Section 49-2-2 - Corporate powers enumeratedThey shall be bodies corporate and politic under the respective names designated in the decrees by which they were incorporated, and shall have and possess the following powers:
A. to sue and be sued in their corporate names;B. to sell, convey, lease, mortgage or otherwise dispose of so much of the land of the grant under their management and control as is held in common by the owners and proprietors. Provided, however, that no sale of the lands held in common can be made to persons who are nonheirs of the grant unless a majority of such heirs present at a mass meeting to be called fifteen (15) days in advance thereof by the president of the board of trustees vote in favor of any proposed sale to nonheirs, and provided, further, that no lease of the lands held in common can be made to any person whatsoever for a period of time exceeding twenty (20) years; provided, further, nevertheless, that as to any oil and gas lease executed upon lands held in common where oil and gas or either of them in commercial quantities is being, or shall be, produced from lands covered by said lease, then and in such event, this limitation as to the period of time shall not apply as to any such oil and gas lease so long as oil or gas or either of them is being produced in commercial quantities from said land;
C. to make such rules and regulations, not in conflict with the constitution and laws of the United States or the state of New Mexico, as may be necessary for the protection, improvement and management of such common lands and real estate and the use and enjoyment thereof, and of the common waters thereon;D. to make such assessments against the owners and proprietors as may be necessary to defray the expenses of conducting the business, and to make any other obligations of said corporation and to enforce the payment thereof by such owners and proprietors by suit against any owner and proprietor brought in the name of the corporation before a justice of the peace [magistrate court] or in the district court of the county in which such land grant is situated;E. to have a corporate seal in such form and device as shall be adopted by the board of trustees of such corporation;F. to determine the number of animals that may be permitted to graze upon the common lands of the grant, and the price which shall be paid to [by] the owner of such animals for the privilege of grazing thereon, provided, such price shall be uniform to all owners and proprietors;G. by district court action under rules of civil procedure to determine by name the various persons who are of the class of owners and proprietors having beneficial interest in land of the grant under their management and control, and to determine persons of the class who are eligible to become owners and proprietors by descent from the class who were determined to be the owners thereof at the time of the incorporation of such grant.Laws 1917, ch. 3, § 2; C.S. 1929, § 29-202; Laws 1933, ch. 47, § 1; 1939, ch. 109, § 1; 1941 Comp., § 9-202; 1953 Comp., § 8-2-2; Laws 1961, ch. 158, § 1.