The court has jealously guarded this policy by consistently holding that when the title to property is vested in the state or a municipality it is exempt from taxation which means that taxes do not accrue thereon. Meridian v. Phillips, 65 Miss. 362; Warren County v. Nall, 78 Miss. 726; Dees v. Kingman, 119 Miss. 199; Penick v. Willis Cotton Co., 119 Miss. 822; Alvis v. Hicks, 150 Miss. 306; Weems v. City of Laurel, 100 Miss. 335; Wildberger v. Shaw, 84 Miss. 442. We realize that by section 3152, Mississippi Code of 1930, land sold to the state is required to be assessed at its proper value, if the time for redemption has not expired but this assessment is required only for purposes of redemption.
Drainage taxes do not accrue on land in a drainage district while the title, acquired by a tax sale, is vested in the state. Standard Oil Co. v. National Surety Co., 143 Miss. 841; Meridian v. Phillips, 65 Miss. 362; Warren County v. Nall, 78 Miss. 726; Dees v. Kingman, 119 Miss. 199; Penick v. Willis Cotton Co., 119 Miss. 822; Alvis v. Hicks, 150 Miss. 306; Weems v. City of Laurel, 100 Miss. 335; Carrier Lbr. Co. v. Quitman Co., 156 Miss. 396. Drainage districts are subordinate agencies of the state.
Glen R. Charles, the record owner of this property, as well as the Keeneys, resided in a foreign state, that is to say in the City of Chicago and state of Illinois. They all resided there at the time these deeds were supposed to have been exchanged between them. It is certain that the passing deeds between non-residents of the State of Mississippi in a foreign and distant state would not have any bearing on the ownership of the property in this state, especially as to defeat the rights of the lien or title of the State of Mississippi to the property. Meridian v. Phillips, 65 Miss. 362, 4 So. 119; Moores v. Thomas, 95 Miss. 644, 48 So. 1025; Steiff v. Tait, 26 F.2d 489; State Trust Co. v. Chehalis County, 79 Fed. 282. It appears that practically universally where the courts give way to the right of municipalities which procure lands during the progress of the current assessment the forbearance only extends to instances where the city procures before the assessing machinery is completed.