Could a Louisiana school board add hunting rights to a sixteenth-section farm lease without public bidding?

Plain-English summary

In 2015, the Louisiana Attorney General considered an agricultural lease of St. Martin Parish sixteenth-section school land that also granted exclusive hunting rights without a public bid. The AG read La. R.S. 41:1212(C)'s exception as applying only to agricultural leases. Adding hunting rights did not bring the hunting lease within that exception, even though the land was already leased for farming. The school board had to use the hunting-lease bidding process in La. R.S. 17:87.8 for a new hunting lease. The opinion also treated the earlier, expired lease as requiring no retroactive action on the supplied facts.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did St. Martin Parish's no-bid exception cover hunting leases? A: No. The AG said La. R.S. 41:1212(C) exempted specified agricultural leases from public bidding, but did not exempt nonagricultural leases. Hunting leases had their own bid process under La. R.S. 17:87.8.

Q: Could the school board add hunting rights to land already leased for agriculture without a separate bid? A: The AG said no. It treated agricultural and hunting leases as distinct and said the existing farm lease did not remove the hunting-lease bidding requirement.

Q: Did the school board need to unwind the 1999-2014 lease? A: The AG said no action was needed on the expired lease on the facts supplied. It said the hunting component would have been invalid if granted without the required bid, but the lease had ended by its own terms and there was no indication the board had received less than was due.

Q: Who owned the sixteenth-section land discussed in the opinion? A: The AG said the State of Louisiana held title, while the school board managed the land and could receive its rental benefits. The opinion corrected the request's description of the board as the owner.

Background and statutory framework

The school board's 1994 agricultural lease was renewed in 1999 with exclusive hunting rights added without public bidding. The AG assumed proper procedures had been followed for the original land lease. It interpreted the special St. Martin Parish agricultural exception in La. R.S. 41:1212(C) alongside the separate public-bid law for hunting rights in La. R.S. 17:87.8.

Citations and references

• La. R.S. 41:1212(C), St. Martin Parish agricultural-lease bidding exception.
• La. R.S. 17:87.8, hunting leases of sixteenth-section land.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/14-0218

Original opinion text

~tat.e of 'JIiou!shtnll
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 9400S
BATON ROUGE
JAMES D, "BUDDY" CALDWEll
70804-9005
AnORNEY GENERAL

MAR 26 2015
OPINION 14-0218

90·B-l
PUBLIC LANDS
90-B-2
PUBLIC LANDS
90·8·3
PUBLIC LANDS
Scott H. Nettles, Esq. 90-B·3(a) PUBLIC LANDS
97
SCHOOLS & SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Boyer, Hebert, Abels & Angelle 112 STATE
1280 Del Este Avenue
La. R.S.17.87.8;41:131 etseq.;41:711 etseq.;41:1211elseq.. 41:1212 Denham Springs, LA 70726
Pursuant to La. R.S. 41:1212(C), only agricultural leases of sixteenth section lands in St. Martin Parish may be leased without the need for public bid.
Hunting leases for sixteenth section land must follow the public bid process mandated by La. R.S. 17:87.8. All other leases of such lands must follow the public bid process in La. RS. 41:1211 et seq. Further, all school boards
Dear Mr. Nettles: seeking to lease sixteenth section lands for any purposes other than hunting
must first follow the procedures set forth in La. RS. 41:711 et seq.

On behalf of the St. Martin Parish School Board ("School Board"), you have asked us to opine on questions related to a hunting lease of sixteenth section property managed by the School Board. The background that you provide for your questions relates a history of an agricultural lease by the School Board of the subject sixteenth section property to a private citizen in 1994. This lease was renewed pursuant to La. R.S. 41 :1212(A)(2) in 1999, with said lease to expire on September 28, 2014. The lease renewal in 1999 contained, in addition to the agricultural lease, a provision that authorized the lessee to exercise exclusive hunting rights on the leased property. As you relate the facts of this situation, that additional hunting lease was granted without public bid. According to your request, the School Board is now concerned about the propriety of granting such a hunting lease without having put the lease out for public bid. In this regard, you have specifically presented the following two questions for our consideration:

1. Does the term "other leases" in La. R.S. 41: 1212(C) specifically mean leases for other purposes on land that is being leased for agricultural purposes in St. Martin Parish, or does it generally refer to other leases provided for in other parts of the statute?

2. Is the St. Martin Parish School Board required to advertise for public bidding for leases of hunting privileges on lands that are already leased for agricultural purposes?

As an initial matter, we note that your request for an opinion is dated November 11, 2014, approximately a month and a half after the lapse of the 1999 lease extension.
With this in mind, we presume that the School Board has been asked to renew the agricultural lease for a further term on the same 1999 conditions and now seeks guidance regarding the appropriateness of such a further renewal. Following a general

Page 2

OPINION 14-0218
Scott H. Nettles, Esq.
Page 2

discussion of the unique nature of sixteenth section lands, we respond to each of your questions, in turn, below.

In your request letter, you mention that the SUbject sixteenth section is "owned" by the School Board. Although the School Board is the statutory manager of the subject sixteenth section and is authorized to receive any benefits deriving from that property, it is not the owner of the property.' The State of Louisiana is the title owner of all sixteenth section lands designated as school trust lands. Id. Thus, although the school boards have management authority over these lands and are often the beneficiaries of rentals, royalties, and other monies generated from such lands, the State is, in fact, the owner. Because sixteenth sections are a unique type of property-federal trust lands owned by the State for the benefit of schools-they are also subject to an often unique series of laws. As we have noted in past opinions, these laws sometimes operate contrary to standard Louisiana public land law.2 The special nature of these lands is also confirmed by the provisions of La. R.S. 41:891 et seq., governing the disposal of unused school lands, which specifically exempts sixteenth section lands from its coverage. Thus, the relevant law for the lease of sixteenth section lands (and, therefore, the SUbject property) is found La. R.S. 41:711 et seq. In addition, for the purposes of your request, there is an additionally-relevant law: La. R.S. 17:87.8.

1. Does the term "other leases" in La. R.S. 41:1212(C) specifically mean leases for other purposes on land that is being leased for agricultural purposes in St. Martin Parish, or does it generally refer to other leases provided for in other parts of the statute? '

In your request letter, you note that the School Board in this instance issued a lease in 1994 following the provisions of La. R.S. 41:1212. Although this law contains an exemption for St. Martin Parish School Board leases when renewing sixteenth section leases.' it does not set forth the baseline law for the original lease of that property. As noted above, the law that controls the leasing of sixteenth section property is found at La. R.S. 41:711 et seq. There are significant differences between this law and the law related to non-sixteenth section land leases in Louisiana.

The lease of sixteenth section lands is permitted, but it must meet the statutory requirements of La. R.S. 41 :711 et seq. Under this law, a school board may only lease these lands if a majority of the registered legal voters are against the sale of the land." For the purposes of this opinion, and because we have been presented with no information to the contrary, we assume that the School Board followed these proper leasing procedures for sixteenth section land in 1994 when the subject property was originally let.

1 La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 05-0068.
2 See e.g., La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 06-0214 (noting a unique variation on land exchanges for sixteenth section property). 3 La. R.S. 41: 1212(C).
• See La. R.S. 41:716; La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 06-0214.

Page 3

OPINION 14-0218
Scott H. Nettles, Esq.
Page 3

Thus, in order to reach your first question, we move directly to the specific provisions for St. Martin Parish School Board agricultural leases in La. RS. 41:1212(C). That law states:

Whenever the school board in St. Martin Parish leases any sixteenth section lands of which it has title, custody or possession on a share basis for the agricultural purpose of planting, cultivating, growing and harvesting any agricultural crop, it shall not be required to advertise for and receive bids as hereinafter provided for in this part for other leases.f

It is our opinion that the "as hereinafter provided for in this part for other leases" is merely a recognition that the Legislature has seen fit to carve out the requirement for compliance with the public bid process in scenarios in which the School Board desires to lease its lands for agricultural purposes. The fact that the School Board has leased for agricultural purposes without bid certain sixteenth section land does not exempt it, under the provisions of La. RS. 41:1212(C), from having to submit to the public bid process for any lease that is not agricultural in nature. Thus, in answer to your first question, the "other leases" language in La. RS. 41:1212(C) simply refers to the reality that, though agricultural leases of St. Martin Parish School Board sixteenth section property are exempted from public bid law requirements, there are no other such exemptions for non-agricultural leases in this law.

2. Is the St. Martin Parish School Board required to advertise for public bidding for leases of hunting privileges on lands that are already leased for agricultural purposes?

In several portions of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, hunting leases and agricultural leases are listed or considered separately." From this distinction, as well as the clear exemption of only agricultural leases iii La. RS. 41:1212(C) and the specific hunting lease law in La. RS. 17:87.8, it is clear that these types of leases are not considered to be the same under the law. Thus, it is our opinion that hunting leases of School Board lands cannot be let pursuant to the exempt agricultural leasing requirements of La. RS. 41:1212(C). Instead, La. RS. 17:87.8 specifically provides for a unique public bid process for the leasing of sixteenth section lands for hunting purposes that is akin to, but not exactly the same as the general public bid laws." Because of this specific provision related to hunting leases for sixteenth section lands, it is our opinion that it is of no moment that these lands are already under lease for agricultural purposes when a hunting lease is sought. The public bid process for such hunting leases as set forth in La. RS. 17:87.8 must be followed.

5 La. R.S. 41:1212(C).
• See La. R.S. 41:1212(A) (importantly, though this is the same statute as the one that authorizes the School Board to grant agricultural leases without the need for public bid (in subpart (C)), the statute also specifically distinguishes between hunting and agricultural leases in subpart (A) with respect to the Livingston, Tangipahoa, SI. Helena, SI. Tammany, and Washington Parish School Boards). 7 La. R.S. 41:131 etseq.

Page 4

OPINION 14-0218
Scott H. Nettles, Esq.
Page 4

We note, from your opinion request, that the subject lands appear to have been let for hunting purposes in the past (apparently from 1999-2014). Assuming that this lease was entered into without compliance with La. R.S. 17:87.8, such a lease would have been invalid. However, as you have also noted in your request, that lease has terminated by its own terms. There is no indication that the School Board received anything less than it was due as the lessor of this property. Pursuant to the jurisprudence, having received such benefit and the contract having terminated by its own terms, there is no retroactive means or purpose to invalidate the lease." Thus, there is no need to take any action with regard to that now-ended lease. Should the School Board seek to lease the subject property now for hunting purposes, it must comply with La. R.S. 17:87.8 in order to do so.

We hope this sufficlently answers your inquiry; however, if we may be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Sincerely yours,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY ENE L

,IDC/RMS/tp

8 State ex rei. Shell 011 Co. v. Register of State Land Office, 192 So. 519 (La. 1939).