House Bill 10

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 89-27-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WITH OVERSIGHT FOR "THE MISSISSIPPI FOREIGN LAND OWNERSHIP ACT"; TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THIS ACT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE AGRICULTURAL LAND; TO AMEND SECTION 89-27-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE AUTHORITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO MANAGE THE ACT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 89-7-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES DEFINITIONS FOR THE ACT, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 89-7-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES REAL ESTATE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 89-7-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR DUTY TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER LAND IS PURCHASED BY A NONRESIDENT ALIEN; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 89-27-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

89-27-7. (1) The Mississippi Office of the * * *~~Secretary of State~~ Department of Agriculture shall be charged with the oversight of this chapter. Upon notice of a violation of the provisions herein, the * * *~~Secretary of State~~ Department of Agriculture shall issue a formal demand on the nonresident alien requiring the nonresident alien to comply herein within the time and manner prescribed. If the provisions of this chapter are silent to the time period a nonresident alien has to dispose of acquired forest or agricultural land within the State of Mississippi, or to bring the interest of a nonresident alien, which is held in a corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, trustee or other business entity, below a majority interest, the time to comply shall be set at one (1) year. Failure to comply with the disposition of forest or agricultural land within the State of Mississippi after receiving notice shall trigger the * * *~~Secretary of State~~ Department of Agriculture or his or her agent to formally notify the Attorney General with a specific request for enforcement actions to begin.

(2) Upon notification received by the Attorney General, the nonresident alien shall be issued fines in the amount as set forth below:

First Offense....................... $ 100,000.00 - $250,000.00

Second Offense...................... $ 250,000.00 - $750,000.00

Third and Subsequent Offense......... $ 750,000.00 - $5,000,000.00

Fines shall be payable within thirty (30) days of the date of institution of the fine and shall be filed on the judgment rolls of the county where the property is located. Following the conclusion of the thirty-day period, the Attorney General shall begin the judicial taking of the property by filing a civil forfeiture action in the Chancery Court where the property is so located or in the Hinds County Chancery Court, whichever is convenient to the State of Mississippi. The entry of the final order of civil forfeiture shall extinguish the lien of the fine on the property, but shall not extinguish the fine on the nonresident alien. No mortgage, lien, privilege or other security interest recognized under the laws of this state and no ownership interest in division, lease, servitude, usufruct, right to use, bond or deed or other real rights shall be affected by a forfeiture or disposition pursuant to this section.

(3) (a) The Attorney General shall promptly record a copy of the following in the land records of the county in which the agricultural land is located: (i) the notice of pendency of an action and (ii) the order for the sale of the agricultural land as provided by this section.

(b) The proceeds of the sale of agricultural land by judicial taking authorized by this section shall be disbursed to lien holders, in the order of priority, except for liens which under the terms of the sale are to remain on the agricultural land.

(4) In addition the penalties provided in this section, any non-resident alien owning forest and agricultural land in violation of Section 89-27-5 after the July 1, 2024, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction shall be fined no less than Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00).

( * * *35) The * * *~~Secretary of State~~ Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter.

SECTION 2. Section 89-27-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

89-27-5. (1) A nonresident alien may acquire a possessory interest in forest or agricultural land by devise or inheritance, as security for indebtedness, in the collection of debts or by any procedure for the enforcement of a lien or claim thereon, whether created by mortgage or otherwise.

(2) Any such possessory interest in forest or agricultural land acquired by a nonresident alien in the collection of debts or by any procedure for the enforcement of a lien or claim thereon shall be disposed of within two (2) years after acquiring such possessory interest.

(3) Any such possessory interest in forest or agricultural land acquired by a nonresident alien by devise or inheritance shall be disposed of within one (1) year after acquiring such possessory interest.

(4) A nonresident alien that acquires a possessory interest in forest or agricultural land pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may avoid disposing of such interest if, within the time required for disposal, such nonresident alien terminates said nonresident alien status or disposes of such shared interest as to no longer retain the majority part of interest thereof.

(5) Ownership of a majority part or majority interest in forest or agricultural land by a nonresident alien, outside of the provisions allowed by subsections (1) through (4) of this section, shall be prohibited. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall trigger the * * *~~Secretary of State~~ Department of Agriculture to issue a formal demand with notice of the violation to the nonresident alien. Failure to comply with the disposition of forest or agricultural land within the State of Mississippi after receiving notice shall trigger the * * *~~Secretary of State~~ Department of Agriculture to formally notify the Attorney General with a specific request for enforcement actions to begin.

SECTION 3. Section 89-7-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

89-7-3. A tenant shall not be bound to pay rent for buildings after their destruction by fire or otherwise, nor shall a covenant or promise by a lessee to leave or restore the premises in good repair have the effect to bind him to erect or pay for such buildings as may be so destroyed, unless in respect to the matters aforesaid there was negligence or fault on his part, or unless he has expressly stipulated to be so bound.

SECTION 4. Section 89-7-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

89-7-9. When a tenant for life who shall have demised lands, shall die on or after the day when any rent became payable, his executor or administrator may recover from the under-tenant the whole rent due; and if he die before the day when any rent is to become due, he may recover the proportion of the rent which accrued before the time of the death of the tenant. The tenant for the life of another, his executor or administrator, in case of the death of the person for whose life the estate is held, on or before the day when any rent shall become due shall have like remedy; and a like apportionment shall be made in the case of annuities.

SECTION 5. Section 89-7-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

89-7-11. If a person lease his land and die, the rent to accrue for the land during the year of his death shall be payable to the personal representative of the decedent, who shall have the same remedy therefor as the decedent would have had if he had lived.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.