# Title 57 — Taxation

## Chapter 57-22 — Collection of Delinquent Personal Property Taxes

### § 57-22-01. Treasurer to give notice.

The county treasurer, during the month of January preceding the time when personal
property taxes shall become delinquent, shall give to each person, firm, corporation, or limited
liability company from whom such a tax is due a written notice stating the amount of the tax due,
the date when the same shall become delinquent, a schedule of the penalties which will accrue
after delinquency, that unless such taxes are paid on or before the fifteenth day of October of
that year the taxes will be placed in the hands of the sheriff for collection, and that in January of
the next year the list of unpaid delinquent personal property taxes will be published in the official
newspaper in the county.
### § 57-22-02. Treasurer to make list of delinquent taxes - Notice by mail.

On or before the first day of September in each year, the county treasurer shall make out a
list of the unpaid delinquent personal property taxes, in the order in which they appear on the
tax list, and, on or before the fifteenth day of September thereafter, shall notify each of the
delinquents by mail that unless such taxes are paid on or before the fifteenth day of October of
that year the taxes will be placed in the hands of the sheriff for collection.
### § 57-22-02.1. County auditor to maintain record of delinquent personal property taxes.

The county auditor, upon receiving a list of the delinquent personal property taxes as
required by law, shall cause the same to be entered in individual accounts by taxpayers in a
record to be kept in the county auditor's office. Such record must show the names of delinquent
taxpayers alphabetically arranged, the amount of the tax of each, for what year or years, and all
other information as shown on the original tax list. Subsequent payments must be posted from
duplicate copies of tax receipts transmitted by the treasurer and sheriff.
### § 57-22-03. List to be delivered to sheriff - Duties of sheriff.

The county treasurer, on the fifteenth day of October, shall deliver the list of unpaid
delinquent personal property taxes to the sheriff of the county, who immediately shall proceed to
collect all such taxes, and if they are not paid upon demand, the sheriff shall distrain sufficient
goods and chattels belonging to the person charged with such taxes to pay the same with
penalties and costs. The list given to the sheriff must show the information contained in the
original tax list and must include the name and post-office address of the taxpayer, the taxing
district and school district in which the taxpayer resides, the valuation, the amount of
consolidated taxes, the amount of school per capita or other taxes, and the total tax.
### § 57-22-04. Distraint - Notice of sale - Sale - Surplus.

Whenever personal property taxes are collected by distraint, the sheriff shall take the
specific property distrained into possession, and immediately shall proceed to advertise the
same by posting notices in three public places in the district or municipality where such property
is taken, stating the time when and the place where the property will be sold, and the amount of
the delinquent tax with penalties. If the taxes for which said property is distrained, with penalties
and cost, are not paid before the day appointed for such sale, which may not be less than ten
days after the taking of such property, the sheriff or the sheriff's deputy shall proceed, at public
auction, to sell the property, or so much thereof as is sufficient to pay the taxes and the
penalties and costs of distress and sale, and any surplus arising from the sale must be disposed
of as in the case of the sale of mortgaged personal property.
### § 57-22-05. Property exempt from distraint.

No personal property is exempt from distraint and sale for the payment of personal property
taxes, except personal property consisting of household furniture, wearing apparel, and
necessary provisions belonging to the head of a family, to the value of one hundred dollars.

### § 57-22-06. Sheriff may use other process.

If a taxpayer charged with a personal property tax has not sufficient property which the
sheriff can find to distrain to pay such tax, but has moneys or credits due the taxpayer or coming
to the taxpayer from any person, corporation, limited liability company, governmental agency,
municipality, or from this state, known to the sheriff, or if such taxpayer has removed from this
state, and has property or moneys or credits due the taxpayer or coming to the taxpayer in this
state, known to the sheriff, the sheriff shall collect such personal property taxes and penalties by
garnishment, attachment, distress, or other process of law, and such remedy is in addition to
any other remedy provided by law.
### § 57-22-07. Sheriff to give receipts for taxes collected.

Upon receiving payment of any personal property tax, the sheriff shall make four copies of a
receipt therefor, which must contain the information required by section 57-22-03 to be given to
the sheriff by the county treasurer and the amount of taxes and interest and penalty collected.
One of such receipts must be given to the taxpayer, one must be retained by the sheriff, one
must accompany the statement furnished to the county treasurer as aforesaid, and one must be
delivered to the county auditor together with a duplicate of the statement furnished to the county
treasurer.
### § 57-22-08. Sheriff to file statement with and pay collections to county treasurer.

On the first day of each month after the sheriff receives the delinquent personal property tax
list from the county treasurer, the sheriff shall make out and file with the county treasurer a
statement of the personal property taxes collected by the sheriff during the preceding month and
shall pay the same to the treasurer as shown by the statement of the personal property taxes
collected, giving each receipt number, the name of the taxpayer, the year assessed, the amount
of the tax, and the amount of penalty and interest collected thereon. The sheriff shall pay to the
county treasurer all personal property taxes collected as shown by the sheriff's said statement at
the time of delivering said statement to the county treasurer.
### § 57-22-09. Sheriff to file annual report with county auditor.

The sheriff, on or before January first of each year, also shall file with the county auditor a
full and complete list of uncollected taxes and shall append to such list the sheriff's affidavit, or
the affidavit of the sheriff's deputy, stating that the sheriff has made diligent search and inquiry
for goods and chattels out of which to make collection of the taxes remaining uncollected, and
that the sheriff is unable to collect the same. In case of the removal of any delinquent taxpayer,
the sheriff shall note on the margin of the list the place to which the delinquent taxpayer has
moved, with the date of removal, if the sheriff can ascertain such facts.
### § 57-22-10. County auditor to maintain record of delinquent personal taxes.

Repealed by S.L. 1957, ch. 357, § 1.
### § 57-22-11. Cancellation of uncollectible taxes.

At its regular meeting in January of each year, the board of county commissioners shall
examine the sheriff's report on personal property taxes and compare the same with the tax lists
of the auditor and treasurer, and, upon such report, may cancel such taxes as the board is
satisfied cannot be collected. The items of tax so canceled must be noted on the tax lists of the
treasurer and auditor. The auditor forthwith shall make a report to the sheriff of the tax items
canceled and the same must be credited to the county.
### § 57-22-12. Sheriff to retain tax lists.

The sheriff shall maintain in the sheriff's office a record of the original delinquent taxes
furnished to the sheriff by the county treasurer, and it is the sheriff's duty to collect at any time
any taxes remaining uncanceled, unabated, or unpaid. Upon sending the sheriff's notices for
each succeeding year, the sheriff shall include any unpaid balances, with interest, penalty, and

costs, with the new delinquent amount, which must be collected in the same manner as the
current delinquent tax.
### § 57-22-13. When tax becomes lien.

Personal property taxes, for the purpose of distraint, are a lien upon all the personal
property in possession of the person assessed from and after the date when the assessment is
made.
### § 57-22-13.1. Notice of sale given to county treasurer.

No security interest in or other lien upon personal property is foreclosed by the sale of such
property unless the secured party, the secured party's agent or attorney, or the editor or
publisher of the printing concern or company which prints such foreclosure notice, at least five
days before the date of such sale, has mailed or delivered to the county treasurer of the county
in which the sale is to be held a copy of such notice of foreclosure sale. The notice must be
mailed to the county treasurer by registered or certified mail and must contain a list of the
personal property to be sold, with the name and address of the owners of such property. An
affidavit reciting the mailing or delivery of such notice to the county treasurer must be filed with
the report of sale required to be filed in the office of the recorder, and no such foreclosure sale is
valid unless such notice of sale has been mailed or delivered to the county treasurer as herein
provided.
### § 57-22-13.2. Property distrained by sheriff when taxes not paid.

Upon receipt of the notice of foreclosure of a security interest in or other lien upon personal
property, the county treasurer shall ascertain whether the owner of such personal property has
paid the taxes levied against the owner and if the county treasurer finds that such taxes are due
and owing the county treasurer immediately shall notify the sheriff who, unless upon demand
such taxes are paid, shall distrain such property, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to
pay such taxes. No transfer of personal property to the secured party or to the holder of a lien
thereon in any way affects the lien of personal property taxes assessed against such property.
### § 57-22-14. Unlawful to dispose of personal property without paying tax - Penalty.

Any person who removes from this state, or disposes of any personal property which has
been assessed for personal property taxes, with intent to avoid the payment of such taxes and
without paying the same, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
### § 57-22-15. Tax receipt required for shipment of emigrant movables.

Repealed by S.L. 1963, ch. 375, § 6.
### § 57-22-16. Procedure when personal property is about to be sold or removed without

payment of tax.
If a township, city, or county officer learns or believes that there is danger that personal
property which has been assessed and upon which any personal property taxes are due or will
be due, will be sold, or removed from the county, without payment of the taxes and without
leaving sufficient property to pay the whole of such taxes, the officer shall report such fact to the
sheriff, who forthwith shall collect the taxes, or distrain and sell sufficient property to pay the
same, if they are not paid on demand, or require an undertaking from the owner in favor of the
county treasurer, conditioned that all taxes levied upon such property will be paid when due.
Such undertaking must be approved by the recorder, unless the board of county commissioners
designates a different official. If the taxes involved have not been levied, they must be
ascertained by the county auditor by applying the aggregate mill levy of the previous year for the
taxing district in which the property is assessed to the current taxable valuation, and if, after the
tax for the current year is levied, there is any excess, it must be refunded to the taxpayer on
order of the board of county commissioners. In case a bond has been given, and the taxes are
not paid when due, the county treasurer shall bring an action for the taxes and costs in the

district court of the county, and the state's attorney shall represent the treasurer in such action
on the bond.
### § 57-22-17. Personal property individually assessed - Paramount lien.

Any person owing personal property taxes is liable civilly to the purchaser of any property
assessed therefor, but the property purchased or transferred is liable in the hands of the
purchaser for such taxes if it can be shown that the property transferred was assessed
individually. In that case, the taxes constitute a paramount lien on any item of property assessed
individually, and no sale or transfer affects such lien.
### § 57-22-18. Conditional sales - Taxes payable before change of possession.

If personal property has been sold or transferred under a conditional sale contract, the
owner, holder, or assignee of such contract may not attach nor repossess such property nor
acquire it by bill of sale, on account of the cancellation or foreclosure of such contract, until the
taxes levied upon the said property have been paid as follows:
1. For property other than mobile homes subject to tax under chapter 57-55, all taxes
levied upon the property must be paid in full.
2. For mobile homes subject to tax under chapter 57-55, the tax levied upon the property
for the current year and the most recent preceding year must be paid in full.
### § 57-22-19. Lien of tax follows sale in bulk.

Taxes upon a stock of goods or merchandise of any nature, and upon furniture and fixtures
in any type of business or industry, continue to constitute a lien thereon when sold in bulk, and
may be collected from the owner or purchaser, who is liable personally therefor.
### § 57-22-20. Precedence of lien for taxes.

The state, and each county thereof, to the extent of the amount of taxes assessed and
levied against particular personal property and property included in the same class, as disclosed
by the statutory assessment list, has a lien upon such property prior to all other liens on or
against the same. Any person holding a lien on personal property of any tax debtor may
demand and require the property of the tax debtor not covered by a lien to be first exhausted in
the payment of such taxes.
### § 57-22-21. Personal property taxes made lien on real estate.

Personal property taxes must be made a lien upon real estate of the tax debtor as follows:
1. At its January meeting in each year, the board of county commissioners shall declare
by resolution that all unpaid and uncanceled personal property taxes, from and after
the date of the extension and entry thereof as provided in this chapter, constitute a lien
on any real estate owned by the tax debtor, or which the tax debtor thereafter may
acquire, and shall make such taxes a specific lien on particular descriptions of real
property owned by the tax debtor as of the date of the extension and entry of such lien.
2. The county auditor shall extend to and enter upon the tax list of real estate then in the
hands of the county treasurer, for the year immediately preceding, opposite the
descriptions of real estate designated by the board of county commissioners which
belong to the personal property tax debtor, the year for which the personal property
taxes are uncollected and the amount thereof. Such entry must be made without
regard to any prior payment of real estate taxes on said descriptions, and the treasurer
is without authority thereafter to issue any receipt in full for said real estate taxes
without making collection at the same time of the personal property taxes so extended;
a taxpayer holding a specific superior lien on said descriptions ahead of personal
property taxes charged thereon is entitled to tax receipts without regard to
nonpayment of such inferior personal taxes.
3. If the tax debtor afterwards acquires any real property in the county, such delinquent
personal property taxes may be entered in like manner upon any subsequent tax list,
and from the time of such entry is a lien on any real property of the tax debtor against

which they were entered in the same manner and to the same extent as the taxes
upon such real property.
### § 57-22-21.1. Immediate assessment of personal property taxes.

It is the duty of the assessor, upon discovery of any personal property in the county,
belonging to transients or nonresidents, the taxes upon which cannot in the assessor's opinion
be made a lien upon sufficient real property, or upon discovery of personal property within the
county belonging to a resident of this state but normally located in another state or province, to
secure the payment of such taxes, as provided in section 57-22-21, to immediately, and in any
event not more than five days thereafter, make a report to the treasurer, setting forth the nature,
kind, description, and character of such property, in such a definite manner that the treasurer
can identify the same, and the amount and assessed valuation of such property, where the
same is located, and the name and address of the owner, claimant, or other person in
possession of the same.
### § 57-22-21.2. Immediate collection of personal property taxes.

The county treasurer must collect the taxes on all personal property, and in the case
provided in the preceding section, it is the duty of the treasurer immediately upon receipt of such
report from the assessor to notify the person or persons against whom the tax is assessed that
the amount of such tax is due and payable at the county treasurer's office. The county sheriff
shall at the time of receiving the assessor's report, and in any event within thirty days from the
receipt of such report, levy upon and take into possession such personal property against which
a tax is assessed and proceed to sell the same, in the same manner as property is sold on
execution by the sheriff, and the county treasurer may for the purpose of making such levy and
sale, designate and appoint the sheriff as the treasurer's deputy, and such sheriff is entitled to
receive the same fees as the sheriff is entitled to in making a seizure and sale under execution.
For the purpose of determining the taxes due, on such personal property, the treasurer shall use
the levy made during the previous year, if the levy for the current year has not yet been made.
Nothing herein may be construed as to prevent the county treasurer or the county sheriff from
collecting taxes due on personal property by distraint thereof at any time after the expiration of
the period hereinbefore mentioned.
### § 57-22-22. Extended personal property taxes to be collected with real estate taxes.

Collection of personal property taxes entered and extended as a lien on real estate may be
enforced by foreclosure of tax lien. The lands to be foreclosed for personal property taxes
entered and extended thereon must be designated by resolution of the board of county
commissioners.
### § 57-22-23. Priority of lien of extended personal property tax.

The lien of personal property taxes charged against real estate has priority over any
judgment, mortgage, or other lien or claim, placed of record subsequent to the date when such
personal property taxes are entered against such real property, except that the lien for real
estate taxes for a subsequent year has priority over personal property tax liens formerly charged
and spread.
### § 57-22-24. Collection of personal property taxes by action.

Whenever it is deemed expedient by the board of county commissioners of any county to
collect delinquent personal property taxes by action, the board has the power to institute an
action in the name of the county for and on behalf of the county against the person charged with
such taxes.
### § 57-22-25. Fees of sheriff for distraint.

The sheriff or the sheriff's deputy must be allowed the same fees for making distraint and
sale of goods and chattels for the payment of taxes as are allowed by law for making a levy and
sale of personal property on execution, and travel fees must be allowed as determined by law.

Such fees and mileage must be added to any tax and collected by the sheriff, and when
presenting a statement and bill for such fees and mileage a full and complete description of the
route traveled must be given. In no case may mileage be charged more than once from the
county seat of the county in which the services required are performed.
### § 57-22-26. Deduction of personal property taxes from salaries, wages, and claims

against public funds.
Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 530, § 1.
### § 57-22-27. Who are subject to deductions.

Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 530, § 1.
### § 57-22-28. Contract for payment of taxes shall not affect deductions.

Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 530, § 1.
### § 57-22-29. Contract for tax collection - Contracts validated.

1. In any county where for any reason personal property taxes that have been delinquent
more than one year remain unpaid and uncanceled, whether put into judgment or not,
the board of county commissioners may contract with the sheriff of the county, or with
any elector of the state, to pay a percentage of the delinquent personal property taxes,
not exceeding ten percent of the amount collected, as compensation for collecting the
same, in lieu of, or in addition to, the compensation provided by law for said sheriff.
When a contract is made with any person other than the sheriff, the county
commissioners may in their discretion pay any reasonable salary or expenses or a
percentage of the tax collected, or combination thereof, and the contract may cover all
or only certain taxing districts within the county, and contracts may be made with
different collectors for different portions of the county. In the event delinquent personal
property taxes are owed by a person not residing in North Dakota, the county
commissioners may contract with any person, firm, corporation, or limited liability
company, to pay a reasonable percentage of the delinquent taxes collected, as
compensation for the collection. Such contractors shall execute either a personal or
corporate surety bond conditioned upon satisfactory performance of the provisions of
the contract and shall be in an amount and of a type approved by the county
commissioners.
2. All contracts heretofore made and entered into by county commissioners for the
collection and recovery of personal property taxes are declared legal and valid
notwithstanding the provisions of law to the contrary.
### § 57-22-30. Bond and reports of collectors.

Any collector, other than the sheriff, with whom the county has contracted for the collection
of personal property taxes, shall furnish a good and sufficient bond, in an amount to be fixed by
the board of county commissioners, for the faithful discharge of the collector's duties and for the
payment to the county of all moneys collected. The collector, on the second day of each month,
shall file with the county treasurer a verified report and account of the taxes collected by the
collector the preceding month, showing the name of each person from whom taxes were
collected and the amount collected and at the same time shall pay to the county treasurer the
full amount collected. The expenses of such collection, whether made by the sheriff or other
collector, according to the contract, must be borne pro rata by the state and every other political
subdivision or municipality having an interest in the taxes collected and must be paid to the
collector on order of the board of county commissioners.
### § 57-22-31. Payment of taxes after judgment.

Upon payment to the county treasurer of any personal property taxes for which judgment
has been obtained, the treasurer shall deliver a certificate of the fact of payment to the clerk of

the court. The clerk shall file the certificate and enter the satisfaction of the judgment in the
judgment docket, stating the date of payment and the number of the receipt.
### § 57-22-32. Collection from tax debtor who moves to another county - Duty of county

auditor.
Upon the removal of a delinquent tax debtor from the county, collection must be made from
the debtor in the manner following:
1. In case of the removal of any delinquent tax debtor from the county in which the
debtor's personal property was taxed to any other county in this state, the assessor
immediately shall make a proper effort to ascertain the place of the debtor's
destination and to report the place to the county auditor. The county auditor shall
prepare and forward to the recorder of the county to which the tax debtor has
removed, unless the board of county commissioners designates a different official of
that county, a statement of the amount of the delinquent taxes, including penalties and
costs that may have attached, specifying the value of property on which the taxes
were levied.
2. On receipt of the statement, the recorder, or designated official, receiving the
statement shall issue a warrant to the sheriff of the county, and the sheriff shall
proceed immediately to collect the taxes in the manner in which the sheriff collects
delinquent taxes in the county. The sheriff shall collect from the tax debtor an
additional sum of ten dollars. The sum must be paid to the recorder, or designated
official, as the fee for issuing the warrant, and all taxes collected must be remitted by
the sheriff to the treasurer of the county to which the taxes belong, together with the
original statement of account, and if any taxes remain unpaid a statement must be
made of the reason, and proper entries must be made on the tax lists of the county
where the tax was levied.
### § 57-22-33. Penalties.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673.
