Opinion ID: 1697401
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Sale of Forfeited Tax Land Patent to the Plaintiff in 2006

Text: ¶ 19. Because the condemnation proceedings were invalid, the State of Mississippi perfected its fee at the conclusion of the redemption period. Therefore, the tax land patent purchased by Smith vested him with title in the property. [7] The trial court's grant of summary judgment is, thus, reversed. Accordingly, Section 29-1-85's requirement of refund of the purchase money is not applicable. ¶ 20. Jackson State University argues that the tax patent is void due to the failure of the Secretary of State to provide thirty (30) days advance notice of the intended sale ... to all state agencies pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 29-1-1(4). [8] As evidence of the Secretary State's failure to do so, Jackson State University presents the affidavit of its Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations, Troy Stovall, who claimed that Jackson State University never received any notice of the sale of the subject land. ¶ 21. We find that Jackson State University falls under the ambit of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 29-1-1(4) because it is a state agency for the purposes of this section. [9] Therefore, the Secretary of State should have provided Jackson State University with a thirty-day advance notice of the sale. The plaintiff, as well as the Secretary of State, fails to rebut this claim. Because the record contains no evidence of a thirty-day advance notice, we hold that the sale of the forfeited land tax patent was void and did not vest title in Smith.