AN ACT to provide for the relinquishment of jurisdiction over certain
lands lying in Lee County, State of Iowa, to the State of Missouri.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa:
SECTION 1. The Des Moines river in its present course, as
heretofore declared by the Congress of the United States, shall be
and remain the true boundary line between the State of Missouri and
the State of Iowa.
SEC. 2. The State of Iowa hereby relinquishes all jurisdiction
to all lands in Lee County lying south and west of the Des Moines
River, being south and east of the east and west boundary line
between the States of Iowa and Missouri.
SEC. 3. The title of record in Missouri to any lands, the
jurisdiction of which is relinquished to the State of Iowa, shall be
accepted as the record title by the courts of Iowa.
SEC. 4. Nothing in this act shall be deemed or construed to
affect pending litigation, if any, affecting the title to any of the
land being relinquished by the State of Missouri to the State of
Iowa. Provided further that any matter now in controversy and
affecting the title to the land being relinquished by the State of
Missouri to the State of Iowa shall be continued in the courts of the
State of Missouri until the final determination thereof and such
final determination shall be accepted by the courts of the State of
Iowa with full force and effect.
SEC. 5. The land being relinquished to the State of Iowa, upon
which taxes have been lawfully imposed in the State of Missouri
during the year preceding transfer, shall not thereafter be subject
to the imposition of taxes in the State of Iowa until the next
succeeding year.
SEC. 6. The effective date of the relinquishment of jurisdiction
over the lands herein described shall be midnight of the thirty-first
(31st) day of December following the passage of the Act of Congress
approving the relinquishment of jurisdiction.
SEC. 7. This Act shall be void and of no effect unless a similar
Act relinquishing and waiving to the State of Iowa all claim of
jurisdiction over land lying north and east of the Des Moines River
is passed by the legislature of the State of Missouri at its present
session.
SEC. 8. (Effective on publication, April 23, 1939.)
AN ACT authorizing the compromising and settling of a controversy
between the State of Missouri and the State of Iowa over a part of
the boundary between said states caused by a shifting of the channel
of the Des Moines River and providing for the re-affirmance and
re-establishing of said boundary line as being the Des Moines River,
as heretofore established by Congress, and providing for the
relinquishment of all claim of jurisdiction by Missouri to all lands
lying north and east of the Des Moines River, and providing that the
title of record in Iowa to any lands, the jurisdiction of which is
relinquished by the State of Missouri, shall be accepted as the
record title by the Courts of the State of Missouri, and providing
further for the disposition of pending litigation, and providing for
the jurisdiction of the courts over said land, the imposition of
taxes thereon, and the effective date of this Act, and providing that
said Act shall be void and of no effect unless a similar Act is
passed by the Legislature of the State of Iowa, at its present
session, relinquishing all claim of jurisdiction over all land lying
south and west of the Des Moines River, with an emergency clause, and
declaring this to be a revision bill, and also a subject matter
recommended by the Governor in a special message to the General
Assembly.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri,
as follows:
SECTION 1. The Des Moines River shall be the true boundary line
as between Missouri and Iowa.
Sec. 2. The State of Missouri hereby relinquishes all
jurisdiction to all lands lying north and east of the Des Moines
River.
Sec. 3. The title of record in Iowa to any lands, the
jurisdiction of which is relinquished to the State of Missouri, shall
be accepted as the record title by the Courts of the State of
Missouri.
Sec. 4. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed or construed to
affect pending litigation, if any, affecting the title to any of the
land being relinquished by the State of Iowa to the State of
Missouri. Provided further that any matter now in controversy and
affecting the title to the land being relinquished by the State of
Iowa to the State of Missouri shall be continued in the courts of the
State of Iowa until the final determination thereof, and such final
determination shall be accepted by the Courts of the State of
Missouri with full force and effect.
Sec. 5. The land being relinquished to the State of Missouri,
upon which taxes have been lawfully imposed in the State of Iowa
during the year preceding transfer, shall not thereafter be subject
to the imposition of taxes in the State of Missouri until the next
succeeding year.
Sec. 6. The effective date of the relinquishment of
jurisdiction over the land herein described shall be midnight of the
thirty-first (31st) day of December following the passage of the Act
of Congress approving the relinquishment of jurisdiction.
Sec. 7. This Act shall be void and of no effect unless a
similar act relinquishing and waiving to the State of Missouri, all
claim of jurisdiction over land in Lee County, Iowa, lying south and
west of the Des Moines River is passed by the Legislature of the
State of Iowa at its present session.
Sec. 8. A controversy existing between the Courts of the State
of Missouri and the Courts of the State of Iowa as to which has
jurisdiction over certain land abutting upon the Des Moines River and
between the County of Lee in Iowa and the County of Clark in Missouri
as to the right to levy and collect taxes on said land and so that
the public peace may be preserved, creates and there is an emergency
which exists within the meaning of the Constitution and this Act
shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and
approval.
Sec. 9. By reason of revising the Statutes relating to
boundaries of counties and settling a dispute as to the boundary
between this state and the State of Iowa which is the northern
boundary of Clark County, the General Assembly hereby declares this
bill to be a revision bill within the meaning of Section 41, Article
IV, of the Constitution of Missouri; and also, this bill has in
pursuance of Section 41, Article IV, of the Constitution of Missouri
been recommended by the Governor, by special message, for the
consideration of the General Assembly.
[House committee substitute for Senate Bill No. 350. Effective
June 16, 1939.]
Whereas, under date of December 13, 1937, the State of
Missouri commenced suit against the State of Iowa in the Supreme
Court of the United States for the purpose of determining the
boundary line between the County of Clark in the State of Missouri
and the County of Lee in the State of Iowa; and
Whereas, by stipulation filed in the said Supreme Court of the
United States, it was proposed that the legislature of Iowa and the
legislature of Missouri pass like bills, the State of Missouri
waiving and relinquishing to the State of Iowa all jurisdiction to
lands lying North and East of the Des Moines River, now in the County
of Clark, State of Missouri, and the State of Iowa waiving and
relinquishing to the State of Missouri all lands lying South and West
of the Des Moines River, and now in the County of Lee, State of Iowa,
and that said Acts be submitted to the Congress of the United States
for its approval; and
Whereas, in accordance with said stipulation, the Forty-eighth
General Assembly of the State of Iowa did at such session pass such
Act, this Act being known and designated as House File No. 651, Acts
of the Forty-eighth General Assembly of Iowa, bearing the signatures
of John R. Irwin, Speaker of the House; Bourke B. Hickenlooper,
President of the Senate; and the signature and approval of George A.
Wilson, Governor of Iowa, under date of April 18th, 1939, said Act
being thereupon properly published and becoming law under date of
April 23, 1939; and
Whereas, said Act provided in substance that the Des Moines
River in its present course as heretofore declared by the Congress of
the United States, shall be and remain the true boundary line between
the State of Missouri and the State of Iowa; that the State of Iowa
relinquishes all jurisdiction to all lands in Lee County lying South
and West of the Des Moines River, being South and East of the East
and West boundary line between the States of Iowa and Missouri, and
that the effective date of the relinquishment of jurisdiction shall
be as of midnight of the 31st day of December following the passage
of the Act of Congress approving the relinquishment of jurisdiction;
and
Whereas, in accordance with stipulation as aforesaid, the
Sixtieth General Assembly of the State of Missouri did, at such
session, pass a like Act, this Act being known and designated as
Senate Bill 350 of the Acts of the Sixtieth General Assembly of
Missouri and bearing the signature and approval of Lloyd C. Stark,
Governor of Missouri, under the date of June 16, 1939; and
Whereas, said Act provides in substance that the Des Moines
River shall be the true boundary line as between Missouri and Iowa;
that the State of Missouri relinquishes all jurisdiction to all lands
lying North and East of the Des Moines River and that the effective
date of the relinquishment of jurisdiction over the land herein
described shall be as of midnight of the 31st day of December
following the passage of the Act of Congress approving the
relinquishment of jurisdiction; and
Whereas, the said Acts of the States of Iowa and Missouri
constitute an agreement between said States establishing a boundary
between said States; Therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the consent of
the Congress is hereby given to such agreement and to the
establishment of such boundary; and said Acts of the States of Iowa
and Missouri are hereby approved. [Pub. Res. No. 47, 76th Congress.]
Approved, August 10, 1939.