Also known as: public trusts · public trust doctrine
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A position of public responsibility or governmental office. The Constitution requires that all federal and state officers take an oath to support the Constitution before assuming any such position.
A doctrine under which the state holds title to certain lands and waters, such as submerged lands and beaches, in trust for public use in navigation, fishing, and recreation. The doctrine prevents alienation of those resources in ways that impair public rights and persists even after private ownership claims arise.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
A position of public responsibility or governmental office. The Constitution requires that all federal and state officers take an oath to support the Constitution before assuming any such position.
Perry Pratt seeks appointment to a federal regulatory commission. The Senate confirms him but conditions the appointment on his taking the required oath. Pratt takes the oath to support the Constitution before assuming the position. The appointment is valid only because he has satisfied the constitutional requirement for any public trust.
A doctrine under which the state holds title to certain lands and waters, such as submerged lands and beaches, in trust for public use in navigation, fishing, and recreation. The doctrine prevents alienation of those resources in ways that impair public rights and persists even after private ownership claims arise.
A state attempts to convey title to submerged coastal lands to a private developer for exclusive resort use. The court holds the conveyance invalid. The state holds the lands in public trust and cannot alienate them in a manner that impairs public navigation and fishing rights.
The phrase refers to any position of public responsibility or governmental office. Officers must take an oath to support the Constitution before assuming such a position.
A municipality closes a portion of shoreline to private development that would block public passage. The court upholds access rights. The shore is held in public trust for recreation and the restriction preserves those rights without improper alienation.
A landowner seeks to fill shoreline wetlands for private construction. Regulators deny the permit to protect public rights. The court sustains the denial because the state holds the waters and adjacent lands in public trust for fishing and recreation.
Philip Powell owns shoreland property and seeks to fill wetlands to build a home. The county denies the permit under a shoreland zoning ordinance designed to protect navigable waters. The court upholds the denial because the state holds the waters and adjacent wetlands in public trust and may regulate to preserve them for fishing, recreation, and scenic beauty.
A developer acquires title to former submerged lands and seeks to exclude all public entry. The court recognizes continuing public rights. Title remains subject to the public trust even after private acquisition, preserving navigation and recreation uses.
The doctrine prevents states from alienating submerged lands or beaches in ways that impair public rights to navigation, fishing, and recreation. Private owners take title subject to those continuing public rights.
No. Many states extend the doctrine to navigable freshwater lakes and rivers as well. The scope varies by state but always protects public rights in the covered resources.
…parcel along the California coast would penalize the Commission for its flexibility, hampering the ability to fulfill its public trust mandate. The Court's demand for this precise fit is based on the assumption that private landowners in this case possess a reasonable expectation regarding the use of their land that the…