§ 72-5-201. Purpose statement.

(1)

(a) The Legislature recognizes that highways provide tangible benefits to private and public lands of the state by providing access, allowing development, and facilitating production of income.

(b) Many of those highways traverse state lands, including lands held by the state in trust for the school children and public institutions of the state.

(c) Many of the existing highways have been previously established without an official grant of an easement or right of entry from this state, yet these highways often are the only access to private and public lands of the state.

(2) The Legislature intends to establish a means for ensuring continued access to the private and public lands of the state for the good of the people, while fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities toward the schoolchildren by protecting their trust holdings against loss.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 270, 1998 General Session