Opinion ID: 1707762
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: were lessees of sixteenth section leases disinterested freeholders who may appraise sixteenth section land?

Text: Assignments No. 3 and No. 5 raise the issue of whether the appraisement of 1955 and the 1947 general appraisal were performed by disinterested freeholders. In 1955, the Board of Supervisors appointed as appraisers O.S. Redden, T.G. McCormick and V.R. Lackey, and stated, inter alia, that they were disinterested freeholders. V.R. Lackey and the original 1955 and 1960 leaseholder, Harold Lackey, were cousins. The appellants offered evidence that the three appraisers were themselves holders of sixteenth section land leases at the times of the 1947 and 1955 appraisals, and that there was a renewal of their leases after the 1947 appraisal. Thompson objected to the materiality and relevancy of the evidence and pointed out that the appraisers only made recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, which Board then determined whether the recommendation was a reasonable gross sum, and that Miss. Code Ann. § 29-3-7, the adverse possession statute, cures any problem. The trial court sustained the objection, but accepted the proffer by the School Board. The court noted that the acquisition of the leases by the appraisers was probably a result, rather than a cause of the 1947 appraisal amount. The trial court found them to be well qualified and would not assume that their leases affected their professional conduct. There is no allegation of fraud, their service was noteworthy and honorable. There is absolutely no challenge to their honesty or integrity. The term disinterested has been defined as follows: Not concerned, in respect to possible gain or loss, in the result of the pending proceedings or transactions; impartial, not biased or prejudiced. Black's Law Dictionary 421 (5th Ed. 1979). This Court has defined the words interested parties, in the context of a proceeding to contest the validity of a will, as parties who have a pecuniary interest in the subject of the contest. Provenza v. Provenza, 201 Miss. 836, 29 So.2d 669, 670 (1947). This Court has also held that a mother-in-law is not a disinterested person within a court rule requiring a certificate to be made by a disinterested person. Deer Island Fish & Oyster Co. v. First National Bank of Biloxi, 172 Miss. 284, 159 So. 656 (1935). Other courts have held that members of a planning board should not sit in consideration of any matter in which they are personally interested. It has been held that self-interest of one member of a planning board infects the action of the other members, regardless of their disinterestedness. Hochberg v. Freehold, 40 N.J. Super. 276, 123 A.2d 46; Pratt v. Mayor & Council of Dunellen, 9 N.J. 548, 89 A.2d 1, Zell v. Roseland, 42 N.J. Super. 75, 125 A.2d 890. The defendant Board attempted to introduce the above evidence that the appraisers were not disinterested, and the proffer by the Board showed that the three appraisers held Sixteenth Section Leases. The exclusion of this testimony was preserved by the proffer. Murray v. Payne, 437 So.2d 47 (Miss. 1983). This Court holds that the evidence was relevant and should have been admitted, and having reviewed that evidence which was proffered, holds that the appraisers were not disinterested freeholders since they held Sixteenth Section Leases. This is an additional ground for voidance of the leases in question.