State v. Farmers Coal Co, 9909.
| Decision Date | 14 July 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 15806.,No. 9909.,9909.,15806. |
| Citation | 43 S.E.2d 625 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE. v. FARMERS COAL CO. et al. RICHTER et al. v. RICHTER et al. |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. As to lands returned delinquent for the nonpayment of taxes assessed thereon, sold by the sheriff, and purchased by the State, there must be provided a definite period for redemption, after such sale, to be fixed by the Legislature; and upon the expiration of such period for redemption, the land becomes irredeemable, and subject to sale as provided in Section 4 of Article XIII of the Constitution of this State.
2. Before the State may institute a suit, under Section 4 of Article XIII of the Constitution, to sell delinquent lands sold by the sheriff and purchased by the State, a required redemption period after such sale must have expired, and the land so sold by the sheriff be irredeemable.
3. Under the provisions of Section 8 of Article 3, Chapter 117, Acts of the Legislature 1941, lands returned delinquent for the nonpayment of taxes assessed thereon, sold by the sheriff, and purchased by the State, do not become irredeemable, within the meaning of Section 4, Article XIII of the Constitution of this State, at any time before the institution of the suit therein directed, and cannot be made the basis of such suit.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Braxton County.
Suit in equity by the State against the Farmers Coal Company and others, to sell coal land purchased by the State at sheriff's sale for delinquent taxes. From a decree of dismissal, plaintiff appeals.
Decree affirmed.
Ira J. Partlow, Atty. General, Kenneth E. Hines, Asst. Atty. Gen, and Van B. Hall, of Sutton, for appellant.
Jackson, Kelly, Morrison & Moxley, of Charleston, amicus curiae on behalf of West Virginia Coal Ass'n.
FOX, President.
this is a suit in equity, instituted in the Circuit Court of Braxton County by the State of West Virginia, under the provisions of Chapter 117, Acts of the Legislature 1941, as amended by Chapter 140, Acts of the Legislature 1945, to sell twenty-four tracts of coal land situate in said county, duly entered upon the land books for the year 1926 in the name of defendant, The Farmers Coal Company, taxes assessed thereon, and returned delinquent for the nonpayment thereof, and on December 4, 1928, sold by the sheriff of said county, purchased by the State of West Virginia, and not redeemed within one year from the date of said sale, or at any other time. Plaintiff filed its bill praying that the said lands be sold for the benefit of the school fund, and that all steps necessary to effect such sale be taken. From an order entered in said cause on October 5, 1946, it appears that counsel for the State moved the court to find the lands proceeded against liable for sale for the benefit of the school fund, and to enter an order of reference, to the end that the land aforesaid be sold as prayed for in the bill, and that the cause then was submitted to the court for its decision. It appears further that the court, having maturely considered said cause and motion, was of the opinion that, "All tracts of land mentioned in the bill and proceeded against therein, were lands sold as delinquent and purchased by the State at the Sheriff's sales for delinquent lands, and being further of the opinion that no tract or lot of land or realty mentioned and proceeded against in said bill is either eligible or qualified for sale, in the course of the proceeding for the benefit of the school fund, for reasons set out in the written opinion of the court filed hereby in the cause and made a part of the record thereof, doth overrule said motion, and accordingly find that such lands and real estate proposed to be sold is not eligible or qualified as a basis for the relief prayed for in the bill, in any event * * *." The plaintiff not desiring to amend its bill, the same was dismissed. From said order of dismissal we granted this appeal.
According to the written opinion of the trial court, filed with and made a part of the record, two grounds were relied upon as justifying the decree of dismissal. One of said grounds bears upon the validity of the delinquent list and, in particular, the oath of the sheriff thereto, prescribed by Section 11 of Article 2, Chapter 117, Acts of the Legislature 1941; but inasmuch as the land sought to be sold in this suit was returned delinquent for the nonpayment of taxes for the year 1926, the question raised as to the sheriff's oath to a delinquent list, provided for in the Act of 1941, aforesaid, can have no materiality in the present suit; and for that reason cannot be made a point of decision herein.
The second and controlling ground for the court's ruling is that under Section 4, Article XIII of the Constitution, before asuit can be instituted by the State in a circuit court to sell lands, the title to which is vested in it through forfeiture, or through purchase at a sheriff's sale, the title of the State thereto must be absolute; and that, as to purchased lands, the same must have become irredeemable. In the opinion of the trial court, construing the provisions of Chapter 117, Acts of the Legislature 1941, the lands sought to be sold in this suit have not become irredeemable, and are not, therefore, eligible for, or subject to, sale for the benefit of the school fund.
Section 4 of Article XIII of the Constitution of this State reads: "All lands in this State, waste and unappropriated, or heretofore or hereafter for any cause forfeited, or treated as forfeited, or escheated to the State of Virginia, or this State, or purchased by either and become irredeemable, not redeemed, released, transferred or otherwise disposed of, the title whereto shall remain in this State till such sale as is hereinafter mentioned be made, shall by proceedings in the circuit court of the county in which the lands, or a part thereof, are situated, be sold to the highest bidder." Section 4 of Article XII of the same Constitution provides that: "The existing permanent and invested school fund, and all money accruing to this State from forfeited, delinquent, waste and unappropriated lands; and from lands heretofore sold for taxes and purchased by the State of Virginia, if hereinafter redeemed or sold to others than this State; * * * shall be set apart as a separate fund, to be called the 'School Fund, ' and invested under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, in the interest-bearing securities of the United States, or of this State, * * *: Provided, That all taxes which shall be received by the State upon delinquent lands, except the taxes due to the State thereon, shall be refunded to the county or district by or for which the same were levied." It is under these two provisions of our Constitution that the Legislature has from time to time directed the sale of lands, title to which is in the State, for the benefit of the school fund.
Article 10 of Chapter 11 of the Code, covered the statutes relating to the sale of real estate for taxes as they stood before the enactment of Chapter 117, Acts of the Legislature 1941, and as they existed at the time of the sale of the lands involved in this suit. Article 10 of Chapter 11, provided for the sale of delinquent lands by the sheriffs of the several counties, and Section 30 of said article made special provision for the redemption of land sold by such sheriff and purchased by the State. This statute provided that the previous owner of any real estate so sold and purchased by the State, his heirs or assigns, or any person having the right to charge it for a debt might, within one year from the sale thereof, "redeem the same by paying into the state treasury the amount of all state, state school, county, school district, independent school district and other district taxes, and all municipal corporation taxes, with the interest due on each class of taxes at the time of such purchase, including such taxes as were or should have been assessed thereon for the year in which the same was sold and the cost of publication of such real estate in the delinquent list, together with such additional sums as would have accrued thereon for all of such taxes if the same had not been purchased for the State, with interest thereon at the rate of twelve per cent per annum from the twentieth day of January in the year following that in which the same would have accrued." After the expiration of the one-year period provided for, as stated above, the land became irredeemable, and absolute title thereto became vested in the State. In State v. Board, 111 W.Va. 562, 163 S. E. 57, 58, this Court held: "A tract of land, delinquent for non-payment of taxes and purchased by the state at sheriff's sale, becomes irredeemable within the meaning of Constitution of West Virginia, article 13, § 3, at the expiration of the one year period allowed for redemption by Code 1931, 11-10-30." The same rule necessarily applies to Section 4 of Article XIII. See also Mc-Graw v. Rohrbough, 74 W.Va. 285, 82 S.E. 217; Morgan v. Pool, 76 W.Va. 534, 85 S. E. 724; State v. Black Bank Consol. Coal Co., 113 W.Va. 872, 169 S.E. 614; Early v. Berry, 115 W.Va. 105, 175 S.E. 331. Thereafter, the former owner had no interest in the land, though Section 5 of Article XIII of the Constitution gave him theright to the surplus from the sale of his land after payment of taxes and costs; but this has been consistently held not to give the former owner any right or interest in the land as such. This was held in Mc-Clure v. Maitland, 24 W.Va. 561. Therefore, not having redeemed his land within the year given him by the statute, he lost all right or claim thereto. We think this was settled law prior to the enactment of Chapter 117, Acts of the Legislature 1941. We think, too, that it was fully recognized by this Court, as its decisions will attest, that before a suit could be instituted in the circuit court by the...
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