Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund v. Stevens

BARKETT, Justice.

We have for review Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund v. Stevens, 472 So.2d 1287 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). The Second District certified the following question as being of great public importance:

Can section 712.03(7) [Florida Statutes (Supp.1978) ] be applied retroactively?

Id. at 1290. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

In July 1983, respondents filed a quiet title action alleging that the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) extinguished the state’s title in the lands in question. The state maintained the lands were sovereignty lands exempt…