TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
STATE OF FLORIDA

TIITF RESERVATIONS ON MURPHY DEEDS

On August 18, 1997 Senator James T. Hargrett, Chairman of the Transportation Committee, Florida Senate, held a hearing in Tampa, Florida regarding Murphy Act road right of way reservations for easement. I attended this meeting.

At this hearing a representative from the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the Department of State Lands/Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), made the following statements:

1.) Murphy Act deeds contained only a reservation for a future easement not an actual easement;

2.) That an easement would not be created or exist until a survey was done, a legal description made, and it was deeded out to some government entity who requested it for a road project.

According to these statements, until a reservation is asserted and an easement is identified by a legal description and deeded out, there is no actual existing easement. The reservation would secure the State's interest until an easement was deeded out.

On August 25, 1997 I wrote a letter to FDEP and to Gary Cochran about these statements. I was seeking clarification. He ignored my letter for a legal response from the General Counsel. I sent a follow-up request and it also was ignored.

Was the representative's statements true then and not now?

Were they not true then and now?

Please give me a legal answer to the representative's statements.

I will post here their response.

Contact:
Gary Reckart
acts0412@jmfi.org
813-238-2783
813-714-9887 (Cell)

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