The Florida Senate

253.02  Board of trustees; powers and duties.--

(1)  For the purpose of assuring the proper application of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund and the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for the purposes of this chapter, the land provided for in ss. 253.01 and 253.03, and all the funds arising from the sale thereof, after paying the necessary expense of selection, management, and sale, are irrevocably vested in a board of four trustees, to wit: The Governor, the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and their successors in office, to hold the same in trust for the uses and purposes provided in this chapter, with the power to sell and transfer said lands to the purchasers and receive the power to sell and transfer said lands to the purchasers and receive payment for the same, and invest the surplus moneys arising therefrom, from time to time, in stocks of the United States, stocks of the several states, or the internal improvement bonds issued under the provisions of law; also, the surplus interest accruing from such investments. Said board of trustees has all the rights, powers, property, claims, remedies, actions, suits, and things whatsoever belonging to them, or appertaining before and at the time of the enactment hereof, and they shall remain subject to and pay, fulfill, perform, and discharge all debts, duties, and obligations of their trust, existing at the time of the enactment hereof or provided in this chapter.

(2)  The board of trustees shall not sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any lands the title to which is vested in the board of trustees except by vote of at least three of the four trustees.

(3)  In the event submerged tidal land is to be sold and transferred by said board of trustees, the board of trustees shall first require the Department of Environmental Protection to inspect said lands and to file a written report with the board of trustees which report shall state whether or not the development of said lands would be detrimental to established conservation practices.

(4)  The board of trustees is authorized to acquire by condemnation such submerged lands, except Murphy Act Lands and Holland Act Lands, as shall be in the public interest and for a public purpose.

(5)  The board of trustees shall be a necessary party to any action or petition which seeks to acquire submerged lands or lands lying beneath any navigable waters in the state through eminent domain proceedings.

History.--s. 2, ch. 610, 1854; RS 429; GS 617; RGS 1055; CGL 1385; s. 2, ch. 61-119; s. 1, ch. 67-5; s. 1, ch. 67-269; s. 1, ch. 67-2236; ss. 25, 27, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 1, ch. 70-358; s. 8, ch. 79-65; s. 2, ch. 82-185; s. 64, ch. 94-356; s. 13, ch. 2003-6.