By Jakob Thorington | State Affairs
The chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee said Monday it may be time to allow the State Land Department to sunset and give it a “fresh start.”
Lawmakers on the committee held a special hearing to review the land department following the department’s performance audit and sunset review, in which auditors found the department failed to develop statutorily required five-year disposition plans dating back to 2011.
“This agency needs a lot of help, and apparently, it dates back to the Napolitano era,” said Rep. Matt Gress, the co-chairman of the committee.
Since 2011, the department has held 97 land sale auctions totaling about $2.6 billion, and lawmakers are questioning whether $2.6 billion is the best the department could do.
“Without long-range disposition planning, the Department risks perpetuating a perception of closed-door decision-making, undermining confidence in the transparency of its actions, and leaving doubt about whether its sales truly represent the highest and best use for the (State Land Trust),” Republican lawmakers wrote in an Oct. 17 letter to the department.
