The secretary of state is hereby authorized upon the application of any person claiming title under the trust deeds executed by the Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company, to secure its construction bonds, to any lands included in the list of lands certified to the state of Iowa, by the commissioner of the general land office and approved by the secretary of the interior, as selected to satisfy the grant made to the state of Iowa, by Act of Congress approved May 15, 1856, 11 Stat. 9, in aid of the construction of a railroad from Dubuque to Sioux City; to certify said land as inuring to the grantees of the said Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company, which certificate shall be signed by the governor, and attested by the secretary of state, with the seal of the state, and deliver the same to such applicant who is hereby authorized to have said certificate recorded in the county in which the land so certified is situated, and when so recorded, shall be notice to all persons the same as deeds now are, and shall be evidence of the title from the state of Iowa to any person deriving title to said land under the Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company, to the land therein described under the grant of Congress by which the land was certified to the state so far as the certified lists made by the commissioner aforesaid, conferred title to the state, but where lands embraced in such lists are not of the character embraced by such Acts of Congress or the Acts of the general assembly of the state, and are not intended to be granted thereby, the lists so far as these lands are concerned, shall be void; nor shall the secretary include, in any of the lists so certified to the state, lands which have been adjudicated by the proper courts to belong to any other grant, or adjudicated to belong to any county or individual under the swampland grant, or any homestead or preemption settlement; nor shall said certificate so issued confer any right or title as against any person or company having any vested right, either legal or equitable, to any of the lands so certified.
Iowa Code § 9G.12
2006 Acts, ch 1010, § 5