to be in writing. notice. at any time before the first day of August in the year next following that for which said books were made out, on the Application for application in writing of any person interested; but before Prosecuting such application is acted on, the prosecuting attorney of attorney to have the county must have reasonable notice thereof, and he shall attend and defend the interest of the state, county and district at the hearing of such application. If it appear on such application that the tract or lot, or any part of it mentioned in the application, is improperly charged to the applicant; or that the quantity or location thereof as charged is incorrect; or that the amount of taxes charged thereon is greater or less than is proper, or that the value of any lands, lots or buildings assessed by the assessor under sections ten, twenty-seven and twenty-eight of this chapter is erroneous; or that any clerical error or mistake has been made as to any such tract or lot, the county court shall, by an order entered of record, correct the same. But nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give to the county court power to change the yalue of any tract or lot of land, or of the buildings thereon, except where the same has been assessed under the provisions of the sections aforesaid. Provided, That the county court shall make such changes, as it may deem proper, in the value of any tract or lot in any assessment district by increasing or Aggregate value of real estate in diminishing the same, but not so as to decrease the aggrecounty not to be gate value of the real estate in any county as fixed by the said last re-assessment thereof, as corrected by the county Order of county court as aforesaid, and every order of the county court making such change shall show that the aggregate value of all the real estate in such county is not decreased thereby; otherwise the auditor shall disregard such change and disallow any exoneration made by such order. But if the real Mining, manu- estate of any person, or of any mining, manufacturing or property dimin- oil company, by reason of floods or the abandonment of ished in value the works and property of such person or company, has decreased. court; what to show. facturing or oil by floods or abandonment may be changed. If relief be refused, evi been or shall be materially lessened in value from what it was at the time of such re-assessment, the value thereof may be changed and the true value placed thereon by the county court, notwithstanding it may reduce the aggregate value of the real estate in such county as fixed as aforesaid; and the auditor shall allow such exoneration if the order show the same to have been for such cause. If the court, upon an application to correct an assessment under dence certified any of the provisions of this chapter, refuse to make the correction asked for, the applicant may have the evidence taken thercon certified by the county court, and an appeal may be taken, as in other cases, from the order of refusal to the circuit court of the county, and such appeal, when Appeal to have allowed by the court or judge, shall have preference over precedence over all other cases pending in such court; and whenever any such assessment is corrected as aforesaid by the county court or by the circuit court, on appeal the clerk of the and right of appeal to circuit court. other cases. Taxes assessed county court shall, upon the delivery to him of a copy of the order of the court showing such correction, correct the land books accordingly, and charge up the taxes thereon according to such corrected assessment, and the value of such real estate as so corrected shall continue until the same is changed pursuant to law. But no taxes assessed and paid upon real estate the value, of which has and paid not to been lessened by reason of floods or the abandonment of be refunded. works and property of any such person or company as is herein before mentioned prior to such change, shall be released or refunded to the owner thereof. After the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one the land books of every county shall be made out by the clerk of the county court of such county, who shall do and perform court to make all the duties in relation to the making out of said land after year 1881. books heretofore required of the assessors. Clerk of county out land books To enter taxes 9. The clerk of the county court, in making out the land Clerk to correct books, shall correct any and every mistake he may dis- land books. cover in the original land books, and if any taxes have omitted for a been omitted for a former year, he shall enter the same, etc. with lawful interest thereon, for collection. former year, lands not on land books and and not before assessed. Within what time. How assessed. 10. When the assessor shall ascertain that there is any Assessor to land in his district which has not been entered in the land enter and assess book, or after being so entered, has from any cause been omitted for a period of less than five years, he shall make an entry thereof, and of the name of the owner, in the copy of the land book in his possession; and if there be no assessment of the same, shall proceed to make such assessment, to the best of his judgment, by reference to the assessed value of contiguous land similarly situated, and shall certify to the clerk of the county court all the taxes which should have been charged or collected, with lawful interest thereon; and the clerk of the county court shall be governed thereby in making out the land book. Any assessor failing to make such entry and deliver such cer- Penalty for tificate shall forfeit twenty dollars. And if the clerk of the county court make any such discovery, he shall enter the same in the land books and inform the proper assessor thereof, who shall assess the same as aforesaid, and certify his assessment to the clerk; and the clerk shall thereupon charge said real estate with taxes as aforesaid. failure. where lands are ment district. county court. 11. If any land which ought to be assessed in one as- Duty of assessor sessment district be assessed in another, the assessor in not assessed in whose book it has been erroneously entered, shall certify proper assessthe owner's name, and the quantity, description and as- To certify same sessed valuation of such land to the clerk of the county to clerk of court, who shall enter the same in the land book of the proper district, and charge the tax thereon; and shall Duty of clerk. strike the same from the land book in which it was improperly assessed. And without such certificate the clerk of the county court shall make such entry, correction and 16 Acts. Change in boundaries of li charge, whenever the necessity therefor is brought to his knowledge. 12. The regulations contained in the preceding section counties or dis- shall be held applicable in cases where the boundaries of counties or districts are changed, or a new county or district has been created. tricts, or new ones created. Land correctly charged not to be transferred Change of Ownership or Valuation-General Rule Respecting. 13. Land which has been correctly charged to one person upon the land book shall not afterwards be tranferred to another, or the valuation assessed thereon be changed, except as pro until a general re-assessment be ordered by the Legislature, except as provided in this chapter, or re-assessed vided by law. Tract of land to be charged as a whole and Several Deeds for Same Tract, &c. 14. If the owner of any tract or lot of land has derived title thereto by several conveyances from the same person, not in parcels. Or from different persons, such tract or lot shall be entered and charged with taxes on the land book as a whole, and not in different parcels. Clerks of circuit and municipal nish lists as to courts to fur judgments and decrees for land. Contents of such lists. Lands in an other county list of. 15. The clerk of every circuit and municipal court shall annually, in the month of January, make out lists of all judgments and decrees for the partition or recovery of lands which have been rendered by their respective courts, and have not been before reported to the proper officer, stating in such list the date of the judgment or decree in each case, the land recovered and by whom, or the land which was divided, and between whom and in what par cels. 16. The clerk of every county court shall annually, in devised by will, the same month, make out a list of all lands, if any, lying Clerk to make in another county absolutely devised by wills recorded in his office and not before reported to the proper officer, stating in such list the date of the will in each case, when admitted to record, the names of the devisor and devisee, and a description of the land devised. Lists, how transmitted. Secretary of state; duty of as to grants for land issued by the state. Penalty for fail ure of officer to perform duty. 17. Every list mentioned in the two preceding sections shall be delivered or transmitted by mail by the officer making it, to the clerk of the county court of the proper county. 18. The secretary of state shall annually, in the month of January, make out and forward to the clerk of the county court of each county, an abstract of all grants issued by the state for land lying in such county not previously reported for assessment. 19. If any officer fail to perform any duty required of him by the five preceding sections, he shall forfeit not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars for every such fail ure. decree, etc. 20. Any party interested may procure at his own cost, Copy of deed, a certified copy or statement of any deed, judgment, decree or grant, and deliver the same to the clerk of the Delivery therecounty court, and the clerk may examine original deeds of to assessor. or the records of his or any other county to ascertain to thereon. whom any parcel of land is properly chargeable, or its description or quantity. Change of Ownership or Value-How Entered by the Clerk. His daty 21. Such changes as happen within the district of any Changes to be assessor shall be noted in the proper land book as follows: noted by assessor. assess value 22. The clerk shall enter in the proper land book all Clerk to enter lands granted lands appearing by the abstract of the secretary of state by State. to have been granted and not previously entered therein, and shall deliver said abstract to the proper assessor, who Assessor to shall assess the value thereof with reference to the assessed thereof. value of contiguous land similarly situated, and return said abstract with his assessment to the clerk. If the clerk fail to enter any grant mentioned in said abstract, Penalty for in the first land book made out after such abstract is received by him, he shall forfeit twenty dollars. How assessed. failure. purchased by to be entered. tion of land 23. Real estate purchased for the state at a sale for Real estate taxes, shall not be thereafter entered in the land book, tate at sale but the auditor shall keep a register thereof. But when for taxes not any real estate so purchased appears by the auditor's cer- Auditor to tificate to have been redeemed, the same shall be replaced certity redempin the land book in the name of the former owner or his so sold. grantee. And the auditor shall in the month of January in each year, certify to the clerk of the county court a list of such lands in his county as have been so redeemed within the preceding year. When real estate is sold to an individual for taxes, the clerk shall note in the land book When real the number of acres sold, and to whom, but shall continue taxes to the land upon said book in the name of the former owner, how entered. until the purchaser obtains a deed therefor. estate sold for individual; be transferred to 24. The land specified in the lists, copies, deeds, records, Lands specified abstracts and statements mentioned in the fourteenth, fif- in lists, etc., to teenth, sixteenth, eighteenth and twentieth sections of proper persons. this chapter, shall be transferred in the land book to the persons who appear thereby to be the owners thereof. When a Tract is Divided-Surface Land and Minerals 25. When a tract or lot of land becomes the property of Surface and different owners, in several parcels, or one person becomes minerals underthe owner of the surface, and another of the minerals under lying same. the same, the assessor shall divide the value at which the When owned whole bad before been assessed, among the different own- by different ers, having regard to the value of each interest compared entered. with that of the whole, and enter the same on the copy of persons how the land book in his possession, or upon a statement appended thereto. If any person interested be dissatisfied Notice required. With the division so made, he may apply to the assessor to How division corrected. County court may review division and correct same. Real estate of decedents. How listed. for tax. case. correct the same, and the assessor, giving ten days' notice to the parties concerned, or such of them as are found in his assessment district, shall make a re-apportionment or confirm the division before made, according to the best of his information and judgment. Any party, having given like notice, may apply to the county court of the county to review the assessor's decision, as in other cases, and the court, if satisfied that such decision is erroneous, may correct the same, and order the proper apportionment to be entered upon the land book. Lands of a Deceased Person. 26. When the owner dies intestate, his undivided real estate may be listed to his heirs without designating any of them by name, until they shall have given notice to the clerk of the county court of the division of the same, the names of the several heirs, and the parcels allotted to Each heir liable each; and each heir shall be liable for the whole tax assessed upon such land while it is so listed; but when he Remedy in such pays the same, be may recover of the others their proper proportion of the amount so paid, and the proportion thereof for which such other or others are liable shall be a lien on the interest owned by him or them in such lands; and such liens, when the amount so paid exceeds twenty dollars in all, may be enforced in a court of equity. Where the owner has devised the lands or a freehold estate therein absolutely, the clerk shall charge such land to the devisee. If, under the will, the land is to be sold, charged if under it shall be charged to the decedent's estate, and the assets in the hands of the personal representative shall be liable for the taxes until a sale and conveyance thereof be made. When land charged to devisee. How land will it is to be sold. Assessments of buildings; when and how made. How Old or New Buildings are to be Assessed. 27. Every assessor shail in each year assess and enter in the land book in his possession the value of any old building omitted for one or more years, and of addition or improvement to a building, and of any building newly erected, not theretofore assessed, if the same be of the value of one hundred dollars or upwards. Such building, whether new or old, and such addition or improvement shall be valued as nearly as may be at the same rate at which other buildings in the neighborhood were valued by the assessor at the previous general assessment, and the valuation thereof be added to the value at which the land omitted build- was before charged. And where it is an old building omitted for one or more years, the taxes for former years shall be charged with lawful interest thereon. Taxes on ings; how charged. When new 28. No new building, addition or improvement shall be to be assessed.' assessed until it is so far finished as to be fit for use. buildings, etc., |