The chancery clerk of any county is hereby authorized to report to the attorney general any lands that have been or may hereafter be sold to the state for delinquent taxes, the validity of which sale is in doubt, and the attorney general shall make an investigation into the subject matter. If in his opinion such sale of said land is void, he shall so notify such chancery clerk in writing, and the said clerk shall strike such land from the list of lands sold to the state of record in his office, and shall report said land to the board of supervisors for a new assessment if the assessment is invalid, or for an order for resale if the assessment is valid.