A.R.S. tit. 9 ch. 10 — Arizona Revised Statutes Title 9 Chapter 10 — Townsites

9-1101. Entry at federal land office of land for townsites When the governing body of an incorporated city or town, or the board of supervisors of the county in which an unincorporated town is located, hereinafter designated trustee, has entered at the proper land office the land or any part of the land, settled and occupied as the site of the city or town, pursuant to the act of Congress, the governing body or the board of supervisors shall dispose of and convey the title to the lands, or parcels of the land to the persons specified in this article. If three or more of the inhabitants of the town make written request that the entry be made and furnish the money necessary therefor, the entry shall be made. 9-1102. Trustee's bond; keeping of accounts and records A. Before entering on the discharge of the trustee's duties, the trustee shall execute a bond to the state, with sureties in the sum of $2,000, which shall be filed with the county recorder of the county in which the townsite is located, conditioned to account for all money that may come into the trustee's hands and to discharge the duties of the trust according to the best of the trustee's ability. Action may be brought on the bond by any party aggrieved by the action of the trustee. B. The trustee shall keep a strict account of all money received and disbursed by the trustee and shall file and keep all books and papers used by or before the trustee, subject to inspection of the inhabitants of the city or town. 9-1103. Survey and plat of townsite; recording Within three months after the entry, the trustee shall cause the land to be surveyed and platted into blocks, lots, streets and alleys and a plat thereof made, conforming as near as possible to existing rights and claims of occupants. The plat shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the townsite is located. Thereafter the streets and alleys designated in the plat shall remain permanently dedicated to the public use. 9-1104. Notice of entry of land as townsite; statement and filing of claims to land A. The trustee shall then cause a notice to be published in all the newspapers published in the city or town, or if no newspaper is published therein, then by posting the notice in five public places in the city or town for sixty days successively, giving notice of the entry of the land and requiring every claimant of a lot to file a statement of his claim in the office of the trustee on or before ninety days from the first publication. The statement shall be in writing, signed and sworn to by the claimant, or if absent from the county, by his agent, and shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose by the trustee. It shall specify the grounds of the claim, particularly describe the lots claimed, the date and name, as near as possible, of the first actual occupant, what improvements have been made thereon, and that at the time of making the statement the lots are actually possessed and occupied by the claimant, or that the right to possession and occupation is in him, if then occupied by another. B. The statement to the trustee shall be accompanied by a fee of twenty cents a folio for filing and recording. The claimant shall within sixty days after expiration of the time for filing claims, make proof of the facts alleged in his statement before the trustee. No proof can be made after that time, unless the claimant has appeared within that time and obtained and had entered in the records an order of continuance by the trustee. 9-1105. Financial statement of trustee; disposition of funds A. Within sixty days after the first publication provided for by this article, the trustee shall make a full and true statement in writing of all monies expended by the trustee, and the trustee's reasonable charges for time and services in the administration of the trust to that time that shall be and remain a first charge on the lands in favor of the trustee. B. The money collected shall be applied first to reimburse the parties who advanced the money to enter the townsite with interest at ten percent a year, and then to the discharge of other outstanding claims incurred in entering the townsite or executing the trust. Any surplus shall be paid to the governing body of the city or town, if incorporated, for making public improvements, or, if unincorporated, for making such public improvements as may be directed by a meeting of the citizens of the town to be held after thirty days notice by the trustee. 9-1106. Index of claimants and property The trustee shall keep an index of the name of every person filing a claim or contest in which the name shall be entered at the time of filing the statement or contest. When the statement is recorded, the trustee shall add to the index the number of the page of the record. The trustee shall keep a like index with a description of all property disposed of by the trustee. 9-1107. Limitations on claims of land A. The number of lots which one claimant may enter shall not exceed in the aggregate fourteen thousand square feet, and such additional lots not exceeding seven thousand square feet to the lot, upon which the claimant shall have substantial improvements of a value of not less than one hundred dollars. B. When a claimant makes application to enter more than four lots, he shall specially designate the lots in the statement, particularly describe the nature and value of the improvements on each of the additional lots, and shall at the time of making the proof prove to the satisfaction of the trustee, by one or more reliable witnesses, the facts entitling him to enter the additional lots. 9-1108. Proof of nonconflicting claims; execution of deed After the expiration of the period for filing statements, the trustees shall hear the proofs on nonconflicting claims, as near as possible in the order in which filed, of such claimants as appear and offer to make proof. If the proof complies with the legal requirements, the trustee shall make and enter a decision to that effect, and execute a good and sufficient deed to the lots to the claimant upon payment of a fee of five dollars. 9-1109. Referral to court of conflicting claims; trial; appeal A. When conflicting claims have been filed, the trustee shall transmit the statement of the claimant and the adverse claim, and all papers pertaining thereto, to the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the property is located, and give notice thereof to the respective claimants. The papers shall be filed by the clerk and docketed in the name of the claimant as plaintiff and the conflicting claimant as defendant, and the court shall thereupon direct pleadings to be framed setting forth the respective claims of the parties. The matter shall thereupon be tried before the court without a jury and notice of the judgment shall be given to each of the parties. B. An appeal may be taken within twenty days after notice of the judgment. If an appeal is not taken the trustee shall execute a deed in accordance with the judgment. 9-1110. Payment of purchase price by claimants Each claimant or contestant shall, with his statement or contest, pay the trustee the sum of ten dollars for each lot claimed, not exceeding seven thousand square feet per lot, as the purchase price therefor. Such money shall be refunded to the claimant by the trustee if it is finally determined that the party is not entitled to a deed, after first deducting costs or fees that may be due from such party. 9-1111. Trustee as claimant If the trustee is possessed or entitled to any part of the lands, the trustee shall make a verified statement of the trustee's claim and record it, and if no adverse claim thereto is filed within the time allowed, the trustee shall be deemed to be possessed and seized of the title thereto in fee simple, but subject to all assessments and taxes thereafter to be levied. If the trustee's claim is in conflict, the conflicting claims shall be transferred to the court and determined as other conflicting claims. 9-1112. Selection and conveyance of sites for public purposes A. After the plat of the townsite has been recorded and on petition of at least ten resident house-holders of the city or town, the trustee, by and with the advice of the board of school trustees of the district, shall set apart a site for a district school house, and the trustee shall deed the lots embraced in the site to the board of school trustees. If the city or town is a county seat, the trustee, on a like petition, may set apart and deed to the county a site for a courthouse and other county buildings. On petition signed by a majority of the property holders of the city or town designating the site, the trustee may set apart a public square or park. B. Such locations shall not include any lot held by a bona fide claimant nor interfere with vested rights. 9-1113. Execution of deed to cemetery association The trustee may deed to a cemetery association, organized as provided by law for the incorporation of nonprofit corporations, an amount of land, not exceeding two blocks, as may be necessary for the purposes of the association. The deed shall be executed upon petition of the officers of the cemetery association. The petition shall describe the land, and be accompanied by proof satisfactory to the trustee that it has been and is being used for cemetery purposes, that no discrimination is practiced in granting permits for burial therein and that there is no conflicting claim to the land. 9-1114. Rights of lienholders No lien against the interests of a claimant shall be affected by the deed of the trustee to the claimant. The holder of a lien or certificate of sale, upon proof by affidavit of such fact, may file a statement in behalf of the claimant or contest claims in conflict with the rights of the claimant, or may intervene and support the rights of the party against whom he holds the liens, the same as such party might do himself. The money thus necessarily expended shall become a part of his claim against his debtor and a part of his lien. 9-1115. Claims against trustee or municipality Within the time provided for filing statements of claims, every person having a claim against the trustee or the city or town for money advanced or services rendered in obtaining a patent, or the execution of the trust thereunder, shall file an itemized statement thereof with the trustee, verified by affidavit, that the claim is correct, that no payments have been made thereon which are not credited and that there are no setoffs thereto. Claims not filed within the time shall be disallowed, and right of action thereon barred. 9-1116. Obtaining funds to pay expenses A. If the money paid to the trustee for the purchase of lots is insufficient to pay expenses, the trustee shall sell at public auction so many of the remaining lots, the title to which remains in the trustee and against which no claim or contest is pending, as is necessary to raise the amount required. The trustee shall first give such notice of the sale as the sheriff gives on the sale of real property on execution. The lots shall be sold separately, no lot shall be sold for less than $10, and the lots shall not exceed seven thousand square feet. B. If sufficient money is not raised, the trustee shall make an assessment and levy a tax on all the lots the title to which does not remain in the trustee, according to the value of the lots and the improvements on the lots, and the assessment and tax shall be a lien on the lots so assessed until paid, and may be recovered by the trustee in a civil action. 9-1117. Disposal of unclaimed lots A. The grounds undisposed of within the townsite, the title of which remains in the trustee, may be sold at public auction when the trustee deems it advisable. The trustee shall appoint three persons to appraise the lots the trustee desires to sell, and they shall take oath to faithfully and impartially appraise the value of the lots. B. On making the appraisement, the trustee shall give notice of the sale by publication. At the time and place specified in the notice, the trustee shall offer the lots for sale separately to the highest bidder, but for not less than the appraised value of the lots. C. Any person who has actually settled and made improvements to the value of not less than $100 on any lot, may make application to purchase the lot any time before sale, and accompany the person's application with the amount of the appraised value and $5 for each lot as compensation for making the deed, which shall be returned by the trustee, if it is finally determined that the party is not entitled to a deed, after first deducting any costs or fees that may be due from the party. D. The trustee shall hear proof as to the right of preference before executing the trustee's deed. If the application is denied, the applicant may bring an action in the superior court against the trustee and any adverse claimant to determine the applicant's right to a deed under the application, and the lot shall not be sold until the action is determined. E. The trustee shall execute a deed to the purchaser on payment of the purchase price, and $5 for each lot sold, to be retained by the trustee as the trustee's compensation. The fees for the trustee for applications for preferred right shall be $.20 per folio for filing and recording. Contests between applicants shall be transferred to the superior court for determination. F. The proceeds of the sales shall be applied to the payment of the costs and expenses of sale and appraisal, and any surplus shall be paid as directed in this article in the case of other surplus funds in the hands of the trustee. 9-1118. Accounting by trustee to successor On termination of the trustee's term of office, the trustee shall deliver to the trustee's successor in office all books and papers of the trustee's office, together with all money in the trustee's possession as trustee, and shall accompany them with an itemized written statement of all money received and paid out by the trustee under the trust. Thereafter the trust shall be discharged by the trustee's successor in office. 9-1131. Disposal of unclaimed lots acquired prior to statehood A. Every trustee of lands acquired before February 14, 1912, under the act of Congress entitled "an act for the relief of inhabitants of cities and towns upon the public lands," approved March 2, 1867, or the trustee's successor in office, may sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, any parcel of such lands undisposed of within the townsite, the title to which remains in the trustee or the trustee's successor in office, when the trustee deems it advisable to sell. The trustee shall appoint three disinterested persons to appraise the parcels the trustee desires to sell, and they shall faithfully and impartially appraise the value of the parcels and shall certify their appraisal under oath to the trustee. B. On making the appraisement, the trustee shall give notice of the sale by publication for not less than once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the city or town, or if there is none, then in the newspaper of general circulation published nearest the land to be sold. The notice shall describe the parcels of land to be sold and the time, place and condition of sale. At the time and place specified in the notice, the trustee shall offer the parcels of land for sale separately to the highest bidder, but for not less than the appraised value of the parcels of land. The trustee shall execute a deed to the highest bidder on payment of the purchase price. 9-1132. Procedure to establish right of preference A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who, together with the person's predecessors in interest, for a period of five years immediately preceding the application provided for in this article, has been in actual or constructive possession of and paid taxes on a parcel of land included within a townsite entered before February 14, 1912, may purchase the title or claim to the parcel of land that the trustee could, at the time of the application assert or convey under any other provision of law by making an application for the parcel of land to the trustee. B. The application shall contain a detailed statement under oath as to possession of the parcel and payment of taxes on the parcel and shall be accompanied by a filing fee of $1 for the application and an additional $5 as the purchase price for each parcel of land described by the application, which shall be returned in event of final determination that the applicant is not entitled to a deed. All contiguous lots or portions of lots included in a single application shall be deemed to be one parcel of land. C. On filing the application, the trustee shall conduct a hearing on the application and shall give notice thereof by publication in the same manner as provided in section 9-1131, and on the hearing the trustee shall take evidence on the applicant's right of preference. If the trustee finds the applicant and the applicant's predecessors in interest have held possession of the land for five years immediately before filing the application and have paid taxes on the land for a period of five years immediately before filing the application, the trustee shall execute and deliver the trustee's deed to the applicant, conveying the parcel or parcels described in the application, on the applicant paying to the trustee the applicant's proportionate share of the cost of advertising as determined by the trustee. D. If the application is denied or if conflicting applications are filed with the trustee on or before the date of the hearing, the trustee shall proceed no further and the applicant, within ten days after denial or the date set for the hearing, may bring an action in the superior court against the trustee and any other applicant to determine the applicant's right to a deed. No parcel of land embraced in such action shall be sold until the action is determined. 9-1133. Disposition of proceeds from sale The proceeds of sales made as provided in this article shall be applied first to the payment of costs and expenses of sale. Any surplus shall be paid to the governing body of the city or town, if incorporated, to be placed in the general fund, or, if unincorporated, for making such public improvements as may be directed by a meeting of the citizens of the town to be held after thirty days notice by the trustee. 9-1141. Procedure for subdivision of private lands into townsite A. An owner of a tract of land desiring to plat or subdivide it into tracts of twenty acres or less for the purpose of townsites, shall first have it surveyed and platted, showing lots, blocks or subdivisions, size of each lot, name and width of each street and width of alleys, and shall dedicate the streets, public grounds and alleys to the public use, sign the dedication and acknowledge it as a conveyance of real property, and file the plat in the office of the county recorder for record. B. No property shall be described in a conveyance or other instrument by reference to any plat of a townsite, addition or subdivision, or any lot, block or parcel contained therein, unless the plat has been executed, acknowledged and recorded, as provided in this article.