Eastern Kentucky Coal Lands Corp. v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 26 March 1908
• Citation: 127 Ky. 667,108 S.W. 1138
• Parties: EASTERN KENTUCKY COAL LANDS CORP. v. COMMONWEALTH.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

108 S.W. 1138

127 Ky. 667

EASTERN KENTUCKY COAL LANDS CORP. v. COMMONWEALTH.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

March 26, 1908

"Not to be officially reported."

For majority opinion, see 106 S.W. 260.

Act 1906, p. 115, c. 22, art. 3, § 1, providing that an owner or claimant of land shall pay all taxes which have been or should have been assessed against him for the years 1901-1905, inclusive, is not in violation of the federal and state Constitutions, as that it does not constitute due process of law.

HOBSON J. (dissenting).

When an act is not punishable under the law in existence when it is done, it cannot be made punishable by the Legislature by a law subsequently passed; and, upon like principles, where an act is punishable in a certain way when it is done, the Legislature cannot by a subsequent law add to the punishment or penalty. The Legislature cannot deny to any one the equal protection of the laws; and in my judgment article 3 of the revenue act of 1906 (Acts 1906, p. 88, c. 22) is void, both on the ground that it is ex post facto legislation, and that it denies to the holders of land titles referred to the equal protection of the laws.

The act was approved March 15, 1906. It took effect about 90 days thereafter. The first section of the act makes it the duty of every owner or claimant of land to pay all the taxes which had been assessed or should have been assessed against him or those under whom he claims, as of the 15th day of September, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, and 1905; and, if it had not been assessed for any of these years, the act made it his duty to assess the land and pay the taxes, interest, and penalty therein provided for. His failure to do this is made a cause for the forfeiture of his title; but this forfeiture shall be extinguished if on or before March 1, 1907, he lists the land and pays the taxes, with the interest and penalties provided by law in case of the redemption of land sold for the nonpayment of taxes. When land is sold for the nonpayment of taxes, a penalty of 15 per cent. is added, and the taxes bear interest at the rate of 10 per cent. So that the meaning of the act is that the owner of land who had failed to list it for the years named must list it after the act takes effect and pay a penalty of 15 per cent., and also interest on the taxes at 10 per cent. per annum from the time he was delinquent; that is, from the time the land should have been assessed. By the law in force up to the time this act took effect the owner of land which had been omitted from assessment might voluntarily have it assessed at any time and pay the taxes, without interest or penalties. If he failed to list it voluntarily, and a proceeding was instituted against him under section 4241 of the Kentucky Statutes of 1903, he was liable to a penalty of 20 per cent, which went to the officer instituting the proceeding; but, even in this case he was not liable for interest at 10 per cent. on the taxes and if he made the assessment voluntarily, without a proceeding being instituted against him, he was not liable for the penalty of 20 per cent. While the act...