HJR501 Summary

• Urges Congress to annually indemnify each of Alabama's 67 counties from Gulf of Mexico offshore royalty revenues for lost sixteenth section lands originally designated for schools when Alabama was admitted to the Union on March 2, 1819.

• Allocates approximately 13,881 acres per county as the baseline for compensation calculations, with indemnification amounts calculated by subtracting existing sixteenth section acres from this baseline and multiplying by $1,009 per acre.

• Federal government received $14.5 billion in offshore royalty revenues in fiscal year 2008; resolution requests Congress indemnify based on one-sixteenth of such annual revenues, totaling approximately $906 million based on 2008 figures.

• Specifies individual county indemnification amounts ranging from $7,663,355 (Walker) to $14,005,929 (multiple counties), with safeguards requiring funds increase rather than replace existing state and local education funding.

• Designates Alabama Attorney General as oversight authority for collection and distribution procedures; requests state Congressional Delegation actively pursue legislation and administrative action to secure compensation.