MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Public Property
By: Representative Weathersby
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 29-1-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ELIMINATE THE WAITING PERIOD FOR ACTION ON APPLICATIONS FOR THE PURCHASE OF TAX FORFEITED LANDS FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 29-1-85 AND 29-1-87, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE REFUND PROCEDURE FOR CANCELLATION OF PATENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 29-1-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-1-37 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person desiring to purchase any state-forfeited tax land shall make application in writing to the Secretary of State for the purchase of such land, and shall state in such application:
(a) A correct description of the land sought to be purchased.
(b) The name of the former owner and the name of the person to whom such land was assessed at the time of such tax sale, and the post office address of such former owner and the post office address of the person to whom such land was assessed at the time of such sale, if known to the applicant.
(c) Whether or not such land is occupied at the date of the filing of such application, and the name of the person occupying such land, if any.
(d) The nature and value of the improvements on such land.
(e) The approximate quantity of the merchantable timber on such land, if any.
(f) Any other special information as the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Governor, may require.
Each application shall be signed by the applicant and shall contain a declaration that the statements and information submitted in the application are true and correct and are made under penalty of perjury. The Secretary of State may require any additional information with reference to the value of such lands, the nature and condition of the buildings and improvements on such lands, and the value of the timber on such lands as he may deem necessary. Such applications shall be filed by the Secretary of State in the order in which they are received. Each application shall be given a serial number and shall be entered on a record book on the day it is received. The record book shall show the name of the applicant, the serial number of the application, and the county in which the property is situated.
* * *
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Governor, may dispose of any state-forfeited tax land by sealed bids after three (3) weeks' advertisement in a newspaper in the county in which such land is located.
(3) The Secretary of State may sell state-forfeited tax land by online auction. The Secretary of State may establish procedures and adopt administrative rules for the sale of state-forfeited tax land by online auction.
SECTION 2. Section 29-1-85, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-1-85.
If the title to any public land * * *
sold by the state through the * * * State Fiscal Officer or * * * Secretary of State or by any
municipality shall fail, or shall have failed, not including land forfeited
to the state for the nonpayment of ad valorem taxes, the state or such
municipality, as the case may be, shall refund the purchase money to its vendee
or his heirs or assigns; and if no profits have been received from said lands,
then all taxes shall be returned also, and all fees paid, with interest at six * * * percent (6%) per annum.
Except as provided in this chapter, the question of failure of title can only
be determined in a suit filed in the county in which the land is situated, and
the * * *
Secretary of State or the municipality, as the case may be, shall be
made a party to every such suit. Where such failure of title shall have been
caused by the cancellation of a contract or a patent issued by the state, or a
deed from the municipality, under the requirements of any law or decree of a
chancery court of this state, directing cancellation in favor of prior
purchasers, or through the failure of the state's title, or the title of the
municipality, as the case may be, where such failure shall have been caused by
the striking of the land from the state land rolls under the requirements of
any law of this state, the failure of title so caused shall not be required to
be determined by decree of court.
SECTION 3. Section 29-1-87, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-1-87.
(1) If the State of Mississippi, through the * * * State Fiscal Officer or * * * Secretary of State's
office, has heretofore issued or shall hereafter issue a patent or patents for
any lands to which the state holds no title, or which did not belong to it at
the time of the issuance of such patent or patents, or any part of which land
may have caved into the river before the issuance of such patent or patents, or
by oversight or otherwise two (2) patents may have been or may hereafter
be issued therefor, the * * *Land Commissioner Secretary of State shall investigate
the case and report to the Attorney General, who, if he shall find the lands so
patented did not belong to the state, shall so report to the * * * Secretary of State.
If the * * * Secretary of State shall find that such lands or
any part thereof had caved into the river before the issuance of such patent,
or that the patentee did not acquire any land or title under such patent, he
shall mark such patent or patents or, in case of the loss of the original, a
certified copy of such patents, "cancelled," and * * * refund to the purchaser the
amount paid to and retained by the state for such cancelled patent or patents,
if any. The * * * Secretary of State shall certify all such
cancellations to the clerk of the chancery court of the county in which said
patents have been recorded, and said clerk shall thereupon cancel the record of
it. That part of the purchase price paid to the * * * local
government entities by the * * * Secretary of State
shall be refunded to the purchaser of such lands by the * * * local governmental entities
having received such funds. Any fees paid to the local governmental entities
shall be refunded to the purchaser by the recipient of such fees. When
only a part of the purchase money is refunded, it shall be first noted by the * * * Secretary of State in
ink across the face of such patent and then noted by the chancery clerk upon
the record of patent, cancelling it in such proportion only.
(2) Except as provided in this chapter, the question of failure of title can only be determined in a suit filed in the county in which the land is situated, and the Secretary of State or municipality, as the case may be, shall be made a party to every such suit. Where such failure of title shall have been caused by the cancellation of a contract or a patent issued by the state, under the requirements of any law or decree of a chancery court of this state, directing cancellation in favor of prior purchasers, or through the failure of the state's title, as the case may be, where such failure shall have been caused by the striking of the land from the state land rolls under the requirements of any law of this state, the failure of title so caused shall not be required to be determined by decree of court.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.