Can a Mississippi county require a Property Indexing Number (PIN) on deeds filed with the chancery clerk?

Plain-English summary

Section 89-5-33 sets the indexing instructions every recorded deed must include in Mississippi: the section, township, range, and one or more quarter sections (or other applicable subdivisions) of the section where the land sits, plus the preparer's contact information and bar number where applicable. Adams County asked whether it could go further by ordinance and require landowners to also include a Property Indexing Number, the parcel-level identifier the chancery clerk and tax assessor's offices use.

The AG said yes. Section 19-3-40, the county home-rule statute, gives boards of supervisors broad ordinance-making power over county affairs. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that home-rule ordinances are valid as long as they do not contradict state law. An ordinance that adds a PIN requirement on top of the state-mandated indexing instructions is supplementary, not contradictory; Section 89-5-33 does not require PINs but it does not prohibit them either. So the county may enact such an ordinance.

What this means for you

For boards of supervisors and county attorneys

The path here is the county home-rule statute, Section 19-3-40(1). Adopting an ordinance that asks deed preparers to add a PIN to the existing indexing block is within your authority because it does not strike out, weaken, or change anything Section 89-5-33 already requires; it just layers on a county-specific data requirement. When drafting the ordinance, treat the PIN requirement as an addition to the state-mandated indexing instructions, not as a substitute. Define what counts as a valid PIN, where it should appear in the document so the chancery clerk can find it, and how the chancery clerk should handle a deed that lacks one. Be careful not to write a rejection rule that would purport to override the chancery clerk's recording duty under state law, because that would tip the ordinance into the contradictory zone.

For chancery clerks

Once the board passes such an ordinance, your office becomes the operational point of impact. The state-mandated indexing fields under Section 89-5-33 still control your indexing duty. The county PIN requirement is an additional field, enforceable through whatever mechanism the ordinance provides (typically a separate fee or a separate review step), not a recording bar. Coordinate with the board on how the ordinance addresses non-compliance so the chancery clerk's office is not put in the position of having to refuse documents the state law says must be recorded.

For real estate attorneys, title examiners, and landowners

If your county adopts a PIN-on-indexing ordinance, build the PIN into your closing forms and deed templates the same way you already build in the section-township-range block. Pull the PIN from the tax assessor's records before recording. The benefit is on the search side: PINs make it easier to chain title and link a deed to its tax parcel, especially in counties where the same metes-and-bounds description has been used across multiple subsequent conveyances.

Common questions

What is a Property Indexing Number (PIN)?

A PIN is a parcel-level identifier maintained by the chancery clerk's office or the tax assessor that uniquely points to a particular tract of land. It is not the deed book and page number, not the section-township-range, and not the legal description. Counties use PINs in their tax and recording databases.

Why doesn't requiring a PIN contradict Section 89-5-33?

Section 89-5-33 lists what indexing instructions a deed must include. It does not say that a deed cannot include other information, and it does not lock the universe of indexing fields. A county ordinance adding a field is supplementary. The Mississippi Supreme Court in Delphi Oil drew this exact line: an ordinance that conflicts with what state law says is preempted, but an ordinance that is "merely additional or supplementary" is not.

Can the chancery clerk refuse to record a deed that lacks the county-required PIN?

That depends on how the ordinance is drafted, and it is the most legally sensitive design question. The chancery clerk's recording duty is set by state law. An ordinance that purports to override that duty by directing a refusal to record would be vulnerable on preemption grounds. A safer ordinance design uses a separate enforcement mechanism, like a recording-fee surcharge for non-compliant deeds or a separate certification step, while leaving the underlying recording duty intact.

Does this opinion mean every Mississippi county can require PINs?

The opinion confirms that the home-rule authority exists. Whether any specific county chooses to use it is a local policy decision. The opinion analyzes the question in the abstract; it does not opine on a specific draft ordinance.

Does the same logic apply to other extra information a county might want on deeds?

The same analytical framework applies: an ordinance that adds a requirement on top of state law is generally fine; an ordinance that contradicts state law is preempted. Each new requirement has to be checked against the state statutes that govern recording, indexing, and conveyancing.

Background and statutory framework

Section 19-3-40, Mississippi's county home-rule statute. Subsection (1) gives boards of supervisors "the power to adopt any orders, resolutions or ordinances with respect to county affairs, property and finances, for which no specific provision has been made by general law and which are not inconsistent with the Mississippi Constitution, the Mississippi Code of 1972, or any other statute or law of the State of Mississippi." Subsections (2) and (3) include particular limits not relevant here.

Section 89-5-33(3), the deed indexing statute. Surveyors and other deed preparers must include indexing instructions stating section, township, range, and one or more quarter sections (or other applicable subdivisions of the section) where the land is located. The preparer may include the quarter-quarter section but is not required to. The instruction must be "distinctly set apart" so the chancery clerk can find it. The statute also requires that the document name the preparer's name, address, telephone number, and (if an attorney) the bar number.

The Delphi Oil framework. In Delphi Oil, Inc. v. Forrest Cnty. Bd. of Sup'rs, 114 So. 3d 719 (Miss. 2013), the Mississippi Supreme Court reaffirmed the rule from Ryals v. Bd. of Sup'rs of Pike Cnty., 48 So. 3d 444 (Miss. 2010), that an ordinance contradicting state law is void to the extent of the contradiction, but an ordinance that is "merely additional or supplementary" survives. The PIN ordinance contemplated in this opinion is the second type, not the first.

Citations

• Miss. Code Ann. § 19-3-40(1)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 89-5-33
• Delphi Oil, Inc. v. Forrest Cnty. Bd. of Sup'rs, 114 So. 3d 719 (Miss. 2013)
• Ryals v. Bd. of Sup'rs of Pike Cnty., 48 So. 3d 444 (Miss. 2010)

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/S.Slover-July-31-2024-Authority-to-Enact-Ordinance-Regarding-Indexing-Instructions.pdf

Original opinion text

July 31, 2024
Scott F. Slover, Esq.
Attorney, Adams County Board of Supervisors
314 State Street
Natchez, Mississippi 39120
Re:

Authority to Enact Ordinance Regarding Indexing Instructions

Dear Mr. Slover:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Question Presented
Does Mississippi Code Annotated Section 89-5-33 preclude a board of supervisors from enacting
an ordinance that would require landowners to include additional filing information, such as a
Property Indexing Number ("PIN"), with the chancery clerk as part of the requisite indexing
instructions?
Brief Response
Section 19-3-40(1) provides a county board of supervisors the general authority to adopt
ordinances. So long as the proposed ordinance is not contradictory of state law, the board of
supervisors may enact an ordinance that would require landowners to include additional filing
information, such as a PIN, on deeds filed with the chancery clerk as part of the requisite indexing
instructions.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Section 19-3-40(1) gives a county board of supervisors the general authority, with certain
limitations, to adopt ordinances with respect to county affairs:
The board of supervisors of any county shall have the power to adopt any orders,
resolutions or ordinances with respect to county affairs, property and finances, for
which no specific provision has been made by general law and which are not
inconsistent with the Mississippi Constitution, the Mississippi Code of 1972, or any
other statute or law of the State of Mississippi; and any such board shall likewise
have the power to alter, modify and repeal such orders, resolutions or ordinances.
Except as otherwise provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the powers
granted to boards of supervisors in this section are complete without the existence
of or reference to any specific authority granted in any other statute or law of the
State of Mississippi.
(emphasis added).
In addressing Section 19-3-40, commonly known as the "home rule," the Mississippi Supreme
Court has held:
[i]f a county or municipality passes an ordinance which stands in opposition to the
law as pronounced by the legislature, the ordinance, to the extent that it contradicts
state law, will be found void by this Court, as the laws of this state supersede any
and all local ordinances which contradict legislative enactments.
Delphi Oil, Inc. v. Forrest Cnty. Bd. of Sup'rs, 114 So. 3d 719, 722 (Miss. 2013) (quoting Ryals
v. Bd. of Sup'rs of Pike Cnty., 48 So. 3d 444, 448 (Miss. 2010)).
In Delphi Oil, the Court further explained, "[w]hen faced with the question of whether a local law
is preempted by a legislative enactment, the Court determines whether the ordinance contradicts
state statutory law." Id. Where an ordinance is merely additional or supplementary and not
inconsistent with state law, it is not preempted. Id. at 723-724.
As noted in your request, Section 89-5-33 provides general indexing instructions. Specifically,
Section 89-5-33(3) states:
Every surveyor or other person who prepares a legal description of land or who
prepares an instrument utilizing an existing description and every person who
prepares a deed of trust shall (except as herein provided) include an indexing
instruction which shall state the section, township and range and one or more
quarter sections or governmental lots or other applicable subdivisions of each
section in which the land is located. The preparer, at his option, may elect to note
the quarter-quarter section in which the land is located, but shall not be required to
do so. However, if the section or quarter sections or governmental lots or other
applicable subdivisions of the section cannot feasibly be determined by such
surveyor or other person, the indexing instruction shall contain a statement to that
effect and shall then state all of the sections and quarter sections or governmental
lots or other applicable subdivisions of the section in which the described land could
possibly be located. The indexing instruction shall be distinctly set apart in the
instrument so as to be readily apparent to the chancery clerk.
...
To be accepted for recording, an instrument shall state the name, address and
telephone number of the person, entity or firm preparing it. If prepared by an
attorney, the instrument shall also include the attorney's Mississippi bar number.
(emphasis added).
As stated supra, Section 19-3-40(1) provides a county board of supervisors the general authority
to adopt ordinances with respect to county affairs with certain limitations, none of which are
applicable to the proposed ordinance. Therefore, following the reasoning set forth in Delphi Oil,
it is the opinion of this office that a board of supervisors has the authority to enact an ordinance
that would require landowners to include additional information on deeds filed with the chancery
clerk as part of indexing instructions so long as the ordinance does not contradict state law;
otherwise, it would be preempted. Delphi Oil, Inc., 114 So. 3d at 722. Although Section 89-5-33(3) does not require landowners to include a PIN on their deeds filed with the chancery clerk as
part of the indexing instructions, it likewise does not prohibit such requirement. In other words,
the proposed ordinance would not be contradictory of the state law regarding indexing instructions.
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:

/s/ Maggie Kate Bobo
Maggie Kate Bobo
Special Assistant Attorney General