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The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency that manages 13 million acres of land owned by the Texas government.
Additionally, the GLO keeps records of land grants and titles and manages The Alamo historic site in San Antonio.
Land Commissioner
The General Land Office is headed by an elected officer, the General Land Commissioner, who serves a four year term.
The current commissioner is Dawn Buckingham, a former state senator.
As an independent elected official, the Land Commissioner is accountable directly to the voters and not to the governor.
This system of a plural executive branch makes the Texas state government structurally different from the federal system, which has a unitary executive.
Budget and Personnel
The General Land Office had a budget of $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023.
The General Land Office has 798 authorized staff positions.
Management of Public Lands
The General Land Office leases public land for a variety of purposes, including for oil production, wind energy, geothermal power, and agriculture. The GLO uses revenues from these activities to support the state’s Permanent School Fund.
Veterans Land Board
In addition to leading the GLO itself, the Texas land commissioner chairs the board of the Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB).
The VLB was created in 1946 to help make land available to World War II veterans. Today it runs financial services programs, owns four cemeteries, and runs eight veterans homes.
Role in Disaster Recovery
In recent years the General Land Office has served as Texas’ lead agency for managing disaster recovery grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In the wake of major hurricanes and wildfires, GLO has overseen grant programs for housing redevelopment, rehabilitation of homes, buyouts/acquisitions, and reimbursements.
GLO also undertook infrastructure activities including flood and drainage improvements, water and wastewater treatment plants, and road-building.
The Alamo
In 2011, the Texas Legislature tasked the General Land Office with management and maintenance of the Alamo, transferring control from the Daughters of the Texas Republic.
The Alamo is the site of a famous battle of the Texas Revolution and consists of a Spanish mission church that the defenders used as a fortress during the battle.
History
Texas has more public land than most other Western states because it existed as an independent republic before it was annexed by the United States in 1845. It kept control of all its public lands after annexation.
All federal land in Texas, such as military bases and National Parks, were acquired by purchase or donation. The General Land Office manages about four times as much acreage in Texas as the federal government.
The Texas Congress established the General Land Office in December 1836, making the GLO the oldest existing Texas public agency.
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Address and Contact
- Head Office: 1700 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701-1495
- Mailing Address: PO Box 12873 Austin, TX 78711-2873
- Phone: 800-998-4456
- Website: https://www.glo.texas.gov/
