Burguete v. Del Curto

We have stated in more than one case that the Commissioner of Public Lands has "absolute dominion" over this state's lands. We qualified this in Ellison v. Ellison, 48 N.M. 80, 146 P.2d 173, by stating "subject to an appeal" of course to the State Supreme Court. But this dangerous doctrine should be clarified. The Commissioner has absolute dominion over the public lands only in the sense that he is the only one who is authorized to sell or lease such lands. The fact is the law sells the land, and the Commissioner has only such affirmative authority as is given to him under the Constitution…