By Jessica Eisenmenger and Tim Gustafson

The Supreme Court of Mississippi held that a county had the right to a jury trial in an appeal of the county’s ad valorem tax assessment. In reaching its decision, the court relied on centuries-old customs, practices and decisions upholding the right to a jury trial in tax assessment cases that pre-dated the state’s 1890 Constitution. Because the statute authorizing ad valorem tax assessment appeals was silent on whether a right to a jury trial exists, the court found that Mississippi’s common law right to a jury trial in tax cases prevailed. Riverboat Corp. of Miss. v. Harrison Cty. Bd. of Supervisors, No. 2014-IA-01358-SCT (Miss. July 28, 2016).