King v. Hatfield

Citations

• 130 F. 564

Syllabus

<p>1. Forfeiture — Entry of Land for Taxation — Construction of State Constitution.</p> <p>Section 6, art. 13, of the Constitution of West Virginia provides: “It shall be the duty of every owner of land to have it entered on the land books of the county in which it, or a part of it, is situated, and to cause himself to be charged’With the taxes thereon, and pay the same. When for any five successive years after the year 1869, the owner of any tract of land containing one thousand acres or more, shall not have been charged on such books with state tax on said land, then by operation hereof, the land shall be forfeited and the title thereto vest in the state. But if, for any one or more of such five years, the owner shall have been charged with state tax on any part of the land, such part thereof shall not be forfeited for such cause. * * *” Held: That'this provision does not apply to land that was on such landbooks and charged with taxes in the name of the owner at the time said Constitution was adopted. Such land, or any land that was entered and charged with taxes upon such landbooks in the name of the owner within the five years next after the year 1869, does not become forfeited by consequence of any subsequent omission of the land or noncharging of state taxes.</p> <p>2. Same — Duty of Owner, when Fulfilled — Owner Has no Control of Land Once Entered on Landbooks — No Forfeiture for Failure of Public Officers to Enter and Charge Land.</p> <p>When land has once been entered upon the landbooks in the name of the owner, his duty with regard to entering it has been fulfilled. He has no control over the entering and charging of such land with taxes thereafter, or over the taxing officers. The land can only be omitted by such officers, and no forfeiture thereof can result from their failure to enter it and charge it with taxes. But if said section 6, art. 13, Const. W. Va., be construed to make it the duty of the landowner to have his land entered upon the landbooks w