Bill Text: MS SB2536 | 2020 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Counties; authorize civil debt for cost of cleaning real property.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2020-06-09 - Died In Committee [SB2536 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2020-SB2536-Engrossed.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: County Affairs; Judiciary, Division A
By: Senator(s) Hill
Senate Bill 2536
(As Passed the Senate)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-5-105, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE COST AND ANY PENALTY AS A RESULT OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CLEANING A PROPERTY MAY BECOME A CIVIL DEBT AGAINST THE PROPERTY OWNER; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO INSTITUTE A SUIT ON OPEN ACCOUNT AGAINST THE PROPERTY OWNER FOR THE COST AND ANY PENALTY, AND TO RECOVER COURT COSTS, REASONABLE ATTORNEY'S FEES AND INTEREST FROM THE DATE THAT THE PROPERTY WAS CLEANED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 19-5-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-5-105. (1) To determine whether property or a parcel of land located within a county is in such a state of uncleanliness as to be a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community, the board of supervisors of any county is authorized and empowered to conduct a hearing on its own motion, or upon the receipt of a petition requesting the board of supervisors to act signed by a majority of the residents eighteen (18) years of age or older, residing upon any street or alley, within reasonable proximity of any property alleged to be in need of cleaning, or within seven hundred fifty (750) feet of the precise location of the alleged menace situated on any parcel of land which is located in a populated area or in a housing subdivision and alleged to be in need of cleaning.
(a) Notice shall be provided to the property owner by:
( * * *i) United States mail two (2)
weeks before the date of the hearing mailed to the address of the subject
property and to the address where the ad valorem tax notice for such property
is sent by the office charged with collecting ad valorem tax; and
( * * *ii) Posting notice for at least two
(2) weeks before the date of a hearing on the property or parcel of land
alleged to be in need of cleaning and at the county courthouse or another place
in the county where such notices are posted.
(b) The notice
required by * * * paragraph (a) of this subsection shall include
language that informs the property owner that an adjudication at the hearing
that the property or parcel of land is in need of cleaning will authorize the
board of supervisors to reenter the property or parcel of land for a period of
one (1) year after the hearing without any further hearing, if notice is posted
on the property or parcel of land and at the county courthouse or another place
in the county where such notices are generally posted at least seven (7) days before
the property or parcel of land is reentered for cleaning. A copy of the
required notice mailed and posted as required by this section shall be recorded
in the minutes of the board of supervisors in conjunction with the hearing
required by this section.
(2) (a) If at such
hearing the board of supervisors shall in its resolution adjudicate such parcel
of land in its then condition to be a menace to the public health and safety of
the community, the board of supervisors may, if the owner not do so himself,
proceed to have the land cleaned by cutting weeds, filling cisterns, and
removing rubbish, dilapidated fences, outside toilets, dilapidated buildings
and other debris, and draining cesspools and standing water. Thereafter, the
board of supervisors may at its next regular meeting by resolution adjudicate
the actual cost of cleaning the land and may also impose a penalty not to
exceed One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) or fifty percent (50%) of
the actual cost, whichever is more. The cost and any penalty * * * may become either a civil debt
against the property owner or an assessment against the property or
both, at the option of the board of supervisors. The "cost assessed
against the property" means either the cost to the county of using its own
employees to do the work or the cost to the county of any contract executed by
the county to have the work done, and administrative costs and legal costs of
the county.
(b) A county may reenter the property or parcel of land to maintain cleanliness without further notice of hearing no more than six (6) times in any twelve-month period with respect to removing dilapidated buildings, dilapidated fences and outside toilets, and no more than twelve (12) times in any twenty-four-month period with respect to cutting grass and weeds and removing rubbish, personal property and other debris on the land. The expense of cleaning the property shall not exceed an aggregate amount of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) per year, or the fair market value of the property subsequent to cleaning, whichever is less. The board of supervisors may assess the same penalty each time the property or land is cleaned as otherwise provided in this section.
(3) The penalty
provided * * *
in this section shall not be assessed against the State of Mississippi
upon request for reimbursement under Section 29-1-145, nor shall a county clean
a parcel owned by the State of Mississippi without first giving notice.
(4) (a) If the board of supervisors declares, by resolution, that the cost and any penalty shall be collected as a civil debt, the board of supervisors may authorize the institution of a suit on open account against the owner of the property in a court of competent jurisdiction in the manner provided by law for the cost and any penalty, plus court costs, reasonable attorney's fees and interest from the date that the property was cleaned.
(b) The assessment authorized by this section shall be a lien against the property and may be enrolled in the office of the circuit clerk of the county as other judgments are enrolled, and the tax collector of the county shall, upon order of the board of supervisors, proceed to sell the land to satisfy the lien as now provided by law for the sale of lands for delinquent taxes. Furthermore, the property owner whose land has been sold pursuant to this section shall have the same right of redemption as now provided by law for the sale of lands for delinquent taxes. All decisions rendered under the provisions of this section may be appealed in the same manner as other appeals from county boards.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.
