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Senate panel approves bill lowering heir-property threshold to sell timber from 80% to 60%
Summary
Senate Bill 282, amended to add Representative Bragg as a cosponsor, would reduce the percentage of localized ownership required to sell timber on heir property from 80% to 60%. Sponsor Senator Trent Garner said the change addresses difficulties locating distant heirs; proceeds are placed in the county courthouse for three years and, if unclaimed, revert to county general revenue. The committee passed the bill as amended by voice vote.
The Arkansas Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee approved Senate Bill 282 as amended to lower the ownership threshold required to sell timber when heirs or co-owners cannot be located.
Senator Trent Garner (District 27) presented the bill and the amendment to add Representative Bragg as a cosponsor. Garner told the committee that heir-property situations—where multiple descendants hold small undivided interests and some heirs cannot be located—make it effectively impossible to obtain the prior 80% ownership threshold for a timber contract. "People I've talked to in this industry can usually get 60 to 65% located fairly easy, but it's a last little bit," he said, arguing the bill would allow owners to thin and replant timber to restore value while protecting the landowner's interest in the underlying property.
Garner described the statutory process included in the bill: a 30-day notice in the local paper giving any claimant a chance to come forward; the buyer places proceeds in the county courthouse registry for three years; the unclaimed funds remain available to the missing owner during that period, and if not claimed after three years the money goes to county general revenue. "At the end of that 3 years, if they have not claimed that money, it goes to that county to be used in their general revenue," Garner said.
Senator Malek asked whether someone could still make a claim after the funds had been placed in the courthouse or after the three-year period; Garner replied he did not believe a claim could be made after the three years and that the funds would be retained by the county.
The committee voted to adopt the amendment and then to pass SB282 as amended by voice vote. The chair announced the motion carried; the transcript does not include a roll-call tally. After passage, the chair congratulated Senator Garner. The transcript contains an inconsistent first-name reference to the sponsor later in the session (both "Trent" and "Jeff" appear), and the committee record should be checked if a precise staff or formal record is needed.
