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The Supreme Court held 4/26/06 that when a notice of tax sale is returned to the government as undeliverable, due process requires the government to take additional reasonable steps to provide notice before taking the property. Arkansas’s notice procedures were constitutionally deficient because they provided for certified mailings, but provided no additional procedures when that certified mailing is undeliverable. The Court explained that after learning that notice had not reached the owner, the tax commissioner could have resent the notice via regular mail, posted a notice on the front door, or addressed the certified letter to “occupant.” The government is not, however, required to search tax rolls or phone books to determine the taxpayer’s new address. Justice Thomas, joined by Justices Kennedy and Scalia, dissented, concluding that actual notice has never been required by the Court’s decisions, and that reasonableness is determined at the time the notice is sent. The Court’s decision will be of interest to any business that could be affected by notice requirements in forfeiture or other government proceedings.

Decision Below: 359 Ark. 443, __S.W.3d __ (2004).