In re Jimmie

887 P.2d 81, 256 Kan. 589, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 167
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedDecember 16, 1994
DocketNo. 71,258
StatusPublished

This text of 887 P.2d 81 (In re Jimmie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Jimmie, 887 P.2d 81, 256 Kan. 589, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 167 (kan 1994).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Six, J.:

This is a personal property tax exemption case arising from the taxpayer s claim under Native American treaty rights. Jimmie D. Oyler claims an exemption from state motor vehicle taxes based on his Shawnee Indian heritage and the status of. the Johnson County property where he resides. The Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA) found that Oyler was “Indian” and that he resided on “Indian country.” Oyler s exemption was denied because: (1) he was not an “Indian residing on an Indian reservation,” and (2) the Shawnee Indians’ treaty rights under an 1831 treaty with the United States — on which Oyler relied to support his claimed exemption — were extinguished in 1869 when the Shawnee voluntarily incorporated into the Cherokee Nation.

Oyler sought judicial review under the Act for Judicial Review and Civil Enforcement of Agency Actions (KJRA), K.S.A. 77-601 [590]*590et seq. The district court, relying in part on federal case law decided after BOTA’s decision, granted the tax exemption. The Board of County Commissioners of Johnson County (the County) appeals.

Our jurisdiction is under K.S.A. 20-3018(c) (a transfer from Court of Appeals on our motion).

The issue is whether the district court correctly reversed BOTA in granting Oyler’s requested exemptions from Kansas’ personal property tax on the basis of treaty rights established between the Shawnee Indians and the United States.

BOTA orders are subject to judicial review. K.S.A. 74-2426(c). Our standard of review is statutorily defined by the KJRA. K.S.A. 77-623 provides that agency actions are reviewable by appellate courts as in other civil cases. K.S.A. 77-621(c) lists the criteria for district court review. We exercise the same standard of review of BOTA’s action as does the district court. Peck v. University Residence Committee of Kansas State Univ., 248 Kan. 450, 456, 807 P.2d 652 (1991).

The United States Supreme Court decided a significant Native American taxation case between the date of BOTA’s decision and the decision of the district court. Oklahoma Tax Com. v. Sac & Fox Nation, 508 U.S__, 124 L. Ed. 2d 30, 113 S. Ct. 1985 (1993). Although the district court had the benefit of the Sac <br Fox opinion and relied on it in reversing BOTA, we read Sac & Fox more narrowly than did the district court. Under Sac <b Fox, an Indian who lives in Indian country will in most cases be entitled to a presumption of immunity from state taxing jurisdiction. If, however, there is no showing that a particular Indian’s tribe exercises jurisdiction or sovereignty over that Indian and the Indian country on which he or she resides, then no such presumption arises.

We reverse the district court and remand to BOTA for further proceedings in conformity with our opinion. See K.S.A. 77-622(b).

Facts

Oyler initiated the instant action by filing: (1) an application for ad valorem tax exemption on all of his vehicles for the years [591]*5911986 forward and (2) separate tax protest applications for the years 1989, 1990,1991, and 1992, requesting refunds for property taxes paid on the vehicles.

Oyler, age 62, lives with his wife and son on Cedar Creek Road in western Johnson County. He has lived at this address since 1975, when he retired from the military.

The land on which Oyler and his family reside is registered in the name of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) because it is within a 94-acre federally restricted allotment known as Shawnee Reserve 206. Oyler owns an interest — the precise nature of which is unclear from the record — in a portion of the 94-acre allotment. The size of his property within the restricted allotment is also unclear from the record. (Counsel for the County indicated three acres during oral argument.) Oyler does not pay, nor has the County ever attempted to collect, property taxes on his real property. The ambiguity regarding Oyler’s ownership interest in Shawnee Reserve 206 does not appear to be the fault of either party in establishing a record. His interest is simply unsettled. The County noted the “unsettled title situation,” which has resulted in a partition action pending in federal court.

Oyler owns four vehicles — three cars (a 1972 Ford, a 1978 Chevrolet, and a 1989 Ford Crown Victoria) and one pickup truck (a 1985 Ford) — all of which he keeps at his residence on Shawnee Reserve 206, except when in use. BOTA made no findings on how much Oyler uses each vehicle or where such use predominately occurs. A BOTA commissioner asked Oyler at the hearing before the Board: “[Are] the cars . . . being used for personal use?” Oyler replied, “Just personal use on the property, ma’am, and whenever we go any place else or use them.” Counsel for the County argued before BOTA that “[t]hese vehicles are simply used as personal use just like the rest of us do to go to the grocery store, to go to work or whatever personal uses.” Oyler does not dispute the County’s statement about his use of the vehicles. Oyler seeks a complete tax exemption on all four vehicles.

Shawnee Reserve 206

Based on a letter from the Superintendent of the Horton, Kan[592]*592sas, Agency Office of the BIA, BOTA found that Oyler resides on a restricted allotment created by an 1854 treaty between the United States and the Shawnee Indians. BOTA concluded that Oyler resides on Indian country as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1151 (1988). Shawnee Reserve 206 has been described as a restricted Indian allotment in previous cases involving Oyler. State v. Oyler, 15 Kan. App. 2d 78, 81, 803 P.2d 581 (1990) (direct appeal from conviction for failure to comply with state cigarette tax laws), rev. denied 248 Kan. 998 (1991); Oyler v. Allenbrand, 23 F.3d 292, 293 (10th Cir. 1994) (federal habeas corpus appeal from state conviction for failure to comply with cigarette tax laws). The County concedes that Oyler lives on Indian country. (The status of Shawnee Reserve 206 as Indian country is not at issue.)

The Horton Agency Superintendent’s letter described the 94 acres of Shawnee Reserve 206 and its history as follows:

“The property is described as the N2 SE4 and 14 acres off the South side of SE4 NE4 of Section 25, Township 12 South, Range 22 East of the 6th P.M., Johnson County, Kansas, containing 94 acres, more or less, and being part of the original allotment of Newton McNeer, deceased Shawnee allottee No. 206.

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Related

The Kansas Indians
72 U.S. 737 (Supreme Court, 1867)
McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission
411 U.S. 164 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Bryan v. Itasca County
426 U.S. 373 (Supreme Court, 1976)
United States v. Dion
476 U.S. 734 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Sac & Fox Nation
508 U.S. 114 (Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. Oyler
803 P.2d 581 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1990)
LUTHERAN HOME, INC. v. Board of County Commissioners
505 P.2d 1118 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1973)
Peck v. University Residence Committee
807 P.2d 652 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 P.2d 81, 256 Kan. 589, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jimmie-kan-1994.