The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a

state agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

of the U.S. state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund. The agency is headquartered in the Stephen F. Austin State Office Building in

Downtown Austin Downtown Austin is the central business district of Austin, Texas, United States. The area of the district is bound by Lamar Boulevard to the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Austin), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the north, Inte ...

Role and remit

The General Land Office's main role is to manage Texas's publicly owned lands, by negotiating and enforcing leases for the use of the land, and sometimes by making sales of public lands. Royalties and proceeds from land sales are added to the state's Permanent School Fund, which helps to fund

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

within the state. The agency is also responsible for keeping records of

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s and

titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

and for issuing maps and surveys of public lands. The agency also manages federal disaster recovery grant funding. Since 2011 the GLO has managed The Alamo in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

. The management of The Alamo was transferred to the General Land Office after allegations of mismanagement were directed at the prior manager, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

History

The Congress of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

established the General Land Office on 22 December 1836 (making the GLO the oldest existing Texas public agency). The agency's constitutional purpose was to "superintend, execute, and perform all acts touching or respecting the public lands of Texas." Since its establishment the agency has been located in Austin, although a relocation to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

was briefly attempted during the Texas Archive War. One former home of the GLO, the Old Land Office Building, is a registered historic place and now serves as the Texas State Capitol Visitor Center. When the State of

was annexed into the United States in 1845, it kept control of all of its public lands from its time as a sovereign state. As a result, Texas is the only public land state in the US to control all of its own public lands; all federal lands in Texas were acquired by purchase (e.g.

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

s), donation (e.g.

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s) or eminent domain. Texas's public lands were significantly enlarged by the US Submerged Lands Act of 1953 and the resolution of the ensuing Tidelands Controversy. Because Texas's historical territorial waters originated with the Republic, the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

ruled in the 1960 case ''United States v. Louisiana'' that Texas was in the unique position of owning territory out to three leagues (9 geographical miles which is nearly exactly 9 nautical miles, 10.35 statute miles, 16.66 km) from its coastline (significantly more than the three geographical miles controlled by other coastal states). All of these lands (and the oil and gas deposits beneath them) are managed by the General Land Office.

Texas Land Commissioner

The head of the General Land Office is the Texas Land Commissioner, a statewide public official. Since a 1972 constitutional amendment, Texas state-wide officers–including the Commissioner–have been elected every four years, prior to which they were elected every two years. The current land commissioner is Dawn Buckingham, who was elected on 8 November 2022.

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