Sale and Improvement of State Lands

C.R.S. tit. 36, art. 5

in effect

C.R.S. § 36-5-101 Sale of state lands - servicemen

36-5-101. Sale of state lands - servicemen. The state lands, including school lands, excepting only such as may be subject to leases restricting the sale thereof and then only excepting during the duration of such restrictions, shall be sold at public sale in the manner provided by law for the sale of state lands, except as provided in this article, upon the application for the sale thereof executed in accordance with the terms of this article by any permanent resident of the state who intends to settle upon or improve the same, and who was regularly inducted, enlisted, or commissioned in the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps and who served therein for a period of more than one month between April 1, 1898, and July 4, 1902, or between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, and was honorably discharged, and who is now, or may at any time, prior to the filing of said application, become a citizen of the United States, and who complies with the provisions of this article.

C.R.S. § 36-5-102 Sale - price per acre

36-5-102. Sale - price per acre. All of the lands shall be sold at public sale at not less than three dollars and fifty cents per acre, to the highest and best bidder, and all general laws of this state and rules of the state board of land commissioners applicable to the sale and disposition of state lands not in conflict with the provisions of this article shall apply to and govern in all respects all sales and proceedings held under this article.

C.R.S. § 36-5-103 Applicants - qualifications - value

36-5-103. Applicants - qualifications - value. In addition to the matters contained in other applications for the sales of state lands, applications under this article shall contain and be accompanied by proof, satisfactory to the state board of land commissioners and conclusive beyond reasonable doubt, of the applicant's qualifications and the affidavit of the applicant that such application is made in good faith for the purpose of acquiring the land for himself only and for the purpose of settling upon or improving the same. No person shall be entitled or allowed to make more than one application under this article, and no application shall include more land than the applicant shall estimate to be worth seven thousand five hundred dollars. The lands purchased under this article need not be contiguous if the state board of land commissioners approves a sale of noncontiguous lands.

C.R.S. § 36-5-104 Appraisal

36-5-104. Appraisal. The land included in said application shall be appraised at its true value and no more. If said land is appraised at more than seven thousand five hundred dollars, enough land, by legal subdivisions or such fractions thereof as the state board of land commissioners shall approve, shall be excluded by the applicant to bring the value of the remainder below seven thousand five hundred dollars.

C.R.S. § 36-5-105 Amount of bid

36-5-105. Amount of bid. No land shall be sold upon an application filed under this article unless the applicant shall bid therefor an amount at least equal to the appraised value thereof. Applicants and all other persons purchasing at said sale may bid therefor in any amount in excess of said appraised value.

C.R.S. § 36-5-106 Payments - interest - expense

36-5-106. Payments - interest - expense. Payment for the lands shall in all cases be made as provided for by law; but, if the person upon whose application said lands are offered for sale is the successful bidder, then, and not otherwise, the following terms for payment shall apply: The sum bid, or any part thereof, shall not be due until twenty years from the date of said sale, when it shall be paid in full. All or any portion of the sum bid may be payable at any semiannual period. All sums bid shall bear interest at six percent per annum until paid. The interest shall be due and payable annually. Payment of the first three payments of said interest shall be deferrable at the option of such purchasing applicant until the end of the third year. The state board of land commissioners has the power, but shall be under no obligation, to grant other extensions of time for the payment of interest, and all such overdue interest shall draw interest at six percent until paid. The expenses of such sale shall in all cases be paid by the applicant.

C.R.S. § 36-5-107 Alienation of rights - restrictions

36-5-107. Alienation of rights - restrictions. Until a patent for the land issues, the certificate of purchase issued at such sale and the interest acquired by any purchaser of the lands thereunder shall not be subject to transfer or alienation, lien, or mortgage, voluntary or involuntary, but the interest acquired shall descend to the heirs of the purchasers as in other cases. After the patent issues, the ownership and power of disposition of said lands shall be absolute. No patent shall issue prior to five years after the date of such sale, nor until said land is fully paid for.

C.R.S. § 36-5-108 Certificate of purchase - cancellation

36-5-108. Certificate of purchase - cancellation. The state board of land commissioners may cancel any certificate of purchase issued under this article because of a false or fraudulent application; a voluntary alienation, transfer, mortgage, or placing of a lien upon said land or the certificate of purchase; or for failure to settle upon or improve said land within a period of two years from the date of sale; or for failure to make payments of principal or interest as the same become due. Action shall be taken only after reasonable notice to the person named in said certificate, which action is subject to review by the district court of the county where such lands are situate, said proceeding for review to begin within sixty days from the date of the order of revocation.

C.R.S. § 36-5-109 Board to make available list of lands

36-5-109. Board to make available list of lands. The state board of land commissioners shall publish, subject to the approval and control of the executive director of the department of natural resources, a list of all lands in this state open to sale under this article, together with any available description matter or information regarding the same, and such information regarding the laws governing sales under this article as it and the executive director of the department of natural resources may deem advisable.

C.R.S. § 36-5-110 Provision for prior purchasers

36-5-110. Provision for prior purchasers. Any person possessing the qualifications of an applicant as defined in section 36-5-101, who on or before April 7, 1921, purchased any state lands and who has not completed payment for the same, may, if he elects, file a declaration of acceptance of the provisions of this article and proof of his qualifications and shall thereafter be considered and dealt with as an applicant under this article and shall be subject to all the limitations and receive the benefit provided for in this article.

C.R.S. § 36-5-111 Person not applicant may bid - when

36-5-111. Person not applicant may bid - when. Any person possessing the qualifications of an applicant, as defined in section 36-5-101, may bid at the sale of any state lands held pursuant to any law governing the sale thereof. If at the time of the sale the applicant pays all the costs thereof and deposits with the state board of land commissioners the additional sum of fifty dollars and declares in writing that he is so qualified and intends to purchase the lands in accordance with the terms of this article, he shall, if he is a successful bidder at said sale, be granted thirty days within which to furnish proof of his qualifications to purchase. If he, within thirty days, furnishes the proof of his qualifications in accordance with the provisions of this article, he shall be deemed to have purchased the land upon an application under the provisions of this article and shall be subject to all the benefits and limitations of an applicant under this article, and a certificate of purchase shall then issue to him. In such case he may also purchase, upon an application under this article, lands additional to those purchased at such sale sufficient to make the total value of land purchased by him, in accordance with the provisions of this article, seven thousand five hundred dollars. If proof of said bidder's qualifications is furnished as provided in this section, said sum of fifty dollars shall be applied upon the purchase price of the lands. If proof of the bidder's qualifications is not furnished within thirty days, there shall be a resale of the lands upon the signed application, and said deposit of fifty dollars shall be paid by the state board of land commissioners to the person who was the next to the highest bidder at such sale.

C.R.S. § 36-5-112 Terms of sale

36-5-112. Terms of sale. On all sales of state lands, the terms of payment shall be as follows: Not less than twenty-five percent of the purchase price shall be paid in cash at the time of the sale, and the balance shall be made payable upon an amortization plan based on interest at not less than four percent per annum and providing for the payment of semiannual installments sufficient in amount to extinguish such balance at the end of thirty-three years from date of sale; but, in cases where the total improvements on the land sold are in excess of forty percent of the total value of the land, the state board of land commissioners may, in its discretion, reduce the amount which shall be paid in cash at the time of the sale to ten percent of the purchase price. The purchaser shall have the privilege, on any installment date, of paying on his original obligation, in addition to the installment then due, the sum necessary to reduce the original obligation by one hundred dollars or any multiple thereof, but in such event, except when any such additional payment is sufficient to discharge the purchaser's entire debt, the balance remaining due from the purchaser shall remain amortized for the remainder of said thirty-three-year period on the same interest basis, with adjusted semiannual installments. Any certificates of purchase outstanding on lands sold on or before May 2, 1929, may, when the state board of land commissioners deems it advisable, and upon application of the holder thereof, be converted to certificates of purchase on the amortization plan. The board shall have the right to charge such fees under this article as it may deem reasonable.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-36.docxFetched: 10/6/2026