Sumter County v. Hollis
Sumter County v. Hollis
Opinion of the Court
The bill of exceptions recites that “there came on to be tried the ease of Georgia and Sumter County against Mrs. Sam McGarrah, defendant in fi. fa., and M. D. Hollis, claimant, the same being a tax fi. fa. in favor of the plaintiffs for State and county taxes for 1931, which was levied upon certain cottonseed to which M. D. Hollis, the claimant, filed a claim.” The judge, by consent, passed on the ease, without tlie intervention of a jury, on a written agreement of facts, and rendered a judgment in favor of the claimant, and the plaintiffs excepted. The agreed statement of facts was as follows: “That the cottonseed, the subject-matter of the above-stated claim, levied on, were grown in the year 1931, on the farm of Mrs. Sam McGarrah, defendant in fi. fa., and that
“All farm products, including baled cotton, grown in this State and remaining in the hands of the producer shall be exempt from
Judgment affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
concurring- specially. I agree with the principle stated, that the cottonseed were not subject to taxation, but were subject to the payment of taxes accrued on other property. I think, however, that these cottonseed not being themselves subject to taxation and being placed as they were ginned in Marion County, Georgia, they did not therefore become so subject to a tax fi. fa. from Sumter County, Georgia, as to take precedence over a bona fide purchaser from the owner. In other words, Mrs. McGarrah owed taxes in Sumter County, Georgia for the year 1931, which were not paid on December 20, 1931, and a fi. fa. was issued therefor. Her property in Marion County, as provided in the Code of 1910, § 1174 (“If there is not sufficient property in the county where the taxpayer resides to satisfy the taxes, property situated in any other county is the subject of levy and sale),” may be subject to such 11. fa., omitting any discussion as to a showing that there was no property in Sumter County sufficient to satisfy the fi. fa.: but I think the tax lien, in order to come ahead of an innocent purchaser of the property of Mrs. McGarrah in Marion County, should have the fi. fa.-recorded in Marion County. The fi. fa. is a lien on the property of the taxpayer located in Sumter County, so long as it remains unpaid. When it is paid by a third person and it is properly transferred, there must, under the Civil Code of 1910, § 1145, be a record of the fi. fa., even in Sumter County, in order for it to continue to take precedence over innocent purchasers. While it is true that “ Liens for taxes . . shall cover the property of taxpayers liable to tax” (Code of 1910, § 3333), this lien, as the other liens with which it is treated in § 3329 to § 3364 inclusive, refers to the establishment of liens in the particular county and is subject to the recording acts, except that a tax fi. fa. issued for State and County taxes and not transferred by the State or County need not be. recorded in the county where the property is situated for which the fi. fa. was issued. This provision should be limited to the jurisdiction .of the particular county. Hollis, in the present case, bought from Mrs. McGarrah personal property, cottonseed not at the time subject to taxation. He was an innocent purchaser for value. The records of Marion County where the property was located showed no lien against the property. Any unpaid taxes due Marion County at the time by Mrs. McGarrah would have subjected the property. I think the
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.