Honorable David 

County Attorney 

Shelby County 

Center, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

McNelll, Jr. 

Opinion No. O-6277 

Ret Procedure to be followed 

in rtdtemlng land sold to 

the State for delln Uent 

taxes in the year 1 1 56, 

and related questions. 

We acknowledge receipt of your recent letter requesting our opinion upon the above captioned matter. Your letter 

reads as follows: 

“The deed records of Panola County, Texas, Volume E, 

Page 394, show that Elisha Williams, assessor of Panel? 

County during the year 1856, levied on several tracts of 

land among which was 98 acres of the Bailey Anderson 

Survey lying East of the Sablne River for State and 

County taxes assessed for the year 1854 against Samuel 

McFaddln q There being no bidders at the public sale of 

said lands, the said Elisha Wllllams bid off the same for 

the State of Texas by bidding thtrefor the amount Of 

taxes due thereon and costs of sale, and executed a deed 

conveying said lands, to the State of Texas on July 26, 

1,856, which deed rec’lted that in accordance with law and 

after notice of such sale had been given more than 30 

days before the date of sale by advertising In writing 

posted at the Courthouse door and at two other public 

places in said County, naming said piss. 

“The records do not show that the said Elisha Wllliams or any of his succtssors in office have executed a 

deed to the said 98 acres of land to any one since that 

date. 

‘Hon. Qeo. H. Sheppard has advised that the records 

of his office reveal that this property was levied on 
Honorable David McNelll, Jr. - page 2 (o-6277) 

and sold to the State as set forth above, and that no 

redemption receipt has been issued, or any action has 

been taken In regard to the sale. Therefore, there 

remains a valid charge against said land, according to 

Mr. Sheppard. 

"Articles 7288-7291, Inclusive, and Articles 73o6- 

7318, inclusive, of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas 

deal with this type of proposition, but they are not clear 

to the writer as to the exact procedure te follow to perfect title to this 98 acres. 

"(1) Please advise the exact steps to be taken by 

the present owntr of the land tm clear his title to the 

98 acres. (2) What Interest dmes the State of Texas 

claim Is said 98 acres? (3) Could the State Comptroller issue proper redemption' certificate upon payment of 

all taxes and costs? (4) Could the County Tax Collector 

make proper deed to present land Owner upon payment Qf 

taxes and costs? 

"Under Article 7290 If such lands have not been 

redeemed as provided In Article 7289, then the same may be 

sold as provided In Article 7288. (5) What does this 

mean? (6) How would the State sell the land? (7) a 

whom? 

"In Vol. 40 of Texas Jurisprudence at the top 0r 

Page 223, I find 'Where land had been sold off to the 

State of Texas for taxes assessed subsequently to December 31, 1876, the owner having failed to redeem, SUM 

land might be reoffered for sale by the collector On 

receipt of a list from the Comptroller.' The land under 

investigation was sold off to the State of ,Texas in 1856. 

(8) What effect does thishave? 

"I am assuming that the' aale by said Elisha Williams 

was In strict conformity with the laws exlatlng as of the 

date of sale. However, I note that the deed recites that 

notice was posted at the courthouse and two other public 

places In the County. (9) Did the law zulre posting at 

the Courthouse and three other p ubllc 

does today? (10) If so, and notices were posted only at 

two places except the Courthouse, what effect would that 

have on the deed to the State of Texas?" 

Your letter propounds ten separate questions for our 
Honorable David McNclll, Jr. - page 3 (0-6277) 

opinion and you will note that In your letter, as quoted above, 

we have numbered said questions for convenience from (1) to 

(10) > and have underscored each question. We will first answer 

your questions and then present a review of the various statutes 

we think are applicable and our reasons and authorities for our 

answers. 

Answer to Question No. 1: The present owner, If he 

Is either an heir. lenal representat,lve orasaianee of the owner 

of the tract of land in question at the time of-the sale In the 

year 1856, can at this time redeem said land from the State by 

paying to the Tax Collector of Panola County, Texas, an amount 

of money equal to the amount of the 1854 tax, together with all 

costs, penalties and interest now required by law, and also the 

payment of all taxes, Interest, penalties and costs on or 

against said lands since December 31, 1919. 

Answer to Question No. 2: The State of Texas has the 

title to said tract of land, subjec,t to the right of redemption 

which may be exercised at any time before the State of Texas 

makes a sale of said tract to a third party. 

Answer to Queation No. 3: Upon payment as provided 

for in above answer to Question No. 1, it will be the duty of 

the Comptroller, to Issue to the owner-of said tract of land a 

proper redemption certificate, which the owner may place of 

record in the deed, records of Panola County. 

Answer to Question No. 4: The County Tax Collector 

has no authority to execute a deed to,present land owner upon 

payment of taxes and coats (aee recent opinion of Justice 0. C. 

Funderburk, Court of Civil Appeals of the Eastland District in 

Cause No. 2473, styled H. D. Dennis, et al, v. 0. H. Little; 

not yet reported.) 

Answer to Question No. 5: Articles 7288, 7289, and 

7290 as codified and brought forward In Vernon's Annotated 

Revised Statuteswere taken from fan Act of the 16th Legislature, 1879, p. 36. Article 4759 of said -1879 Act Is now 

Article 7288 of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes; Article 

4759a of said 1879 Act is now Article 7289 of V. A. C. S.; 

Article 4759b of said 1879 Act reads as follows:. 

'?n case said land shall not have been,redeemed 

as provided in Article 4759a, then the same'may be 

sold as provided by an Act entitled 'an Actto provide 

for the sale of all real estate bid off to the State 
Honorable David McNelll, Jr. - page 4 (o-6277) 

by Collectors of taxes at tax sales, the owners of 

which have not redeemed the same," approved April 

7, 1879." 

The Act referred to above, approved April 7, 1879, 

is found in General Laws of Texas, 1879 to 1885, Chapter 70, 

pa 79, and Sets. 1, 2 and 3 which provide for a second sale 

have been brought forward by the codifiers In Articles 7306, 

7307 and 7308, V. A. C. S. Evidently, the codifier in having 

Article 7290 to read as follows: 

"In case said land shall not have been redeemed 

as provided in Article 728gh then the same may be sold 

as provided in Article 7288 , 

intended it to read as folloWs: 

"In case said land shall not have been redeemed 

as provided In Article 7289, then the same may be 

sold as provided in Articles 7306, 7307 and 7308." 

Otherwise, Article 7290 does not make sense and Is meanlinglessO 

Answer to Question No. 6: The State would sell the 

land under Article 7290 as provided for In Articles 7306, 7307 

and 7308. 

Answer to Question No. 7: The Tax CoJlector would 

make the sale as provided by Article 7308. 

Answer to Question No. 8: As the land In question 

was sold to the State prior to December 31, 1876, we are of 

the opinion that Article 7306 of the Revised Statutes of 1925 

from which the writers of Volume 40, Texas Jurisprudence were 

quoting, at the top of p0 223 Is not applicable. 

Answer to Question No. 9: The law did not require 

posting of the notices at the Courthouse and three other pubilc places In the year 1856, but only at the Courthouse and 

- two other public places. 

AnBWer to QUeStiOn No. 10: Our answer to above Question No. 9 obviates the necessity of our answering your question 

No. 10. 

In our recent Opinion No. 0-6173, we held that the 

Legislature in prescri'bing a two year redemption period, did not 
Honorable David McNeill, Jr. - page 5 (0-6277) 

do so for the purpose of setting a date beyond which redemption 

may~not be had but that this period was established to insure 

the original owner that he possesses an absolute right of redemption during such two year period and that during such period 

the State will not interfere with such right by selling the 

land to a third person. In other words, this Opinion held that 

the original owner would have a vested right to redeem his land 

from the State even after the two year redemption period at 

any time before the State actually exercised its right, by 

making a sale to a third person. We are enclosing a copy of 

said Opinion No. o-6173 for your lnfor.mation. 

Article 5187, Paschal's Digest, Laws of Texas, Vol. 1, 

p. 877 (Act of February 11, 1850) provides in part as follows: 

%very Assessor and Collector of taxes shall give 

notice of the time and place of sale of property so 

levied on, at least thirty days previous to the day 

of sale, by advertisement in writing, to be posted up, 

one on the Courthouse door of his county!, and in - two 

other public places in his county; . . . 

Article 5204, Paschal's Digest, Laws of Texas; Vol. 1, 

p0 880 (Act of February 9, 1854) reads as follows:. 

"When any land or tenement shall be advertised 

for sale by the Assessor and Collector of Taxes, for 

any taxes accruing to the State, and such lands or 

tenements cannot be sold for the want of bidders, 

it shall be the duty of the Assessor and Collector 

to bid off the same for the State, for the amount of 

taxes due; and such lands may be redeemed within two 

years from the date of sale, by the owner or owners, 

or some other person for him, paying the amount of 

taxes, and one hundred percentum thereon, together 

with the costs of sale. When property has been sold 

for the taxes of any year, and purchased by the 

State, and remained unredeemed such property shall 

not be again assessed or sold for the taxes of any 

succeeding year; but on the redemption of said property by the owner, he shall be required to pay the 

'taxes which~would have accrued on said property; for 

each successive year, as though the same had been 

regularly assessed." (Underscoring ours) 

The Legislature in the years 1856, 1858, 1860, 1863 

and at various times since have passed legislation extending 
Honorable David McNeill, Jr. - page 6 (o-6277) 

the time by which former owners might redeem lands that had 

been sold for taxes and purchased by the State, and each of 

said acts provide for various terms and conditions upon which 

the land owner might redeem. A careful examination of Vernon"5 

Annotated Civil Statute5 discloses that none of these Acts have 

been brought forward and Incorporated In the 1925 revision, except those brought forward In Articles 7289, 7291, and '7340, 

V. A. C. 9. 

Article 7289 ‘1. A. C. S., was brought forward from 

Acts 1879, S. S, p. 36; and reads as follow5: 

"The owner of any lands that may have been conveyed 

to the State under the provisions of the foregoing article, 

or his agent, desiring to redeem the same, may do so by 

depositing with the collector of the county in which ,the 

lands were sold double the amount of the purehase money 

,and all accrued taxes thereon, within two years from the 

date of the deed to the State; and such collector shall 

execute a receipt to such owner, or agents, giving therein the amount of money received, and a description of the 

land so as to identify the same, and sign and seal the 

same officially; and, upon presentation of such receipt 

to the Comptroller, he shall execute to the owner a 

relinquishment under his signature and seal of office, 

which may be admitted to record in like manner with other 

conveyances of land." 

It will be noted that this article provides practically 

the same terms and conditions of redemption as Article 5204, 

Paschal's Digest (supra). 

Article 7291, V. A. C. S., according to Vernon25 Compilation shows to have come from the same source as Article 

7289, V. A. C. S., vfz. from Acts 187g,.S. 9. p. 36. However, 

an examination of said 1879 Act discloses this to be an error, 

Article 7291, V. A. C. 5. was taken from Chapter XIX, p0 31, 

9. 9. of the 18th Leg., 1883. This 1883 Act amended Section 

3 of said 1879 Act (Sectfon 3 of said 1879 act is now lneorporated in said Article 7289, V. A. C. S.) so that same read 

as Article 7291, V. A. C. S., now reads. Article 7291, V. A. 

c. s., reads as follows: 

WThe owner of real estate which has been bought in 

by the State for taxes, or his heirs or assigns, may 

redeem the same at any time prior to the sale thereof, 

by the payment to the collector of the county in which 
Hczorabie David McNelll, Jr. - page 7 (o-6277) 

s,&?h real estate 15 situated, or to the Comptroller, 

if in an unorganized county, of the amount deslgnated by ths Comptroller as due thereon with costs of 

adver'tisement; land if It shall at any time appear to 

the aatisfactfon of the Comptroller thatany land 

has been sold to the State for taxes which have be1E.n 

paid, or that the sale has not been made in aecordance with the law authorizing the sale of land for 

taxes, he shall upon the payment of the amount that 

may be due thereon, cancel suoh sale3 and deliver to 

the owner of the land, OP his agent, a certificate 

uWer seal of his department, setting' forth the fact 

th,at su.oh land has been redeemed, or that such sale 

has ken cancelled; which certificate shall release 

the fnterest of the State and the samk may be,recorded fn the proper county as other conveyances of real 

e&ate are recorded." 

Inasmuch as the provisions of Artiole 7289 and 7291 

are in canfllct, and the Legislature in 1883 in effect repealed 

Section 3 of the 1879 Act (whlah Is now Article 7289, V. A. C. 9.) 

by amending same 50 that it read as our present Article 7291, 

V. A. C. S., it is our opinion that Article 7291 should oontrol 

ever* Article 7289, notwithstanding the fact that the 1925 codlffers brought both the 1879 provisions and the provisions of 

1883, that amEnded same, int.0 the 1925 codification. Our opinioz that ArthZe 7291 controls over Article 7289 15 further 

strexgtkicmed 'by the fast that Article 7289 15 limited by its own 

terms toWsale made "under the provisions of the preceding 

ar.k'-'inle 0 This Act was passed In 1879. The sale in question 

'was msdc I,n the year 1856g and was not made "under the provisions 

cf tk preaeding Article. 

The other redemption Article aboVe~ referred to is 

Art :Fc:;;e 7340, V, A. C. 9. This Article Is a later expression of 

the Lsgd.slat;ore and read8 as follows: 

%here land5 or lots shall hereafter be sold to the 

State or to any city or town for taxes under decree of court 

1.n any suft or suits brought for the aolleotlon of taxes 

thereon OP by a collector of taxes, or otherwise, the 

owner or any one having an Interest In such land5 or 

SX%S shall have the right at any time within two years 

Fran the date of sale to redeem the same upon payment 

c; the amount of taxes for which sale was made, 

,tcget,her with all costs and penalties required by law, 

ard skso payment of all taxes; interest, penalties and 
Honorable David McMelll, Jr. - page 8 (0-6277) 

costs on or against said land or lots at the tlme of 

the redemption. Acts 1897, p. 132, Sec. 14; Alzts 

go? 

p. 323; Acts 1907, p. 282; Acts 2nd C. S. 1909, 

00; Acts 1st c. 3. 1913, p. 25; Acts 1st c. s. 

1915, p* 58; Aots 4th C. S. 1918, p. 155; Acts 3rd 

c. s. 1920, p. 103* 

It wfXIbe noted that this Article 7340 la llmlted by 

its own terms to lands that shall hereafter be sold to the State, 

etc. Article 7340, was taken from Vernonfa Civil Statutes Supp. 

1922, Acts 1920, 36th Leg., 3rd C. 9. Ch. 59, p. IO3,? Set:. I,, 

Article 7597, which reads as follows: 

“‘That the owner or any one having an Interest 

In land or lots heretofore sold to the State, or any 

city or town, under the decrees of oourt, in any suit 

or suits brought for the collection of the taxen thereon, 

or by the collector of taxea, or otherwise, shall have 

the right at any time wlthln two years after the taking 

effect of this Act to redeem the same upon the payment 

of the amount of taxes for which sale was made, togeth,er 

with all costa, penalties and Interest now required by 

law, and also the payment of aPI taxes, interest, penalties and costs on or against said lands or lots at the 

time of said redemption. And where lands or lots shall 

hereafter be sold to the State or to any city or town 

for taxes under decree of court ln any suit or sults 

brought for collection of taxes thereon or by a aoPle<?- 

tor of taxes, otherwise, the owner having an interest 

fn such lands or lots shall have the right at any time 

within two years from date of sale upon pay-meat of the 

amount of taxes for which sale was made, together with 

all costs and penalties req4red by law, and also the 

pa-yment of all taxes, interest, penaltlea and casts cr. 

or against said lands or lots at the time of redemptlon.‘s 

It wlI.1 be observed that the codifiers In I.925 omitted 

the first portion of said Article 7697 which provided for the 

owner to redeem his lands that had theretofore been sold t.o the 

State. However, upon the authority of an Opinion by the Commission of Appeals of Texas, written by Judge Ocle Speer In 

Rose et al v. Turner et al. 7 5. W. (26) 70, In answering certified questions from the Court of Civil Appeals for the First 

Supreme Judicial District, we are of the opinion that said 

omitted portion of the 1920 Act Is now In full force and effect. 

Judge Speer In holding that Article 7696 had not been repealed 

by reason of Its omission from the 1925 codification had the 

following to sayr 
Honorable David McNeill, Jr. - page 9 (O-6277) 

"By Sec. 2 of the Codification Abt (V. A. C. S. 

1925, final title) there is this repealing clause: 

'That all civil statutes of a general~nature, In force 

when the revised statutes take e~ffect;and which are 

not Included herein, or which are not,.hereby expressly continued in force,,are hereby repealed.' 

nBy Set . 9 It Is expressly ;,pr~ovlded,,: ,!:iY;;;:.:~ 1~: 

,' ,,;::+ in 

'That all laws * * * vesting a time llmlt In which 

to redeem lands sold for taxes * + * are continued In 

force.'" 

In order for us to determine the amount the owner of 

the land in question would have to pay to the State of Texas in 

order to redeem said tract of land, $wlll .bb~necessary for us 

to determine whether the land should be~‘kedeetied.under Art. 

5204, Paschal's Digest, Vol. 1, which was In force 'at, the time 

the land was sold, OP Article 7289, V. A. C. 3,, cir Art. 7291, 

V, A. C. S., or Art. 7697, Vernon's Civil Stats. Supp. 1922, 

which was omitted In the 1925 codification. As stated above, 

we are of the opinion that Art. 7291 would take precedence over 

Art. 7289. It is our opinion that at the time the land was 

purchased by the State of Texas in 1856 that the thenowner of 

the land had a vested right to redeem same acco~lng to the 

terms and provisions of the redemption Iaw as then In force and 

effect, (See 61 C. J. Sec. 1687 et seq. p. 1243 ax-&authorities 

there cited,) and that the Legislature could notdivest said 

owner of such vested right by later making the terms and‘conditions of redemption more onerous. However, if the Legislature 

by later enactments made the terms and conditions of redemption 

less onerous to the land owner, we are of the opinion that the 

Iand owner could take advantage thereof. We will therefore 

compare the various redemptive acts to ascertain which one or 

ones are less onerous to the land owner. 

The origlnal act, being Art. 5204, would on Its face 

seem to be less onerous by reason of the fact that it only provides for the paying to the State the amount of taxes and one 

hundred percentum thereon together with costs of sale, and the 

payment of all taxes that would have:accumulated on said property for each year since 1856 as though the same~ had been regularly assessed. But our Supreme Court in the cas,e of, F. R. Dean v. 

State of Texas reported in 54 Tex.'313, inconst~rulng the redemption statute of 1876 which did not provide for the land owner to 

pay interest on the taxes and costs, held that the State would 

oe entitled to six percent Interest up to the time of the redemption. Thus we see that the land owner under this original act 

would have to pay double the amount of the 1854 taxes and all 
Honorable David McNeill, Jr. - page 10 (O-6277) 

costs and interest thereon at the rate of six percent from 1856 

to this date, as well as all other delinquent taxes. 

Under Article 7289, the land owner would have to pay 

the State in order to redeem double the amount of the purchase 

money, (which included the 1854 tax and the costs) with six percent thereon to this date as well as all other delinquent taxes. 

Under this article the land owner would not only have to pay 

double the amount of taxes but also double the amount of costs, 

under the authority of an opinion by James S. Hogg, Attorney 

General of Texas, dated November 14, 1887, recorded in Vol. 12, 

p0 237 of the Attorney General's Opinions. So it is seen that 

this statute is more onerous to the land owner than said article 

5204, Paschal's Digest (supra). 

Art. 7291, V. A. C. S., provides that the land owner 

should pay to the State the "amount designated by the Comptroller as due thereon with costs of advertisement." This statute 

within itself) does not state how the Comptroller is to arrive at 

the amount "due thereon with costs of advertisement." We do not 

believe this article conflicts with that portion of Art, 7697, 

Vernon's Civil Stats. Supp. 1922, which was omitted by the 1925 

codifiers and are of the opinion that they should be construed 

together, and therefore hold that the Comptroller should be 

guided'by the terms of Article 7697, V. C. S. Supp. 1922, in 

designating the amount due by the land owner. This statute provides that the land owner may redeem his land upon the payment 

of the amount of taxes for which sale was made, together with 

all costs, penalties and interest now required by law and also 

~the payment of all taxes, interest, penalties and costs on or 

against said lands or lots at the time of said redemption, It 

clearly appears that the statute quoted from next above Is less 

onerous than either of the other redemption statutes and that 

the land owner could at his election either redeem his land by 

paying to the State the amount therein designated or redeem his 

land by paying to the State the amounts designated in the redemption statute in force at the time the sale was made in the year 

1856. It will be noted that Art. 7291, (supra) provides that 

the owner of real estate which has been bought by the State may 

redeem the same at any time prior to the sale thereof and does 

not limit his right of redemption to a 2-year period. We believe 

that this statute strengthens the conclusions reached in our 

Opinion No. o-6173 which is herewith enclosed. 

The Legislature in 1935, 44th Leg., pi. 355, Ch. 128 

acting in pursuance of the Constitutional amendment of November 

8, 1932 in amending Sec. 55 of Art. 3 of our Constitution, 
Honorable David McNeill, Jr. - page 11 (O-6277) 

provided that "the collection of all delinquent ad,valorem taxes 

due ,the state, County, Municipalltg or other defined subdivision 

that were delinquent prior to December 31, 1919, is forever 

barred." By virtue of the above act It is our opinion that the 

land owner may redeem his land without paying the State any 

delinquent taxes that were delinquent prior to Depember 31, l$lg. 

As stated above in answer to quastion No. 1, the land 

owner in order to redeem must pay to the Tax Collectos~ as provided in Art. 7697, V. C. C. Supp. 1922 the "amount of taxes for 

which sale was made, together with all costs and penalties now 

required by law, and also the payment of all taxes, interest, 

penalties and costs on or against said lands arts at the 

time of redemption." You will note that this statute does not 

provide for the landowner to pay the taxes for which the sale 

was made, but provides for the landowner to pay the "amount of 

the taxes for which the sale was made." It, Is our opinion that 

the Legislature in so providing was merely using the amount of 

the taxes as a measuring rod to determine what amount the land; 

owner should pay the State In order to redeem his land. We are 

led to the above construction by the fact that the Legislature 

stated in plain and unambiguous terms that in addition to the 

"amount of the taxes for which the sale was made," the landowner 

should pay "all - taxes, . . . 

at the time of redemption." 

on or against said lands or lots 

So we hold that in 1935 the Legislature "forever barred" 'all taxes . . ;, on or against said 

lands or lots at the time of redemption which were delinquent 

prior to December 31, 1919, but that the taxpayer should pay to 

the State an amount of money equal to the taxes for which the 

sale was made. 

Rm,ea~uring rod- " 

The 1935 tax remission Act did not repeal the 

Trusting that the above satisfactorily answers your 

inquiries, we are 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By /s/ W. V. Geppert 

W. V. Qeppert 

Assistant 

WVG:iw 

Encl D 

APPROVED JAN 4, 1945 APPROVED 

Opinion 

/s/ Carlos Ashley Committee 

FIRST ASSISTANT 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

23y /%/ Qw3 

~. f2hairman