[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 4]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR644.67]

[Page 150-151]
 
                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
              CHAPTER V--DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 644--REAL ESTATE HANDBOOK--Table of Contents
 
                         Subpart C--Acquisition
 
Sec. 644.67  Approval of Title by the Attorney General.

    (a) General. Section 355 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States, as amended (40 U.S.C. 255), formerly required the written 
opinion of the Attorney General in favor of the validity of the title to 
lands as a prerequisite to the expenditure of public funds thereon.
    (b) Delegation. Pursuant to the provisions of Pub. L. 91-393, 
approved September 1, 1970, authority to approve title to lands being 
acquired for the use of the Department of the Army, or of any other 
department or agency for which the Department of the Army is authorized 
to acquire land, has been delegated to the Department of the Army, 
subject to the supervision and review of the Attorney General. 
Generally, military authorization and/or appropriation legislation 
expressly authorizes construction on the land prior to approval of 
title.
    (c) Redelegation. The authority delegated to the Department of the 
Army pursuant to Pub. L. 91-393 has been redelegated to Division and 
District Engineers with real estate responsibility.

[[Page 151]]

    (d) Issuance of Title Opinions. Division and District Engineers are 
authorized to designate staff attorneys to give written approval of the 
sufficiency of title to land for the purposes for which the property is 
being acquired. Such attorneys shall issue preliminary and/or final 
opinions of title.
    (1) Attorneys designated for such purposes will have as a minimum 
five years legal experience, from the date of admission to a State bar, 
including three years experience in the law of real property. Real 
estate attorneys on the staffs of Division and District Engineers, who 
possess these qualifications, will be designated by the Division and 
District Engineers, in writing, to pass on the sufficiency of title to 
lands pursuant to the said delegation. The names of such attorneys shall 
be furnished to HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314 as soon as possible.
    (2) A final opinion of title shall be issued in all acquisitions, 
except for easement acquisitions not in excess of $1,000 which are 
governed by Sec. 644.69(b).
    (3) Division and District Engineers are authorized to waive the 
issuance of written preliminary opinions of title where the closing of 
the case is based upon a certificate of title or title insurance issued 
by an acceptable and approved title company, in either fee or easement 
acquisitions.
    (4) A preliminary and a final opinion of title shall be issued in 
all fee and easement acquisitions involving abstracts of title, except 
for easement acquisitions not in excess of $1,000 which are governed by 
Sec. 644.69(b).
    (5) Any final title opinion issued pursuant to the delegated 
authority shall substantially follow the format of the Attorney's Final 
Title Opinion (Figure 5-3 of ER 405-1-12).
    (e) Opinion of Attorney General. Whenever the District or Division 
Engineer determines that a title defect is of such character that a 
possibility exists that it may be waived, the case shall be submitted to 
HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314 for review and transmittal to the 
Attorney General for a title opinion. The letter of submittal shall 
contain or be accompanied by the information and data required by 
Sec. 644.72(b).
    (f) Rejection Opinion. If it is obvious that no possibility of 
waiver of a title defect exists, a title opinion shall be issued 
according to the procedure set forth in Sec. 644.67(d). Copies of such 
opinion shall be submitted with the condemnation assembly.