§ 14-16-105 - Sale of county property generally.
14-16-105. Sale of county property generally.
(a) The county court of each county shall have power and jurisdiction to sell and cause to be conveyed any real estate or personal property belonging to the county and to appropriate the proceeds of the sale for the use of the county by proceeding in the manner set forth in this section.
(b) (1) Whenever the county judge of any county shall consider it advisable and to the best interest of the county to sell and convey any real or personal property belonging to the county, he or she shall cause an order to be entered in the county court setting forth:
(A) A description of the property to be sold;
(B) The reason for the sale; and
(C) An order directing the county assessor to cause the property to be appraised at its fair market value and to certify his or her appraisal thereof to the county court within a time to be specified in the order.
(2) A certified copy of the order shall be delivered to the county assessor by the county clerk, and the county clerk shall certify the date of the delivery of the copy on the margin of the record where the order is recorded.
(3) An order and the procedures prescribed in this section shall not be required for any sale by the county of any materials separated, collected, recovered, or created by a recycling program authorized and operated by the county. However, the county judge shall maintain a record of the recyclable materials sold, whether they were sold at public or private sale, a description of the recyclables sold, the name of the purchaser, and the terms of the sale. All the proceeds of the sale shall be deposited with the county treasurer.
(4) An order and the procedures described in this section shall not be required for any conveyance by the county of a conservation easement as described in 15-20-401 et seq. However, no such conveyance shall be made unless authorized by a majority vote of the quorum court.
(c) (1) Upon receipt of the certified copy of the order, the county assessor shall view the property described in the order and shall cause it to be appraised at its fair market value.
(2) Within the time specified in the order, the assessor shall file with the county clerk his or her written certificate of appraisal of the property.
(d) (1) If the appraised value of the property described in the order is less than the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000), the property may thereafter be sold and conveyed by the county judge, either at public or private sale, for not less than three-fourths (3/4) of the appraised value as shown by the certificate of appraisal filed by the assessor.
(2) (A) When the sale has been completed, the county court shall enter its order approving the sale.
(B) The order shall set forth:
(i) The description of the property sold;
(ii) The name of the purchaser;
(iii) The terms of the sale; and
(iv) (a) That the proceeds of the sale have been deposited with the county treasurer; and
(b) The funds to which the proceeds were credited by the county treasurer.
(e) (1) (A) (i) If the appraised value of the property to be sold exceeds the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000), the county judge may sell the property to the highest and best bidder, upon sealed bids received by the judge.
(ii) The sheriff, the treasurer, and the circuit clerk of the county in which the property is to be sold shall constitute a board of approval for the sales, and the judge shall be the ex officio chair of the board without a vote.
(B) Such property, when it exceeds the appraised value of two thousand dollars ($2,000), shall not be sold for less than three-fourths (3/4) of its appraised value as determined by the certificate of the assessor.
(2) (A) Notice of the sale shall be published for two (2) consecutive weekly insertions in some newspaper published and having a general circulation in the county.
(B) The notice shall specify:
(i) The description of the property to be sold;
(ii) The time and place for submitting written bids, including that the sale may be conducted on the Internet; and
(iii) The appraised value of the property to be sold.
(C) The notice shall be dated and signed by the judge.
(D) If the sale is conducted on the Internet, the invoice from the Internet vendor or publisher shall be accompanied by a statement from the Internet vendor or publisher that the sale was published and conducted on the Internet.
(3) The judge shall have the right to reject any and all bids received by him or her pursuant to the notice.
(4) (A) When the judge has accepted a bid for the property, he or she, as chair of the approval board, shall immediately call a meeting of the board, and the proposals to sell at the acceptable bid shall be submitted to the board for its approval.
(B) (i) If a majority of the board approves the sale, then the judge may sell and convey the property to the highest bidder.
(ii) When the sale has been approved and completed, the county court shall enter an order approving the sale, which shall set forth the details of the sale as provided in subdivision (d)(2)(B) of this section.
(f) (1) (A) Any sale or conveyance of real or personal property belonging to any county not made pursuant to the terms of this section shall be null and void.
(B) (i) Any taxpayer of the county may bring an action to cancel the sale and to recover possession of the property sold within two (2) years from the date a sale is consummated.
(ii) This action for the use and benefit of the county is to be taken in the circuit court of the county in which the sale is made or in any county where personal property so sold may be found.
(iii) In the event the property is recovered for the county in the action, the purchaser shall not be entitled to a refund of the consideration paid by him or her for the sale.
(2) The procedures for sale and conveyance of county property set forth in this section shall not apply in these instances:
(A) When personal property of the county is traded in on new or used equipment and credit approximating the fair market price of the personal property is given the county toward the purchase price of new equipment;
(B) When the sale of the personal property of the county involves the sale by the county of any materials separated, collected, recovered, or created by a recycling program authorized and operated by the county;
(C) When the county is conveying an easement, including, but not limited to, easements granted upon county lands for water improvements, sewer improvements, gas lines, electric lines, phone lines, utilities, railways, public roads, highways, and conservation easements as described in 15-20-401 et seq. for any of the purposes enumerated in 15-20-401 et seq., as the same may be amended from time to time; or
(D) When the county is leasing county property, including, but not limited to, leasing county lands or property under 14-16-108, 14-16-109, 14-16-110, or the Municipalities and Counties Industrial Development Revenue Bond Law, 14-164-201 et seq.
(g) (1) County hospitals constructed or maintained in whole or part by taxes approved by the voters shall not be sold unless the sale is approved by the majority of electors voting on the issue at a general or special election. This subsection is applicable to county hospitals constructed before and after July 20, 1987.
(2) An election shall not be required for the sale of a county hospital that has been vacant or not used as a county hospital for more than one hundred twenty (120) days.