1. It shall be unlawful for any county of the third or fourth class to own real estate situated in any other county of this state other than a county which adjoins it after five years from October 13, 1963, or after five years from the date of acquisition of the real estate, whichever date last occurs. If any county subject to these provisions fails to dispose of such real estate within that time, the sheriff of the county in which the land is located shall take possession of the real estate and sell it at public auction from the place where and at the hour when partition sales are normally conducted after giving notice of the sale in the manner prescribed for partition sales both in the county where the land is located and in the county owning the real estate. Proceeds from the sale shall first be applied to paying the costs of notices herein prescribed, then to a sheriff’s sale fee not to exceed one hundred dollars and approved by the circuit court of the county wherein the real estate is located, then to the county owning the real estate. However, all oil, gas and mineral rights shall be reserved to the county when said real estate is sold. The county may, however, lease said rights to third parties and the oil, gas and minerals sold under said lease shall revert to the general revenue fund of the county.

2. The circuit court of the county wherein the real estate is situated may upon the application of the county commission owning the real estate and for good cause shown restrain the sheriff of the county from proceeding with the provisions of subsection 1 for such time as may be reasonable if it appears that the county owning the real estate has entered into a valid contract for the sale of the real estate which will be completed within a reasonable time after the five-year limit set forth above.