Section 126.  


Latest version.
  • Notwithstanding any other provision of law, general or special, the Legislature of California hereby cedes concurrent criminal jurisdiction to the United States within land held by the United States upon and subject to each and all of the following express limitations, conditions, and reservations, in addition to any other limitations, conditions, or reservations prescribed by law:

    (a) The lands must be held by the United States for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings, or other public purpose within the purview of clause 17 of Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States, or for the establishment, consolidation, and extension of national forests under the act of Congress approved March 1, 1911, (36 Stat. 961) known as the "Weeks Act," or for any other federal purposes.

    (b) The cession must be pursuant to and in compliance with the laws of the United States.

    (c) The United States must in writing have requested the state to cede concurrent criminal jurisdiction within such land and subject to each and all of the conditions and reservations in this section and in Section 7 of Article X of the Constitution prescribed.

    (d) The State Lands Commission is authorized for the state to cede concurrent criminal jurisdiction to the United States, upon having found and declared that the conditions and reservations prescribed in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (g) have occurred and exist and that the cession is in the interest of the state. Certified copies of its orders or resolutions making these findings and declarations shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of each county in which any part of the land is situated. The State Lands Commission shall keep copies of its orders or resolutions and make them available to the public upon request. The purposes for which concurrent criminal jurisdiction is ceded shall be specified in and made a part of the orders or resolutions.

    (e) Jurisdiction ceded pursuant to this section continues only so long as the land continues to belong to the United States and is held by it for the purpose for which jurisdiction is ceded in accordance and in compliance with each and all of the limitations, conditions, and reservations in this section prescribed, or for five years, whichever period is less.

    (f) "Land held by the United States", as used in this section means: (1) lands acquired in fee by purchase or condemnation, (2) lands owned by the United States that are included in the military reservation by presidential proclamation or act of Congress, (3) leaseholds acquired by the United States over private lands or state-owned lands, and (4) any other lands owned by the United States including, but not limited to, public domain lands that are held for a public purpose.

    (g) In ceding concurrent criminal jurisdiction, the Legislature and the state reserve jurisdiction over the land, water, and use of water with full power to control and regulate the acquisition, use, control, and distribution of water with respect to the land affected by the cession.

    (h) In ceding concurrent criminal jurisdiction, the Legislature and the state except and reserve to the state all deposits of minerals, including oil and gas, in the land, and to the state, or persons authorized by the state, the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the deposits from the land.

    (i) Concurrent criminal jurisdiction shall vest when certified copies of the State Lands Commission's orders or resolutions, making such finding or declaration, have been recorded in the office of the county recorder of each county in which any part of the land is situated.

    The finding and declaration of the State Lands Commission provided for in subdivision (d) shall be made only after a public hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be published pursuant to Section 6061 in each county in which the land or any part of the land is situated and a copy of the notice shall be personally served upon the clerk of the board of supervisors of each such county. The State Lands Commission shall make rules and regulations governing the conditions and procedure of the hearings, which shall provide that the cost of publication and service of notice and all other expenses incurred by the commission shall be borne by the United States.

    The provisions of this section do not apply to any land or water areas heretofore or hereafter acquired by the United States for migratory bird reservations in accordance with Sections 10680 to 10685, inclusive, of the Fish and Game Code.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 829, Sec. 24. Effective January 1, 1999.)