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(a) Upon the application made to the Commissioner of State Lands by any person, firm, or corporation seeking to purchase from the State of Arkansas any of the lands granted by the United States Congress to this state under the designation of “swamp and overflowed lands”, on which patents or entry certificates have not been issued by the state as shown by the records in the office of the Commissioner of State Lands, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of State Lands to determine whether the lands described in the application are wild and unimproved, which fact shall be determined by the Commissioner of State Lands upon the filing with him or her of the affidavit of the county surveyor, the county judge, and one (1) other reliable and disinterested person residing in the county in which the lands are situated, which affidavit shall accompany the application to purchase.
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(b) Should it be determined by the Commissioner of State Lands that the land sought to be purchased is wild and unimproved, he or she shall, upon the applicant’s filing a bond with the Commissioner of State Lands with a surety to be approved by the Commissioner of State Lands that he or she will pay all costs of the appraisal as provided in this section, immediately notify the sheriff and ex officio collector of the county in which the land is situated of his or her finding and direct the sheriff and ex officio collector of the county to immediately appoint three (3) reliable and disinterested householders residing in the county as appraisers who shall make an actual inspection of the land sought to be purchased. After they have done so, it shall be the duty of the appraisers to make a report in writing and file the report with the Commissioner of State Lands.
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(c)
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(1) The report of the appraisers shall set forth the estimated appraised value of the timber located on the lands, the estimated appraised value of any minerals or oil in the lands if any are known, and the appraised agricultural value of the lands.
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(2) The aggregate of the appraisals shall be treated by the Commissioner of State Lands as the value of the lands for the purpose of sale.
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(d) The report of the appraisers shall be accompanied by their oath, which shall state that they are householders and residents of the county in which the lands are located, that they have actually viewed the lands described in the report, that they have no interest in the sale thereof, that they are not related in any manner to the person who has made application to purchase the lands, and that the value fixed by them is, in their judgment, a fair and reasonable market value.
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(e) The appraisers shall be entitled to receive the sum of two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) for each day necessary for making the inspection and appraisal, and they shall be paid by the applicant.
