This section says certain land-related papers in the General Land Office are archives, sets filing rules for some old titles and survey papers, and lets an owner recover a qualifying old instrument if the owner applies in writing and swears to ownership.
Sec. 441.202. ARCHIVES OF GENERAL LAND OFFICE. (a) Any papers, including any book, transfer, power of attorney, field note, map, plat, legal proceeding, official report, or original document, that pertain to the land of the Republic or State of Texas and that have been deposited or filed in the General Land Office in accordance with any law of the republic or of this state constitute the archives of the General Land Office and are not subject to transfer to the commission under Section 441.186. (b) A person owning land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande under a grant or title from the former government that was issued before November 13, 1835, and, before the adoption of the constitution, was recorded in the county in which the land is situated but that has not been filed in the archives of the General Land Office shall submit the grant or title to the commissioner of the General Land Office who shall file the title or grant in the archives of the General Land Office. The act of filing does not invest the title or grant with any greater validity than it had as a title or grant recorded in the proper county, and it is subject to any defense or objection to which it would have been subject if not so filed. (c) The commissioner of the General Land Office shall procure, accept, and file in the archives of the General Land Office the original papers relating to the survey of lands by virtue of certificates issued by this state to the Texas & Pacific Railway Company and its predecessors in title, including the maps, sketches, reports, and other papers that were drawn by the surveyors in making the original or corrected surveys of the land and that are in the custody of the railway company. If the commissioner cannot procure the original papers, the commissioner may procure, accept, and file verified copies. The commissioner shall verify the authenticity of the papers. If the commissioner can procure only a portion of the originals, the commissioner shall procure and accept that portion and take and file verified copies of those originals the commissioner cannot procure. The original papers or verified copies filed by the commission in the archives of the General Land Office are admissible in evidence as are other papers, documents, and records and certified copies of the office. (d) This section does not give any papers named in this section any greater force or validity, because of being recognized as archives of the General Land Office, than was accorded the papers by the laws in force at the date of their execution and deposit in the General Land Office. (e) A written instrument, including a deed, that was executed or issued before March 2, 1836, on stamped paper of the second or third seal and that is not an original instrument in the General Land Office or expressly declared by law to be part of the archives of that office do not constitute a part of the archives of that office. An owner of land to which the instrument relates may withdraw the instrument from the General Land Office on making a written, sworn application for the instrument to the commissioner. The application must state the fact of ownership of the land to which the instrument relates. If the commissioner is satisfied that the person applying is the owner, the commissioner may deliver the instrument to the applicant. The commissioner shall take a receipt for the instrument that describes the instrument delivered, summarizes its contents, and names the original grantee of land to which the instrument relates or refers. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 873, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.