43 USC § 981 - Indemnity to States on sale of lands

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t43/s981"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "43 USC § 981 - Indemnity to States on sale of lands"
title_number: 43
title_name: "PUBLIC LANDS"
section_number: "981"
section_name: "Indemnity to States on sale of lands"
chapter_number: 23
chapter_name: "GRANTS OF SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(R.S. § 2482; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)"
---


# § 981. Indemnity to States on sale of lands

March 2, 1855September 28, 1850

Upon proof by the authorized agent of the State, before the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate, that any of the lands purchased by any person from the United States, prior to , were “swamp lands”, within the true intent and meaning of the Act entitled “An Act to enable the State of Arkansas and other States to reclaim the swamp lands within their limits”, approved , the purchase money shall be paid over to the State wherein said land is situate; and when the lands have been located by warrant or scrip, the said State shall be authorized to locate a like quantity of any of the public lands subject to entry, at $1.25 per acre, or less, and patents shall issue therefor. The decision of the Secretary or such officer shall be first approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

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**Source Credit**: (R.S. § 2482; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)

## Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Act approved , referred to in text, is , , which is not classified to the Code.

### Codification

R.S. § 2482 derived from , , 635.

## Executive Documents

### Transfer of Functions

For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. , 15 F.R. 3174, , set out under .

“Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate” substituted for “Commissioner of the General Land Office” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, which abolished General Land Office and Commissioner thereof and transferred functions of General Land Office to a new agency in Department of the Interior to be known as Bureau of Land Management. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set out as a note under .