§ 338. — Election to perfect entry; final proof.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC338]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 9--DESERT-LAND ENTRIES
Sec. 338. Election to perfect entry; final proof
Any desert-land entryman or his assignee entitled to the benefit of
section 337 of this title may, if he shall so elect within sixty days
from the notice therein provided, pay to the officer designated by the
Secretary of the Interior of the local land office the sum of 50 cents
per acre for each acre embraced in the entry, and thereafter perfect
such entry upon proof that he has upon the tract permanent improvements
conducive to the agricultural development thereof of the value of not
less than $1.25 per acre, and that he has, in good faith, used the land
for agricultural purposes for three years and the payment to the
officer, at the time of final proof, of the sum of 75 cents per acre:
Provided, That in such case final proof may be submitted at any time
within five years from the date of the entryman's election to proceed as
provided in this section, and in the event of failure to perfect the
entry as herein provided, all moneys theretofore paid shall be forfeited
and the entry canceled: Provided, That in cases where such entries have
been assigned prior to March 4, 1915, the assignees shall, if otherwise
qualified, be entitled to the benefit hereof.
(Mar. 4, 1915, ch. 147, Sec. 5, 38 Stat. 1162; Mar. 21, 1918, ch. 26, 40
Stat. 458; Oct. 28, 1921, ch. 114, Sec. 1, 42 Stat. 208; Mar. 3, 1925,
ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1145; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, Sec. 403, eff. July 16,
1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)
Codification
Section is comprised of fourth paragraph of section 5 of act Mar. 4,
1915. First paragraph of such section 5, which was classified to section
26 of Title 41, Public Contracts, was repealed by act June 30, 1949, ch.
288, title VI, Sec. 602(a)(20), 63 Stat. 401, eff. July 1, 1949,
renumbered Sept. 5, 1950, ch. 849, Sec. 6(a), (b), 64 Stat. 583; second
and third paragraphs of such section 5 are classified to sections 335
and 337 of this title, respectively.
Act Mar. 21, 1918 added the last proviso.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies
of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of
the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950,
Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out
under section 1451 of this title.
``Officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior'' substituted
for ``register'' on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of
1946, which abolished all registers of district land offices and
transferred functions of register of district land offices to Secretary
of the Interior. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3, of 1946, set out
as a note under section 1 of this title.
Previously, references to ``receiver'' changed to ``register'' by
acts Oct. 28, 1921, and Mar. 3, 1925, which consolidated offices of
register and receiver and provided for a single officer to be known as
register.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 339 of this title.
