USC Subchapter I

in effect

7 U.S.C. § 301 Land grant aid of colleges

There is granted to the several States, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned in this subchapter, an amount of public land, to be apportioned to each State a quantity equal to thirty thousand acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress to which the States are respectively entitled by the apportionment under the census of 1860: Provided, That no mineral lands shall be selected or purchased under the provisions of said sections.

7 U.S.C. § 302 Method of apportionment and selection; issuance of land scrip

The land aforesaid, after being surveyed, shall be apportioned to the several States in sections or subdivisions of sections, not less than one-quarter of a section; and whenever there are public lands in a State subject to sale at private entry at $1.25 per acre, the quantity to which said State shall be entitled shall be selected from such lands within the limits of such State, and the Secretary of the Interior is directed to issue to each of the States in which there is not the quantity of public lands subject to sale at private entry at $1.25 per acre, to which said State may be entitled under the provisions of this subchapter, land scrip to the amount in acres for the deficiency of its distributive share; said scrip to be sold by said States and the proceeds thereof applied to the uses and purposes prescribed in said sections, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever: Provided, That in no case shall any State to which land scrip may thus be issued be allowed to locate the same within the limits of any other State, or of any Territory of the United States, but their assignees may thus locate said land scrip upon any of the unappropriated lands of the United States subject to sale at private entry at $1.25, or less, per acre: And provided further, That not more than one million acres shall be located by such assignees in any one of the States: And provided further, That no such location shall be made before July 2, 1863.

7 U.S.C. § 303 Management expenses paid by State

All the expenses of management, superintendence, and taxes from date of selection of said lands, previous to their sales, and all expenses incurred in the management and disbursement of the moneys which may be received therefrom, shall be paid by the States to which they may belong, out of the treasury of said States, so that the entire proceeds of the sale of said lands shall be applied without any diminution whatever to the purposes in sections 304, 305, 307 and 308 of this title mentioned.

7 U.S.C. § 304 Investment of proceeds of sale of land or scrip

All moneys derived from the sale of lands as provided in section 302 of this title by the States to which lands are apportioned and from the sales of land scrip provided for in said section shall be invested in bonds of the United States or of the States or some other safe bonds; or the same may be invested by the States having no State bonds, in any manner after the legislatures of such States shall have assented thereto and engaged that such funds shall yield a fair and reasonable rate of return, to be fixed by the State legislatures, and that the principal thereof shall forever remain unimpaired: Provided, That the moneys so invested or loaned shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain forever undiminished (except so far as may be provided in section 305 of this title), and the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated, by each State which may take and claim the benefit of this subchapter, to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.

7 U.S.C. § 305 Conditions of grant

The grant of land and land scrip hereby authorized shall be made on the following conditions, to which, as well as to the provisions contained in said sections, the previous assent of the several States shall be signified by legislative acts: First. If any portion of the fund invested, as provided by section 304 of this title, or any portion of the interest thereon, shall, by any action or contingency, be diminished or lost, it shall be replaced by the State to which it belongs, so that the capital of the fund shall remain forever undiminished; and the annual interest shall be regularly applied without diminution to the purposes mentioned in section 304 of this title, except that a sum, not exceeding 10 per centum upon the amount received by any State under the provisions of this subchapter, may be expended for the purchase of lands for sites or experimental farms, whenever authorized by the respective legislatures of said States. Second. No portion of said fund, nor the interest thereon, shall be applied, directly or indirectly, under any pretense whatever, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building or buildings. Third. Any State which may take and claim the benefit of the provisions of this subchapter shall provide, within five years from the time of its acceptance as provided in subdivision seven of this section, at least not less than one college, as described in section 304 of this title, or the grant to such State shall cease; and said State shall be bound to pay the United States the amount received of any lands previously sold, and the title to purchasers under the State shall be valid. Fourth. An annual report shall be made regarding the progress of each college, recording any improvements and experiments made, with their cost and results, and such other matters, including State industrial and economical statistics, as may be supposed useful; one copy of which shall be transmitted by mail, by each, to all the other colleges which may be endowed under the provisions of this subchapter, and also one copy to the Secretary of the Interior. Fifth. When lands shall be selected from those which have been raised to double the minimum price, in consequence of railroad grants, they shall be computed to the States at the maximum price, and the number of acres proportionally diminished. Sixth. No State while in a condition of rebellion or insurrection against the Government of the United States shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of this subchapter. Seventh. No State shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of this subchapter unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its legislature within three years from July 23, 1866: Provided, That when any Territory shall become a State and be admitted into the Union, such new State shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of said sections, by expressing the acceptance therein required within three years from the date of its admission into the Union, and providing the college or colleges within five years after such acceptance, as heretofore prescribed in this chapter.

7 U.S.C. § 307 Fees for locating land scrip

The land officers shall receive the same fees for locating land scrip issued under the provisions of this subchapter as was on July 2, 1862, allowed for the location of military bounty land warrants under laws existing at that time: Provided, That their maximum compensation shall not be thereby increased.

7 U.S.C. § 308 Reports by State governors of sale of scrip

The governors of the several States to which scrip shall be issued under the provisions of this subchapter shall be required to report annually to Congress all sales made of such scrip until the whole shall be disposed of, the amount received for the same, and what appropriation has been made of the proceeds.

7 U.S.C. § 309 Land grants in the State of North Dakota

(a) ExpensesNotwithstanding section 303 of this title, the State of North Dakota shall manage the land granted to the State under section 301 of this title, including any proceeds from the land, in accordance with this section. (b) Disposition of proceedsNotwithstanding section 304 of this title, the State of North Dakota shall, with respect to any trust fund in which proceeds from the sale of land under this subchapter are deposited (referred to in this section as the “trust fund”)—(1) deposit all revenues earned by a trust fund into the trust fund; (2) deduct the costs of administering a trust fund from each trust fund; and (3) manage each trust fund to—(A) preserve the purchasing power of the trust fund; and (B) maintain stable distributions to trust fund beneficiaries. (c) DistributionsNotwithstanding section 304 of this title, any distributions from trust funds in the State of North Dakota shall be made in accordance with section 2 of article IX of the Constitution of the State of North Dakota. (d) ManagementNotwithstanding section 305 of this title, the State of North Dakota shall manage the land granted under section 301 of this title, including any proceeds from the land, in accordance with this section.