§ 26-37-311 - Proceedings to redeem prior to sale by state. - Arkansas Statutes

26-37-311. Proceedings to redeem prior to sale by state.

(a) At any time before the lands referred to in this section have been sold by the state, the owners thereof may present their petition to the Commissioner of State Lands, setting forth the evidence of their title, or of those under whom they claim, to the lands, at the time of the sale of the lands to the state as stated in this section. The petition shall set forth the evidence of the taxes having been paid on the lands before such sale to the state, for the years for the alleged nonpayment of which taxes the lands were sold to the state under any proceedings or decrees rendered under laws to enforce the payment of overdue taxes, and the facts set forth shall be sworn to by the petitioner and such oath shall be attested by the clerk of the circuit court of the county, or some notary public of the county and state in which such petitioner resides, or before the Commissioner.

(b) The Commissioner may require other evidence than the petition to establish the facts therein set forth, and the petitioner may take proof by affidavit or otherwise as the Commissioner may prescribe.

(c) If the Commissioner finds the facts set forth in the petition to be true and that the taxes on the lands had been paid by the present owners of the lands, or by those under whom they claim the lands, for the years they were sold to the state, and before they were sold to the state, he shall, by deed of release and quitclaim under his hand and official seal, convey to the owner of the lands all of the rights, title, and interest of the state in and to the lands acquired under any sale or other proceedings under provisions of an act to enforce the payment of overdue taxes, Acts 1881, No. 39, approved March 12, 1881. A copy of the deed shall also be sent by the Commissioner to the clerk of the county court of the county.

(d) After the reception of the deed from the Commissioner to the clerk, the clerk shall extend on the tax books against the lands the taxes for the years that the taxes have not been paid since the erroneous sale of the lands to the state under the overdue tax law. The taxes that have not been paid on the lands since the sale to the state shall be charged and collected as in other cases of lands of the state where the Commissioner has officially advised the clerk they have become subject to taxation.