Missouri Laws 446.175 – Land patent not issued by state, owner may acquire, requirements
1. Any person owning land for which a patent should have been issued by the state but was not may acquire a patent for such land by:
(1) Proving, by affidavits or otherwise, to the satisfaction of the secretary of state, that he, or someone under whom he claims title, purchased the land for which the patent is sought from the state and that the state has been paid for such land; and
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 446.175
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(2) Proving, by affidavits of two disinterested householders of the township in which the land for which a patent is sought is located, that he, and those under whom he claims title, have been in open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, adverse, and hostile possession of all of such land for the period of ten years immediately prior to the time of applying for a patent under this section, and that during such time no other person has ever set up or made any claim to such land, or any portion thereof, which is hostile or adverse to the title of the applicant and those under whom he claims title.
2. When an applicant has complied with subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section, the secretary of state shall issue the patent requested.
3. The provisions of this section shall only apply when the records in the office of the secretary of state show that the land in question is state land which has not been disposed of to any other person and when all documents and proofs required by this section have been filed in the land department of the secretary of state and preserved among the records thereof.