge and to issue a certificate of location to such applicant without charge, and to dispose of such lands to said applicant upon final proof being made.