Bill Text: MS SB2787 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State land; remove application waiting period on forfeited tax land; clarify procedure for refunds on cancelled patents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-03-05 - Approved by Governor [SB2787 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2018-SB2787-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Public Property; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Blount
Senate Bill 2787
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 29-1-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT CERTAIN APPLICATIONS FOR THE PURCHASE OF STATE-FORFEITED TAX LAND MUST REMAIN ON FILE FOR 30 DAYS BEFORE THEY MAY BE ACTED UPON AND FINALLY APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED; TO AMEND SECTIONS 29-1-85 AND 29-1-87, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE PROCEDURE FOR REFUNDS TO PURCHASERS OF AMOUNTS PAID TO THE STATE FOR PATENTS ON LAND THAT HAVE BEEN CANCELLED; 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 * * * the land, and shall state in * * * the 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 * * * the land was assessed at the time
of * * * the
tax sale, and the post office address of * * * the former owner and the post
office address of the person to whom * * * the land was assessed at the time
of * * * the
sale, if known to the applicant.
(c) Whether or not * * * the land is occupied at the date of
the filing of such application, and the name of the person occupying * * * the land, if any.
(d) The nature and
value of the improvements on * * * the land.
(e) The approximate
quantity of the merchantable timber on * * * the 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 * * * the lands, the nature and condition
of the buildings and improvements on * * * the lands, and the value of the
timber on * * *
the lands as he may deem necessary. * * * The 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 * * * the 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, except land forfeited to the state for the nonpayment of ad
valorem taxes, shall fail, or shall have failed, the state or * * * the 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 * * * the 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 * * * the suit. Where * * * the 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 * * * the 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 * * * the patent or patents, or by
oversight or otherwise two (2) patents may have been or may hereafter be
issued therefor, the * * * 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 * * * the patent, or that the patentee
did not acquire any land or title under * * * the patent, he shall mark * * * the patent or patents or, in case
of the loss of the original, a certified copy of * * * the patents, "cancelled,"
and * * * refund the purchaser
the amount paid to and retained by the state for * * * the cancelled patent or patents,
if any. The * * * Secretary of State shall certify all * * * cancellations to the clerk of the chancery
court of the county in which * * * the patents have been recorded, and * * * the clerk shall thereupon cancel
the record of it. That part of the purchase price paid to * * *
local governmental entities by the * * * Secretary of State
shall be refunded to the purchaser of * * * the lands by the * * * local
governmental entities that received the funds. Any fees paid to the local
governmental entities shall be refunded to the purchaser by the recipient of
the 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 * * *
the patent and then noted by the chancery clerk upon the record of
patent, cancelling it in * * *such that 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 the suit. Where the 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 the 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 its passage.