Section 29-15-7 - Map of public trust tidelands; boundary challenges(1) The Secretary of State, in cooperation with other state agencies, shall prepare a Preliminary Map of Public Trust Tidelands. The preliminary map shall depict the boundary as the current mean high water line where shoreline is undeveloped and in developed areas or where there have been encroachments, such maps shall depict the boundary as the determinable mean high water line nearest the effective date of the Coastal Wetlands Protection Act.(2) The state recognizes that the boundary of the public trust tidelands is ambulatory and that the natural inland expansion of tide waters over land not previously subject to the ebb and flow of the tide increases the land subject to the public trust, while natural accretion, the gradual and imperceptible accumulation of land by natural causes, and natural reliction, the increase of land by permanent withdrawal or retrocession of tidal waters by natural causes, diminish the land subject to the public trust and increase the property owned by the contiguous upland owner. Likewise, the state recognizes the common law doctrine as it pertains to such tidelands, submerged lands and riparian and littoral rights and declares such to be the law of this state.(3) The preliminary map shall be transmitted to each of the chancery clerks of the coastal counties, and each chancery clerk shall post such map in a public place in his office. The Secretary of State shall also cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within each coastal county a notice announcing that a copy of the Preliminary Map of Public Trust Tidelands is available for public inspection at the office of the chancery clerk of that county, and shall post a similar notice in at least three (3) public places in each coastal county in this state. The preliminary map shall also be open to public inspection at the office of the Secretary of State.(4) The Secretary of State shall allow sixty (60) days after publication of the preliminary map for submission of comments and/or additional documentation and may, at his discretion, revise the map accordingly. Within twenty (20) days of the completion of the period for submission of comments, the Secretary of State shall have incorporated any revisions to the Preliminary Map of Public Trust Tidelands and certify its final adoption. The certified map as finally adopted shall be published as provided hereinabove. The final certified map shall be duly recorded in the land records of the chancery clerks office in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties. Upon recordation, the certified map shall be final to those properties not subject to the trust. The Secretary of State shall issue to all consenting property owners a certificate stating that the described property does not lie within the boundary of the public trust tidelands and is not subject to the trust. The Secretary of State shall duly file such certificates with the proper chancery clerks office for recordation. In addition, the certified map shall be placed in the Secretary of State's permanent register which shall be open to public inspection. Within one hundred twenty (120) days of final adoption of the certified map, the Secretary of State shall determine those property owners whose lands are subject of the public trust and are in violation of such trust. The Secretary of State shall notify all such owners by certified mail and shall include an explanation of the procedure available to the occupant to resolve any dispute with respect to this map. The notice shall also inform occupants that after three (3) years the boundary as set forth in the certified map shall become final unless the occupant has submitted a contrary claim to the office of the Secretary of State. Such property owner shall have six (6) months to negotiate and settle differences with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may allow extensions at his discretion. A boundary determination shall be final upon agreement of the Secretary of State and the owner and an instrument setting forth the boundary agreement shall be duly executed and recorded in the chancery court where the property is located. Any such boundary agreement shall be binding on the state and other parties thereto.(5) If any dispute as to the location of the boundary of the public trust cannot be negotiated and settled between the affected property owners and the Secretary of State within six (6) months after notice by the state of its claim, either the state or a person claiming an interest in the property may apply to the chancery court of the county in which the property is located for a resolution of the dispute and a determination of the location of the boundary. All persons having an interest in the property subject to the dispute shall be made a party to such proceeding. In any such action, the state shall have the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence that any such land is subject to the trust.(6) Nothing in this section is intended to preclude any party from pursuing remedies otherwise available at law, including but not limited to those provided in Sections 11-17-1 et seq., except that if no action is taken by the occupant within three (3) years of receipt of notice as described above, the boundary as determined by the certified map shall become final.Laws, 1989, ch. 495, § 5, eff. 3/31/1989.