Mississippi Code
Article 1 - Provisions Common to Drainage Districts
§ 51-33-81. Audit of records

It shall be the duty of the receiver to audit the records of said drainage district so as to show (1) each tract of land originally assessed described with reasonable certainty, (2) the name of the person designated as owner on the original benefit assessment roll, (3) the total amount originally assessed against each tract of land, (4) the total amount of assessed benefits actually paid on each tract of land, (5) the total amount of assessed benefits on each tract of land remaining unpaid and due when the audit is made, and (6) the total amount of unpaid assessments of each tract remaining unpaid but not due. In the event the records of said drainage district have been lost or cannot be found upon diligent search and inquiry, said receiver shall make an audit as best he can, showing the six items above enumerated by taking into consideration the last time annual levy was made as reflected by the order of court, board of supervisors, or other governing authority, and the amount of outstanding and unpaid bonds and interest coupons issued by said drainage district as may be satisfactorily proved to him by the holders of any such bonds, whether said bonds are in their original form or have been reduced to judgment. Said audit shall also show whether or not the bonds issued by said drainage district are in excess of the assessed benefits or other limitations fixed by law at the time such bonds were issued and, if excessive, to what extent. Upon such audit being completed, the receiver shall file the same, together with such supplemental report as he may deem proper or the court may require, and said audit shall be deemed prima facie correct. Upon filing such audit and report, the clerk of said court shall cause to be published once each week for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in said county, or if no newspaper is published in said county, then in some newspaper having a general circulation in said county, a notice and summons directed to all landowners of said drainage district, the holders of its bonds, and judgment holders, that such audit and report of the receiver has been filed in said court and receivership cause and is subject to their inspection and objection. Such notice shall state that unless such landowner, bondholders, or judgment holders shall, on or before the next ensuing term of said court to convene not earlier than thirty days after the first publication, appear and show cause in writing and in detail why said audit is incorrect in any particular, then said audit will be approved and made final, and all parties shall be bound thereby. It shall be the duty of the court to hear and adjudicate all objections made and filed by any landowner or any bondholder, giving to each the right to contest the objection of the other. After all objections have been heard and adjudicated, the court shall enter its final decree, which shall describe with reasonable certainty each tract of land assessed, the name of the owner or the one to whom it was originally assessed, the amount of unpaid benefit assessments which are due and chargeable to each tract, the amount of unpaid benefit assessments which are not due, the names of the bond and judgment holders and the amounts held by each which are found to be legal obligations of said drainage district, and which of such bonds or the percentage thereof are entitled to payment out of the remaining unpaid benefit assessments when collected. Said final decree shall also declare and fix as a statutory lien, paramount to all liens save and except liens for state and county taxes, the amount so found to be owing and unpaid, whether due or not, on each tract of land and shall fix a day, not later than four months after the rendition of said final decree, for the payment of all such unpaid benefit assessments as are found to be then due and owing. Said decree shall also provide for a sale by the receiver of any and all tracts of land therein mentioned on which the amount so assessed and fixed as a lien is due and shall remain unpaid on the day fixed for its payment. Publication of notice of such sale shall be made in manner and form and for the time required by law for the sale of land delinquent for general taxes, such sale to take place at the court house of said county within legal hours on the day named in the published notice of sale. The court may from time to time order further sales of any such land for the remaining assessed benefits which shall later mature. From such final decree any interested landowner and bondholder may appeal to the supreme court in the manner provided by law generally for such appeals.

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