§ 11A-3-44 — Auditor to certify list of lands to be sold; lands so certified are subject to sale

On or after March 1and on or before August 1 of each year, the Auditor shall certify a list of all lands subject to sale under this article. He or she shall note the fact of certification on the land record in his or her office. Upon completion of the list for certification, a charge of $25 shall be added to the taxes, interest, and charges already due on each tract listed, to cover the costs incurred by the Auditor in the preparation of the list, and in the event of sale or redemption, the same shall be collected and paid into the operating fund provided for in this article.

Escheated lands and waste and unappropriated lands shall be listed separately. The list shall be arranged by districts and, except in the case of waste and unappropriated lands, alphabetically by the name of the owner. The list shall state as to each item listed the information required by §11A-3-35 of this code to be set forth in the land record in the Auditor’s office, and shall specify as to each tract listed as delinquent or non-entered the amount of taxes and interest due or chargeable thereon on the date of certification, the publication and other charges due, with interest, and the total currently due. The specification of taxes due or chargeable shall as to delinquent land commence with those for nonpayment of which it was certified, and as to non-entered land with those properly chargeable to it for the first year of nonentry, subject to the provisions of the proviso set forth in §11A-3-38(b) of this code.

All items certified by the Auditor shall be numbered consecutively. All subsequent entries, applications, or proceedings under this article in respect to any item shall refer to its number and the year of certification. Notwithstanding any provisions of this article to the contrary, all tracts, lots, or parcels certified to the Auditor as a unit may be treated by the Auditor as a single item for purposes of certification. Subject to the provisions of this section, the Auditor shall prescribe a form for the list and shall provide in such form adequate space to show the subsequent history and final disposition of each item certified.

The list shall be made in quadruplicate. The Auditor shall keep the original and send one copy to the clerk of the county commission, one to the sheriff, and one to the West Virginia Land Stewardship Corporation created pursuant to §31-21-1et seq. of this code. The clerk of the county commission shall bind his or her copy in a permanent book to be labeled “Report of Auditor of Delinquent and Non-Entered Lands” and shall note the fact of the certification of each item on his or her record of delinquent lands. Such copies delivered to the clerk of the county commission and the sheriff shall become permanent records, and shall be preserved as such in the offices of the Auditor and the clerk of the county commission.

Legislative History

2025 Reg. Sess., SB683; 2022 Reg. Sess., SB552; 1994 Reg. Sess., HB4043; 1963 Reg. Sess., SB163; 1961 Reg. Sess., SB121