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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
state land department; continuation; oversight
Purpose
Continues, retroactive to July 1, 2026, the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) for four years until July 1, 2030. Establishes the ASLD Temporary Oversight Committee (Oversight Committee) and outlines membership, powers and duties. Repeals the Oversight Committee on January 1, 2028.
Background
The ASLD must
administer all laws relating to lands owned by, belonging to and under control
of Arizona and have charge and control of all lands owned by Arizona, and
timber, stone, gravel and other products of such lands (A.R.S.
§ 37-102). The ASLD Commissioner must:
1) exercise and perform all powers and duties vested in or imposed on the ASLD
and prescribe such rules as are necessary to discharge those duties; 2) make
long-range plans for the future use of state lands in cooperation with other
state agencies, local planning authorities and political subdivisions; 3) have
the authority to lease for commercial purposes and sell all land owned or held
in trust by Arizona; and 4) fulfill all other statutorily prescribed duties (A.R.S.
§ 37-132). The ASLD is responsible for adopting rules to prescribe the
procedure, method and means for the sale of state lands. A representative of
the ASLD must attend at the time and place fixed for the sale and proceed by
first announcing information relevant to the sale sufficient to begin the
bidding process, then calling for bids and finally, selling the lands for the
highest and best bid (A.R.S.
§ 37-238).
The ASLD Commissioner must create conceptual land use plans for all urban
state trust land in Arizona and other state trust lands the Commissioner
considers to be appropriate and;
1) prioritize the creation of conceptual plans to the extent possible to
correlate with the rate of population growth in urban areas and coincide with
the production of municipal and county general plans; 2) consult with the city,
town or county in which the land is located; and 3) submit each plan and
revision of the plan to the Urban Land Planning Oversight Committee for Review.
The conceptual plan is considered to be a state general plan on approval by the
Commissioner.
The Commissioner is responsible for creating five-year disposition plans for all state trust land in Arizona, based at a minimum on market demand and anticipated transportation and infrastructure availability. The Commissioner must: 1) review and update each plan each year as may be necessary; 2) consult with the city, town or county in which the land is located and with any regional planning organization; and 3) submit each plan and revision to the Urban Land Planning Oversight Committee to ensure conformity with the outlined conceptual land use plan (A.R.S. § 37-331.03).
The Senate Natural Resources Committee of Reference (COR) held a public meeting on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, to review the Auditor General's Performance Audit and Sunset Review Report, consider the ASLDs responses to the statutorily prescribed sunset factors and receive public testimony. The COR recommended that the ASLD be continued for four years, until July 1, 2030, with prescribed modifications and that the ASLD return to the Legislature with a report on the additional recommendations within two years. The ASLD terminates on July 1, 2026, unless continued by the Legislature (A.R.S. § 41-3026.05).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Continues, retroactive to July 1, 2026, the ASLD for four years until July 1, 2030.
2. Repeals the ASLD on January 1, 2031.
3. Establishes the Oversight Committee consisting of the following members:
a) five members who are appointed by the Governor from a list of 15 persons that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (House) provide to the Governor;
b) one member who is appointed by the President of the Senate;
c) one member who is appointed by the Speaker of the House;
d) one member who is appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; and
e) one member who is appointed by the Minority Leader of the House.
4. Requires each Oversight Committee member to have:
a) successfully bid on state lands at an auction;
b) leased state lands; or
c) represented a lessee of state lands.
5. Requires the Oversight Committee to oversee the ASLD's adoption of rules and policies on the following issues:
a) the application of biosolids on state lands;
b) the ASLDs compliance with statutorily prescribed administrative procedures;
c) the ASLDs adoption of appropriate application time frames; and
d) the ASLDs creation of conceptual land use and five-year disposition plans.
6. Requires the Oversight Committee to collaborate with the ASLD to establish goals for the ASLD on the prescribed issues.
7. Requires the Oversight Committee, by June 1, 2027, to submit a report of the Oversight Committees findings and recommendations on the prescribed issues to the chairpersons of the Senate and House Natural Resources Committees of Reference, or their successor committees, the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House and provide a copy to the Secretary of State.
8. Allows the Oversight Committee to hold public meetings to address and confer with subject matter experts on the prescribed issues.
9. Stipulates that Oversight Committee members are eligible for reimbursement of expenses.
10. Repeals the Oversight Committee on January 1, 2028.
11. Applies the statutorily prescribed requirements relating to administrative procedure to the ASLD.
12. Requires the ASLD to adopt rules to establish appropriate time frames for action on any application or other comparable request that an applicant or instrument holder submits to the ASLD.
13. Subjects the ASLD, if the ASLD fails to act within any time frame prescribed by the licensing time frames adopted by rulemaking, to the statutorily prescribed penalties relating to an agencies failure to comply with overall time frames.
14. Modifies the definition of license to include a license issued by the ASLD that is required solely for revenue purposes.
15. Defines state lands.
16. Contains a purpose statement.
17. Makes technical and conforming changes.
18. Becomes effective on the general effective date, with a retroactive provision as noted.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 13, 2026
SB/hk