The Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands is an executive position and constitutional officer within the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

government which has been an elective post since 1874. Land Commissioners are elected to four year terms. The current state Land Commissioner is

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Tommy Land Tommy Land (born August 18, 1955) is an American businessman and politician from Arkansas. A Republican, he was elected on November 6, 2018, as the next Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, and assumed office in January 2019. He won re-election i ...

Powers and duties

The Land Commissioner is responsible for collecting delinquent taxes on real estate through public auction whenever parcels are certified as such by county tax collectors. The proceeds from each sale of tax delinquent property are dedicated to public schools throughout the state. The Land Commissioner also serves as leasing agent for oil, natural gas, sand and gravel deposits on state lands, administers the beds of navigable rivers and streams, and is custodian of Arkansas' original land records.

History

The position was created by the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 100 ...

as the Commissioner of Immigration and State Lands in 1868. had control over public works in the state, which eventually included road improvements. Under the Arkansas Constitution of 1874, the position became an elected office. The highway duties were so important to the position it was referred to as the Highway Commissioner everywhere except official state documents. In 1929, the General Assembly passed a measure to abolish the position of Highway Commissioner as an elected office in response to corruption in the highway system. However, the measure did not have authority to abolish a constitutional office. The General Assembly instead assigned the highway-related duties to the

Arkansas State Highway Commission The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), formerly the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, is a government department in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its mission is to provide a safe, efficient, aesthetically pleasing and en ...

, which became an appointed office. Dwight Blackwood, the incumbent office holder, transitioned to the State Highway Commission, and his sister, Belva Martin was appointed to the State Land Commissioner position. She won election in her own right in 1930, but did not seek reelection in 1932. Martin was the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination for a statewide office in Arkansas, and as of February 2018, she remains the only female to hold the office.

List of Arkansas Commissioners of State Lands

Notes

References

External links