Bill Text: MS HB1593 | 2026 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Sixteenth section land; define rights of owners of land on which is located a body of water.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-12 - Died On Calendar [HB1593 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-HB1593-Comm_Sub.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Horan
House Bill 1593
(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 51-1-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE LEGISLATURE FINDS AND DECLARES THAT THE SIXTEENTH SECTION TRUST IS SUPERIOR TO THE PUBLIC WATERS TRUST AND THEREFORE THE RIGHTS OF THE OWNERS OF SIXTEENTH SECTION LAND ON WHICH IS LOCATED A BODY OF WATER THAT IS A NAVIGABLE WATERWAY OR AN OXBOW LAKE ARE SUPERIOR TO THE RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC TO ACCESS AND USE THE BODY OF WATER WITHIN THE SIXTEENTH SECTION LAND; TO AMEND SECTION 1-3-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL GENERAL DEFINITION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 27-109-1 AND 51-1-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH DEFINE NAVIGABLE WATERS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 29-3-1, 29-3-41 AND 29-3-54, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES THAT SIXTEENTH SECTION LANDS ARE PROPERTY HELD IN TRUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AS WELL AS THE LEASING OF SIXTEENTH SECTION LAND FOR HUNTING AND FISHING PURPOSES AND POSTING OF NOTICE OF TRESPASS, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 51-1-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
51-1-4. (1) Those portions of all natural flowing streams in this state having a mean annual flow of not less than one hundred (100) cubic feet per second, as determined and designated on appropriate maps by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, shall be public waterways of the state on which the citizens of this state and other states shall have the right of free transport in the stream and the right to fish and engage in water sports, except to the extent limited by subsection (9) of this section. Persons exercising the rights granted by this section shall do so at their own risk, and such persons, their heirs or others on their behalf shall not be entitled to recover any damages against any owner of property or an interest in property on or along such public waterways or against anyone using such property with permission of the owner for any injury to or death of persons or damage to property arising out of the exercise of rights granted by this section, other than those damages which may be recovered for intentional or malicious torts or for gross or willful negligence against the owner of property or an interest therein or against anyone using such property with permission of the owner.
(2) Nothing contained in this section shall authorize anyone utilizing public waterways, under the authority granted by this section, to trespass upon adjacent lands or to launch or land any commercial or pleasure craft along or from the shore of such waterways except at places established by public or private entities for such purposes.
(3) Nothing contained in this section shall authorize any person utilizing those public waterways, under the authority granted by this section, to disturb the banks or beds of such waterways or the discharge of any object or substance into such waters or upon or across any lands adjacent thereto or to hunt or fish or go on or across any adjacent lands under floodwaters beyond the natural banks of the bed of the public waterway. Floodwater which has overflowed the banks of a public waterway is not a part of the public waterway.
(4) The right of the public to use public waterways does not include the use of motorized vehicles in the beds of a public waterway without the written permission of the landowner. Any person who uses a motorized vehicle in the bed of a public waterway without the written permission of the landowner may be punished as provided in Section 97-17-93.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any all-terrain vehicle, four-wheel-drive motorized vehicle, or other wheeled or tracked conveyance within the bed of a public waterway and following the meanders thereof in such a way as to cause damage to the streambed.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to offer a permission or a license for a fee for the operation of any of the conveyances prohibited in this subsection within the bed of a public waterway.
(c) A violation of this subsection shall be a Class II violation and, upon conviction thereof, may be punished as provided in Section 49-7-143.
(d) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the normal, usual and ordinary fording of streams by persons authorized to do so for legitimate recreational, agricultural, forestry or other lawful purposes.
(5) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit the construction of dams and reservoirs by the State of Mississippi or any of its agencies or political subdivisions, or riparian owners, in the manner now or hereafter authorized by law, or in any way to affect the rights of riparian landowners along such waterways except as specifically provided hereinabove or to amend or repeal any law relating to pollution or water conservation, or to affect in any manner the title to the banks and beds of any such stream or the title to any minerals thereunder, or to restrict the mining or extraction of such minerals or the right of ingress and egress thereto.
(6) The provisions of this section limiting the liability of owners of property along public waterways and persons using such property with permission of the owners shall not be construed to limit any rights of claimants for damages under federal statutes or acts applying to navigable streams or waterways or any other civil causes of action subject to admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, nor shall those provisions be construed to limit the rights of any parties involved in litigation founded upon the commercial or business usage of any navigable streams or waterways.
(7) This section shall apply only to natural flowing streams.
(8) Any lake hydrologically connected to a natural flowing stream and listed as a public waterway under subsection (1) on July 1, 2000, and subsequently removed from that list before July 1, 2001, by the Commission on Environmental Quality because the lake did not meet the requirements of subsection (1), shall be presumed to be a public waterway until a court of competent jurisdiction determines otherwise. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to determine the property rights in the bed or banks of the lake, the right of ingress or egress across private property to the lake, or mineral interests.
(9) The Legislature finds and declares that the sixteenth section trust is superior to the public waters trust and therefore the rights of the owners of sixteenth section land on which is located a body of water that is a navigable waterway or an oxbow lake are superior to the rights of the public to access and use the body of water within the sixteenth section land.
SECTION 2. Section 1-3-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
1-3-31. Except as otherwise provided in Section 27-109-1, all rivers, creeks and bayous in this state, twenty-five (25) miles in length, and having sufficient depth and width of water for thirty (30) consecutive days in the year to float a steamboat with carrying capacity of two hundred (200) bales of cotton, are navigable waters of this state and public highways. In addition, all rivers and streams that flow into the Mississippi River or the Gulf of Mexico and tributaries of those rivers and streams at sea level are navigable waters of this state.
SECTION 3. Section 51-1-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
51-1-1. Except as otherwise provided in Section 27-109-1, all rivers, creeks and bayous in this state, twenty-five (25) miles in length, that have sufficient depth and width of water for thirty (30) consecutive days in the year for floating a steamboat with carrying capacity of two hundred (200) bales of cotton are hereby declared to be navigable waters of this state.
SECTION 4. Section 29-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-1. (1) Sixteenth section school lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof, constitute property held in trust for the benefit of the public schools and must be treated as such. The board of education under the general supervision of the State Land Commissioner, shall have control and jurisdiction of said school trust lands and of all funds arising from any disposition thereof heretofore or hereafter made. It shall be the duty of the board of education to manage the school trust lands and all funds arising therefrom as trust property. Accordingly, the board shall assure that adequate compensation is received for all uses of the trust lands, except for uses by the public schools.
(2) In the event the board of supervisors declines to approve the rental value of the land set by the board of education, the board of education shall within ten (10) days appoint one (1) appraiser, the board of supervisors shall within twenty (20) days appoint one (1) appraiser and the two (2) appraisers so appointed shall within twenty (20) days appoint a third appraiser whose duty it shall be to appraise the land, exclusive of buildings and improvements, the title to which is not held in trust for the public schools, and to file a written report with each board setting forth their recommendation for the rental value of the land within thirty (30) days. The cost of the appraisal shall be paid from any available sixteenth section school funds or other school funds of the district. If no appeal is taken within twenty (20) days as provided hereunder, the lease shall be executed in accordance with said recommended rental value within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the appraisers' report. In the event any party is aggrieved by the decision of the appraisers setting forth the appraised rental value, the party so aggrieved shall be entitled to an appeal to the chancery court in which the land is located. Such appeal shall be taken within twenty (20) days following the decision. The chancery court, on appeal, may review all of the proceedings, may receive additional evidence, and make findings of fact, as well as conclusions of law to insure that a fair and reasonable return may be obtained on the sixteenth section lands or lands in lieu thereof.
(3) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, doctrine or judicially recognized principle, including the public waters trust doctrine, the sixteenth section school trust shall have priority over any asserted public trust interest in lands, waters or submerged lands that are part of, appurtenant to, or located within sixteenth section lands.
(b) Where any body of water, lake, stream or wetland is located wholly or partially upon sixteenth section lands, or overlays lands held in the sixteenth section school trust, those lands and waters shall be deemed sixteenth section school trust assets, subject to the exclusive control and management of the appropriate school authorities.
(c) Any public trust interest shall yield to the extent necessary to allow the state and local school governing authorities to fulfill their fiduciary duties to the sixteenth section school trust.
SECTION 5. Section 29-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-41. (1) After any parcels of sixteenth section lands have been classified as hereinabove provided, all land which has been classified as forest land and which is not now under lease shall hereafter not be leased. The lands classified as forest lands which may be under a lease that has a fixed date of expiration shall not be re-leased when said lease expires; nor shall the lessee be permitted to cut or remove any timber therefrom except according to the terms of his lease. Such lands shall be reserved and kept as forest lands. Provided further, that the mineral rights in all such lands may be leased for oil, gas, or mineral purposes, and the board of education may grant leases to the surface of said lands classified as forest, which are limited to hunting and fishing rights and activities in relation thereto, and which shall not extend for a period longer than fifteen (15) years. It shall be the duty of the board of education to lease said hunting and fishing rights at public contract after having advertised same for rent in a newspaper published in said county or, if no newspaper be published in said county, then in a newspaper having a general circulation therein, for two (2) successive weeks, the first being at least ten (10) days prior to said public contract. Said hunting and fishing rights shall be leased to the person offering the highest annual rental. Bids received by the board of education in response to the advertisement shall be opened at a regular or special meeting of the board. The board of education, at its option, may reject all bids or accept the highest and best bid received in response to the advertisement, or the board of education may hold an auction among those who submitted bids in response to the advertisement, provided that three (3) or more persons who submitted bids in response to the advertisement participate in the auction. The opening bid at the auction shall be the highest bid received in response to the advertisement. Provided that if the board of education receives an acceptable bid or elects to hold an auction, the most recent holder of said hunting and fishing rights if it shall have made an offer, shall have the final right to extend its lease for the term advertised at the annual rental equal to said highest offer received by the board of education, or equal to the highest bid offered at the auction, as the case may be.
(2) If no bid acceptable to the board of education is received after said advertisement, the board of education may, within ninety (90) days, lease same by private contract for an amount greater than the highest bid previously rejected. If the board of education determines to lease the land by private contract, the most recent holder of said hunting and fishing rights, if it shall have made an offer, shall have the final right to extend its lease on the same terms and conditions as those contained in the private contract proposed to be accepted by the board of education.
(3) (a) Each local school board, with review and approval of the Office of the Secretary of State Division of Sixteenth Section Land Management, may lease, convey or otherwise grant exclusive hunting, fishing and recreational rights on sixteenth section lands and waters located wholly or partially upon sixteenth section lands.
(b) Any lease or grant of such rights shall be deemed a trust management activity as prescribed in Section 29-3-1, and revenues derived therefrom shall be applied solely for the benefit of the sixteenth section school trust.
(4) Except as expressly authorized by lease or written permission of the school authorities or the lessee of sixteenth section land classified as agricultural or forest land to which a hunting, fishing or recreational lease has been executed by the local school board, no member of the general public shall have a right of access to sixteenth section lands or waters for hunting, fishing or recreational purposes. Any violation of this subsection shall constitute trespass upon the leasehold interest of the lessee and leasing school board, for which a civil or criminal cause of action may be instituted.
(5) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to an public tidelands and submerged lands lying under waters naturally subject to tidal influence.
SECTION 6. Section 29-3-54, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-54. Any leaseholder of
sixteenth section land, or land granted in lieu thereof, which may also
contain any body of water, lake, stream or wetland is located wholly or
partially thereon, shall be authorized to post such land against
trespassers * * *. The posting shall not prohibit the inspection of
said lands by individuals responsible for the management or supervision thereof
acting in their official capacity. In the event hunting or fishing rights have
been leased on lands classified as forest land, the holder of such rights and
the State Forestry Commission shall be authorized to post such land against
trespassers.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.
