Legislative Jurisdiction Database 1946-2018

This database is a list of cessions of legislative jurisdiction to the United States made by the State Lands Commission and retrocessions of legislative jurisdiction accepted from the United States by the Commission under authority granted by Government Code sections 126 and 113 beginning with the effective date of each statute, 1946 and 1967, respectively. Nevertheless, the database is not a complete list of cessions because most cessions, prior to 1946, were made under Political Code section 34 and Chapter 56, Statutes of 1897 and a few by specific legislative action. There was no formal administrative process governing these cessions and as a result, there is no record of the specific lands that were subject to them. This result is particularly pertinent if the inquirer is dealing with federal installations/facilities established prior to 1946.  If you want information about these actions, please contact the Commission’s Legal Division at FederalJurisdiction@slc.ca.gov.

Cessions made before August 30, 1976 have no expiration date and expire only through a retrocession or a sale of the property. Similarly, retrocessions have no expiration date and are considered permanent unless further modified by another retrocession or sale of the property.

Many federal facilities/installations have multiple jurisdictional statutes. This is because the United States frequently acquires lands incrementally over time; that the United States has not always sought a cession of legislative jurisdiction; and that the Legislature has amended the cession statutes over time. Similarly, the United States has not always sought a retrocession over an entire facility/installation. The cessions and retrocessions listed here apply only to those lands described in the Commission’s actions. They do not apply to the entire facility/installation unless it is described in the Commission’s action.

Retrocessions made by the United States under Streets and Highways Code section 77.5 are retrocessions of jurisdiction accepted by the Governor, not the Commission, but are kept on file in the offices of the Commission.  These retrocessions apply only to the streets and highways described in the retrocessions.

The Commission cannot give any legal advice on the consequences of the United States having or not having legislative jurisdiction over a parcel of land. The inquirer should seek legal counsel for this.

Definitions of the various types of legislative jurisdiction, as well as the principal cession and retrocession statutes, can be found on the Federal Legislative Jurisdiction page. If a file is marked as closed, it means that Commission staff believes the installation has closed and the file has been sent to storage. If a copy of the file is desired, please contact Commission staff, who can retrieve it.

The database is searchable and copies of the Commission’s actions are available by clicking on the Minute Item or the icon in the File column of the database. All cessions and retrocessions were made under Government Code sections 126 and 113 unless otherwise noted.