State Ex Rel. Stephan v. Martin

Supreme Court of Kansas

State Ex Rel. Stephan v. Martin

640 P.2d 316, 230 Kan. 559, 1982 Kan. LEXIS 191

CourtSupreme Court of Kansas

DecidedJanuary 29, 1982

Docket53,478

StatusPublished

This text of 640 P.2d 316 (State Ex Rel. Stephan v. Martin) 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

State Ex Rel. Stephan v. Martin, 640 P.2d 316, 230 Kan. 559, 1982 Kan. LEXIS 191 (kan 1982).

Pincite

Opinion

The interim opinion of the court was delivered by

Miller, J.:

This is an original action in quo warranto, brought by the attorney general against Philip W. Martin, director of property valuation of the Kansas Department of Revenue. The attorney general challenges the constitutionality of Chapter 373 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas, an act relating to taxation and concerning the valuation of farm machinery and equipment for the purpose of ad valorem taxation. Since the officials charged with assessment are now engaged in the valuation of personal property for the current year, we have determined that we should announce our decision promptly in order to give guidance to those public officials and notice to the public.

We have determined that Chapter 373 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas violates Article 11, Section 1 of the Constitution of Kansas in that it creates an unconstitutional classification of personal property and is discriminatory. We therefore hold Chapter 373 invalid. Accordingly, the farm machinery described in that chapter must be appraised, and its assessed value determined, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of Chapter 79 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, rather than pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 373.

*560 Chapter 373 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas is hereby declared unconstitutional and the respondent is precluded from proceeding under the authority of that act.

This brief announcement of our decision will be followed by a formal opinion.

Schroeder, C.J., dissenting.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

The interim opinion of the court was delivered by

Miller, J.:

This is an original action in quo warranto, brought by the attorney general against Philip W. Martin, director of property valuation of the Kansas Department of Revenue. The attorney general challenges the constitutionality of Chapter 373 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas, an act relating to taxation and concerning the valuation of farm machinery and equipment for the purpose of ad valorem taxation. Since the officials charged with assessment are now engaged in the valuation of personal property for the current year, we have determined that we should announce our decision promptly in order to give guidance to those public officials and notice to the public.

We have determined that Chapter 373 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas violates Article 11, Section 1 of the Constitution of Kansas in that it creates an unconstitutional classification of personal property and is discriminatory. We therefore hold Chapter 373 invalid. Accordingly, the farm machinery described in that chapter must be appraised, and its assessed value determined, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of Chapter 79 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, rather than pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 373.

*560 Chapter 373 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas is hereby declared unconstitutional and the respondent is precluded from proceeding under the authority of that act.

This brief announcement of our decision will be followed by a formal opinion.

Schroeder, C.J., dissenting.

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)

640 P.2d 316, 230 Kan. 559, 1982 Kan. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-stephan-v-martin-kan-1982.