§ 68-2870. Destruction or loss of tax lists, rolls or abstracts.

A.  In case of the destruction or loss of tax lists, rolls or abstracts, or any portion thereof, of any county of this state, after the assessments have been adjusted by the county board of equalization according to law, and before the taxes have become delinquent according to law, it shall be the duty of the county assessor with the approval of the board of county commissioners of the county in which said loss or destruction shall occur, within ninety (90) days after such loss or destruction, to appoint special deputy assessors, whose duty it shall be to assist the county assessor in reassessing all taxable property of said county, or such portion thereof, the tax records of which have been lost or destroyed as aforesaid, in the manner and form provided by law. Before entering upon the duties of such appointment, such special deputy assessors shall qualify before the county assessor as provided by law for the qualification of deputy assessors, and such special deputy assessors shall receive the same compensation for their services, as other personnel in such assessor's office for each day actually employed.  The original assessment, the record of which is lost, shall, in the new assessment, be followed and adopted as far as practicable.

B.  The county assessor shall, within ten (10) days after the appointment of the special deputies, proceed to make out and deliver to the county board of equalization the assessment rolls of the county as provided by law.  The county board of equalization shall meet within ten (10) days after the delivery of the assessment rolls to it, which assessment rolls and lists shall be received by said board and corrected so as to correspond, as nearly as may be, to the original rolls and lists lost or destroyed.

C.  The county assessor shall, within thirty (30) days after the date of the meeting of the county board of equalization required by this section, make out and file with the treasurer of said county, an abstract of the special assessment herein provided.  Such assessment, and the assessment lists, assessment rolls, tax rolls and abstracts, when so made and filed shall, in all respects, be of the same force and effect as if made at the regular assessment, and shall have the same effect and value as evidence, as the lists, assessment rolls, tax rolls, and abstracts lost or destroyed; and the rates of taxation shall in no case be changed or varied from those theretofore fixed for the year covered by such restored records.  In such cases no penalty shall attach for nonpayment of taxes until at least ninety (90) days after the said abstract is filed with the county treasurer.

D.  In all cases contemplated in, and covered by this section, the Oklahoma Tax Commission shall provide for the use of said county assessor and special deputy assessors, upon the requisition or request of the board of county commissioners of the county, all necessary notices, blank forms, lists and instructions and forward the same to the county assessor of said county.

E.  In all cases where duplicates or copies of the assessment rolls and tax rolls for the year involved can be reproduced from the land list or other available records, if the said county assessor and the board of county commissioners shall determine that said reproduced roll is correct, and upon the verification of the same by the persons who made such assessment, or other person competent to make such verification, such reproduced assessment roll shall be accepted in lieu of the special assessment herein required.

F.  Upon the receipt by the county treasurer of the county assessor's abstract of the tax roll, all persons who have theretofore paid the whole or any part of the tax chargeable against them for the year involved may, within sixty (60) days, present their receipts to the county treasurer who shall credit them upon the proper record with the amount of taxes so paid.

G.  For the purpose of performing the extraordinary duties provided by this section, the county assessor and county treasurer shall be empowered, with the consent and under the direction of the board of county commissioners, to employ such additional deputies as may be necessary to enable them to perform the duties required by this section within the period herein limited.

Added by Laws 1988, c. 162, § 70, eff. Jan. 1, 1992.