30 U.S.C. § 30 — Adverse claims; oath of claimants; req-

Page 16 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 30 Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. See also Transfer of Functions note set out under sec- tion 1 of this title. § 30. Adverse claims; oath of claimants; req- uisites; waiver; stay of land office pro- ceedings; judicial determination of right of possession; successful claimants’ filing of judgment roll, certificate of labor, and de- scription of claim in land office, and acreage and fee payments; issuance of patents for en- tire or partial claims upon certification of land office proceedings and judgment roll; alienation of patent title Where an adverse claim is filed during the pe- riod of publication, it shall be upon oath of the person or persons making the same, and shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent of such adverse claim, and all proceedings, except the publication of notice and making and filing of the affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the ad- verse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the adverse claimant, within thirty days after filing his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of the right of possession, and pros- ecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be a waiver of his adverse claim. After such judg- ment shall have been rendered, the party enti- tled to the possession of the claim, or any por- tion thereof, may, without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgment roll with the register of the land office, together with the certificate of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management that the requisite amount of labor has been expended or improvements made there- on, and the description required in other cases, and shall pay to the register $5 per acre for his claim, together with the proper fees, whereupon the whole proceedings and the judgment roll shall be certified by the register to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and a pat- ent shall issue thereon for the claim, or such portion thereof as the applicant shall appear, from the decision of the court, to rightly pos- sess. If it appears from the decision of the court that several parties are entitled to separate and different portions of the claim, each party may pay for his portion of the claim, with the proper fees, and file the certificate and description by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management whereupon the register shall certify the pro- ceedings and judgment roll to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, as in the pre- ceding case, and patents shall issue to the sev- eral parties according to their respective rights. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the alienation of the title conveyed by a patent for a mining claim to any person what- ever. (R.S. § 2326; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144, 1145; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 2326 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 7, 17 Stat. 93. AMENDMENTS 1925—Act Mar. 3, 1925, affected words, in third and fourth sentences of text, now reading ‘‘United States supervisor of surveys’’, and words, in third sentence of text, now reading ‘‘pay to the register $5 per acre.’’ Such words formerly read ‘‘surveyor-general’’, and ‘‘pay to the receiver five dollars per acre’’, respec- tively. Such act is treated more fully in notes under section 29 of this title. Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Director of the Bureau of Land Management sub- stituted for United States Supervisor of Surveys fol- lowing the words ‘‘certificate of the’’ in sentence begin- ning ‘‘After such judgment’’ and following the words ‘‘description by the’’ in sentence beginning ‘‘If it ap- pears’’. In the establishment of the Bureau of Land Management by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100, set out in the Appen- dix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employ- ees, the office of Supervisor of Surveys was abolished and the functions and powers were transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, to be performed by such offi- cers or agencies of the Department as might be des- ignated by the Secretary. Under that authority, the functions and powers formerly exercised by the Super- visor of Surveys were delegated to the Chief Cadastral Engineer, subject to the supervision of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. In the general reorga- nization and realignment of functions of the Bureau, the office of the Chief Cadastral Engineer was abol- ished, and the functions of that office have been dele- gated to the Director of the Bureau of Land Manage- ment. See 43 C.F.R. § 9180.0–3(a)(1). ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Land Management’’ was substituted for ‘‘Commissioner of the General Land Of- fice’’ following the words ‘‘register to the’’ in sentence beginning ‘‘After such judgment’’ and in sentence be- ginning ‘‘If it appears’’ following the words ‘‘judgment roll to the’’ on authority of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. Section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, abolished the office of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and consoli- dated the functions of the General Land Office with the Grazing Service to form the Bureau of Land Manage- ment. Office of register of district land office abolished and all functions of register transferred to Secretary of the Interior, or to officers and agencies of Department of the Interior as Secretary may designate, by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5. § 31. Oath: agent or attorney in fact, beyond dis- trict of claim The adverse claim required by section 30 of this title may be verified by the oath of any duly authorized agent or attorney in fact of the adverse claimant cognizant of the facts stated; and the adverse claimant, if residing or at the time being beyond the limits of the district wherein the claim is situated, may make oath to the adverse claim before the clerk of any court of record of the United States or of the State or Territory where the adverse claimant may then be, or before any notary public of such State or Territory. (Apr. 26, 1882, ch. 106, § 1, 22 Stat. 49.)