(A) If circumstances alter the highway requirements after the director of transportation has acquired property so that the real property or part of the real property is no longer required for highway purposes, the director, in the name of the state, may sell all the right, title, and interest of the state in any of the real property. After determining that a parcel of real property is no longer required for highway purposes, the director shall have the parcel appraised by a department prequalified appraiser.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the director shall advertise the sale of real property that is no longer required for highway purposes in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the real property is situated for at least two consecutive weeks prior to the date set for the sale. The real property may be sold at public auction to the highest bidder for not less than two-thirds of its appraised value, but the director may reject all bids that are less than the full appraised value of the real property. However, if no sale has been effected after an effort to sell under this division, the director may set aside the appraisal, order a new appraisal, and, except as otherwise provided in this section, readvertise the property for sale.

(C) If real property no longer required for highway purposes is appraised or reappraised as having a current fair market value of twenty thousand dollars or less, the director may sell the real property to the sole abutting owner through a private sale at a price not less than the appraised value. If there is more than one abutting owner, the director may invite all of the abutting owners to submit sealed bids and may sell the real property to the highest bidder at not less than its appraised value.

(D) If real property no longer required for highway purposes is appraised or reappraised as having a fair market value of five thousand dollars or less, and no sale has been effected after an effort to sell to the abutting owner or owners, the director may advertise the sale of the real property in accordance with division (B) of this section. The director may sell the land at public auction to the highest bidder without regard to its appraised value, but the director may reject all bids that are less than the full appraised value of the real property.

(E) The department shall pay all expenses incurred in the sale of a parcel of real property out of the proceeds of the sale and shall deposit the balance of the proceeds in the highway fund used to acquire that parcel of real property.

(F) Upon a determination that real property previously acquired within a highway improvement project corridor no longer is needed for highway purposes, the director may offer the unneeded property to another landowner located within that project’s corridor as full or partial consideration for other real property to be acquired from the landowner. If the landowner accepts the offer, the director shall convey the unneeded property directly to the landowner at the full fair market value determined by the department by appraisal. The director shall credit the value of the unneeded property against the acquisition price of the property being acquired by the department, and the landowner shall pay the department the difference if the value of the unneeded property exceeds the acquisition price of the property being acquired.

(G) Conveyances of real property under this section shall be by a deed executed by the governor, bearing the great seal of the state, and in the form prescribed by the attorney general. The director shall keep a record of all conveyances of real property made under this section. This section applies to all real property acquired by the department, regardless of how or from whom the property was acquired.