MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A
By: Senator(s) Bryan
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 11-17-35 AND 11-17-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE JURISDICTION THAT MAY BE EXERCISED BY THE STATE COURTS IN CERTAIN TITLE DISPUTES PENDING THE SETTLEMENT OF A CLAIM OF TITLE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO RECOGNIZE THE FUNCTION AND APPLICATION OF FEDERAL LAW; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 11-17-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
11-17-35. In * * * suits or other civil actions to
confirm or quiet title to real estate, and to cancel and remove clouds
therefrom, or declare other rights or interests therein, the * * * plaintiff must * * * file and serve a complaint which meets the pleading
requirements of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure that are in effect at
the time the civil action is commenced. To establish and prove his case, the
plaintiff should deraign title to the real estate in question. If
title has passed out of the sovereign more than seventy-five (75) years * * * before the * * * commencement of the * * * action, * * * the deraignment shall be sufficient if it
shows title out of the sovereign and a deraignment of title for not less
than sixty (60) consecutive years * * * next preceding the * * * commencement of the * * * action. * * *
The court may credit evidence of title of reliability substantially
equivalent to the reliability of a competent deraignment if the plaintiff
provides good and valid reason why he * * * cannot deraign his title. In
all such * * *
civil actions, the final * * * judgment
shall include an appropriate legal description of real estate involved in the
civil action and affected by the judgment, and shall be recorded in the * * * land records of the county,
or judicial district where appropriate, as maintained by the chancery clerk,
and shall be indexed as * * *if a other instruments of conveyance of * * * land * * *.
SECTION 2. Section 11-17-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
11-17-37. (1) In
suits or other civil actions to try title, * * * cancel deeds * * * or other clouds upon title, * * * to resolve disputes as to possessory or
use rights or interests, including adverse possession, or to confirm or
quiet right, title or interests to real estate, the chancery court
shall have full jurisdiction to order, adjudge or decree possession * * * or use, or to displace possession or
use, and to decree rents and compensation for improvements and
taxes. In * * * any such civil action, the
jurisdiction of the chancery court shall include the authority to grant
preliminary, temporary or permanent relief, including damages and other
monetary relief as may be equitable, just and proper under the law and the
facts. In all cases of ejectment and other cases where the courts have
exercised jurisdiction that is auxiliary, ancillary or pendent
to the jurisdiction of circuit courts and other courts of common law, * * * the chancery court may exercise * * * jurisdiction * * *, try cases, and grant or deny
the relief sought or otherwise available under the law and the facts,
although the legal remedy may not have been exhausted or the legal title
established by a suit at law.
(2) In suits or other civil actions within the jurisdiction and authority of the chancery court under subsection (1) of this section or otherwise, and subject to subsection (3) of this section, it shall not be a defense or impediment to, or limitation of, the jurisdiction of the chancery court or to the exercise thereof in pre-trial, trial or other proceedings in the civil action, that it may be believed, argued, proved or otherwise suggested that the United States of America may have a right, title or interest in or to the real property, in whole or in part. If a plaintiff or other party should make or plead a claim that may affect a right, title or interest of the United States, the claim or pleading should not be dismissed but, instead, the claim or pleading shall as a matter of law be deemed amended so as to conform to the provisions of this section.
(3) Notwithstanding the jurisdiction and authority granted to the chancery court in this section or otherwise, the sovereign immunity of the United States of America shall be respected as provided by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including any limited or conditional waivers of that sovereign immunity. In the exercise of its jurisdiction, the chancery court shall have no authority to enter a preliminary, temporary or permanent order, judgment or decree that may prejudice or otherwise affect any right, title or interest of the United States of America in or to all or any part of the real estate. As a matter of law, any such order, judgment or decree shall not prejudice or affect any right, title or interest of the United States in the property.
(4) A final order, judgment or decree entered in a civil action under the jurisdiction set forth in this section shall have force and effect as in other civil actions to the full extent of the laws of this state; however, whether and to what extent the order, judgment or decree may be credited by the United States of America is a function of federal law, including, but not limited to, the Federal Color of Title Act and the implementing regulations of the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and any other laws of the United States and regulations implementing them that may be applicable.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.