Rights of Collector's Sureties

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Taxes and Licenses
  4. General Provisions
  5. Officers Charged With Delinquent Taxes
  6. Rights of Collector's Sureties

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  1. If a collector leaves the state without accounting for the county and state taxes, whereby the collector's sureties become liable for the taxes, or dies shortly before or during the time appointed for the collection of public taxes, so that a successor cannot be appointed in time to collect the taxes, it is lawful for the sureties of such collector to go before the county legislative body of the county for which their principal was elected, and prove to the court the existence of such absence or death of their principal. It shall then be the duty of the county legislative body to make a record of such proof, and upon it to make an order authorizing the sureties of such dead or absent collector to collect all arrearages of taxes not collected by their principal, and that it was the principal's duty to collect. Such order, when made, shall be made ample authority for such sureties to collect all such arrearages of taxes; and for this purpose the order shall vest them with all rights and powers to distrain and sell the property, whether real or personal, of those in arrears for taxes, the same as their principal could have done, if the principal had not been absent or died; and they shall have all the powers, authorities, privileges, and emoluments in and for the receipt and collection of the public taxes that the absent or deceased collector possessed and enjoyed.
  2. In case of such death or absence, as is contemplated in subsection (a), it shall and may be competent for the sureties of such dead or absent principal, or, in case of the death of any of the sureties, then their representatives, to go before the county legislative body and agree for any one (1) of such sureties to be appointed to collect such arrearages of taxes, and upon such agreement, it shall be competent for the county legislative body to appoint such surety so agreed upon to collect such arrearages of taxes, and a record shall be made of such agreement and choice, which appointment shall be as ample power to that surety as if all were authorized to collect them; but nothing in subsection (a) or this subsection (b) shall have the effect to release any of such sureties or their representatives from liability as such.
  3. If any person liable to pay such taxes fails to pay them to such designated surety, they may make distress and sale for such arrears in the same manner as the collector could have done. But no such distress or sale shall be made until public notice be first given in the manner prescribed in former § 67-5-1801 and § 67-5-2005.
  4. The sureties of such defaulting collectors, or the authorized agents of such sureties, in all cases where they have paid the amount charged against such defaulting collectors, may sue for the collection of such delinquent taxes in the name of the state for their use, and in all cases where they have not paid, but have become liable for, such uncollected revenue, they may sue in their names, or the names of their duly authorized agents, for the use of the state, county, or municipality, to enforce the collection of such uncollected revenue or any revenues due the state, county, or municipality for which they, in any way, may have become liable.
  5. When a collector is deprived of the power of office, and suspended from acting as collector, on account of the collector's failure or refusal to give sureties in place of sureties discharged, the sureties may receive and collect all taxes not already paid to their principal that the principal was bound to collect; and, for such purpose, they shall have all the powers, authorities, privileges and emoluments that belong officially to the collector so suspended.
  6. Sureties, or the duly authorized agents of sureties of revenue collectors whose terms of office have expired, and whose successors in office have been elected, or, where two (2) years or more have elapsed after the expiration of the terms of office of such collectors, leaving uncollected taxes due the state, county, or municipality for the time during which such trustees held such office, whenever the trustees have paid into the treasury the amount charged against such collectors, on account of the state, county, or municipal revenue, or have become liable for the amount because of the collector's default, shall have the same privileges and rights in enforcing the collection of such uncollected revenue that are applicable by law to revenue collectors.

Code 1858, §§ 663-667 (deriv. Acts 1770, ch. 6, § 2; 1815, ch. 14, § 2); Acts 1859-1860, ch. 17, §§ 1, 2; 1875, ch. 135, §§ 1, 2; Shan., §§ 954-957, 957a1, 959, 960; Code 1932, §§ 1663-1667, 1669, 1670; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 7, 36; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 67-1503 — 67-1508.

Compiler's Notes. The public notice provisions of §67-5-1801, referred to in this section, were deleted by Acts 1984, ch. 346, § 1, which deleted former §67-5-1801 in its entirety and replaced it with current version of § 67-5-1801.

Law Reviews.

Tax Delinquency in Tennessee — Legislative Aspects (Charles P. White), 12 Tenn. L. Rev. 71 (1934).


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