PIERRE - A Lawrence County man cannot claim property taken
from another man for failing to pay his taxes, the South Dakota
Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday.
Brandon Flanagan was the county planning and zoning
administrator when he first obtained a tax deed in 2003 to land in
Deadwood that police once used as a shooting range.
After obtaining a deed to the property from Lawrence County,
Flanagan asked Aspen Storage, an adjacent landowner, for an
easement to cross its property.
Although city employees were given permission by a previous
owner in 1980 to cross Aspen's property, the storage firm rejected
Flanagan's request and went to court to ensure that he could not
gain an easement.
Aspen argued that Flanagan did not own the adjoining land
because state law prohibited it.
The transaction was voided by a circuit judge who ruled that
county officials cannot buy real estate that is seized and sold to
satisfy tax delinquencies.
Flanagan appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court,
which ruled in 2005 that he could not obtain the land while he was
a county official because that was a conflict of interest barred by
state law.
While that appeal was pending, Flanagan obtained the deed to
the land from Craig Hayes, the man whose property taxes were in
arrears. Aspen again filed a lawsuit, asserting that Flanagan could
not legally obtain the property because it was owned by the county
- not by Hayes.
Flanagan argued that he got the land from Hayes - not the
county. But a circuit judge again ruled against him.
Upholding Judge Warren Johnson, the state Supreme Court said
Flanagan could not obtain land indirectly that he could not get
directly.
