OPINION
RUSSELL A. ANDERSON, Chief Justice.
We are asked in this appeal to decide whether Minnesota’s drug asset forfeiture statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.5311, subd. 2 (2006), is constitutional as applied to homestead property. Appellants, county attorneys for Renville and Yellow Medicine counties, obtained judgment of forfeiture of respondents’ homestead properties under the drug asset forfeiture statute. In a consolidated appeal, the court of appeals reversed. We affirm, holding that the Minnesota Constitution precludes the forfeitures of respondents’ homestead properties.
The facts in this case are undisputed and the issue purely legal. Respondents each pleaded guilty to drug felonies, Kent Feigum in Renville County and Luverne Johnson in Yellow Medicine County. Each county sought forfeiture of Feigum’s and Johnson’s respective homestead properties pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 609.5311, subd. 2(a). In both cases, the parties agreed that the property was homestead property within the meaning of Minn.Stat. § 510.01 (2006) and that the county could satisfy the elements of the forfeiture statute. The sole issue was whether the forfeiture statute is constitutional as applied to homestead property. Both the Renville County and the Yellow Medicine County [26]*26district courts ordered forfeiture to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Feigum and Johnson appealed, and their cases were consolidated. Torgelson v. 17138 880th Ave., 734 N.W.2d 279, 281 (Minn.App.2007). The court of appeals reversed both forfeitures, holding that the Minnesota Constitution protects homestead property from forfeiture. Id. at 284. Both Renville and Yellow Medicine counties petitioned for further review, which we granted. We review questions of law, including constitutional issues, de novo. State v. Bussmann, 741 N.W.2d 79, 82 (Minn.2007).
The Minnesota Bill of Rights provides: “A reasonable amount of property shall be exempt from seizure or sale for the payment of any debt or liability. The amount of such exemption shall be determined by law.” Minn. Const, art. I, § 12. Pursuant to this constitutional directive, the legislature enacted Minn.Stat. § 510.01, which provides an exemption for homestead property:
The house owned and occupied by a debtor as the debtor’s dwelling place, together with the land upon which it is situated to the amount of area and value hereinafter limited and defined, shall constitute the homestead of such debtor and the debtor’s family, and be exempt from seizure or sale under legal process on account of any debt not lawfully charged thereon in writing, except such as are incurred for work or materials furnished in the construction, repair, or improvement of such homestead, or for services performed by laborers or servants * * *.1
Homestead exemptions are to be liberally construed. Denzer v. Prendergast, 267 Minn. 212, 217-18, 126 N.W.2d 440, 444 (1964).
The drug asset forfeiture statute provides as follows:
All property, real and personal, that has been used, or is intended for use, or has in any way facilitated, in whole or in part, the manufacturing, compounding, processing, delivering, importing, cultivating, exporting, transporting, or exchanging of contraband or a controlled substance that has not been lawfully manufactured, distributed, dispensed, and acquired is subject to forfeiture under this section * * *.
MinmStat. § 609.5311, subd. 2(a). We have recognized that civil in rem forfeiture is at least in part a penalty, and accordingly it should be disfavored and strictly construed.2 Jacobson v. $55,900 in U.S. Cur[27]*27rency, 728 N.W.2d 510, 521 (Minn.2007); see also Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 621-22, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (1993) (holding that forfeitures of real property pursuant to federal law are fines that fall within the scope of the Excessive Fines Clause of the United States Constitution); Riley v. 1987 Station Wagon, 650 N.W.2d 441, 443 (Minn.2002) (“[T]o the extent that the forfeiture law at issue here is, in part, ‘punishment’ and, therefore, disfavored generally, we strictly construe its language and resolve any doubt in favor of the party challenging it.”).
We have never addressed whether Article I, Section 12, of the Minnesota Constitution prohibits drug asset forfeiture of homestead property. Yet we have long construed the constitutional language to refer to “ ‘debts or liabilities of every kind or description, without exception.’” Denzer, 267 Minn. at 220, 126 N.W.2d at 445 (quoting Tuttle v. Strout, 7 Minn. 465, 468 (Minn.,1862) (1905)). We have held that the exemption protects homesteads from claims sounding in tort as well as contract, observing that “we do not think the legislature intended to, or could, make property exempt from satisfaction of one class of obligations and not the other in view of the language of the constitution as construed by this court.” Id., 126 N.W.2d at 445; see also Cargill, Inc. v. Hedge, 375 N.W.2d 477 (Minn.1985) (approving reverse piercing of the corporate veil so that owners could have homestead exemption for family farm held in the name of their closely held corporation).
The constitutional phrase “debt or liability” is broad, and we see no basis for excluding civil forfeiture from its scope. “Liability” is defined as “1”. The quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable; legal responsibility to another or to society, enforceable by civil remedy or criminal punishment * * *. 2. A financial or pecuniary obligation; “DEBT.” Black’s Law Dictionary 932 (8th ed.2004). Although “debt” and “liability” can be synonymous, it is presumed that if the Constitution’s authors used two different words, they intended two different meanings. See Urban v. Am. Legion Dep’t of Minn., 723 N.W.2d 1, 5 (Minn.2006) (“We must presume that * * * no statutory language should be deemed superfluous or insignificant.”). No other state that has considered whether the homestead exemption protects homesteads from forfeiture has the term “liability” in its homestead exemption. The breadth of the term “liability” coupled with the rule that homestead exemptions are to be construed liberally suggests that the constitutional language is broad enough to encompass forfeitures. See 40 Am.Jur.2d Homestead § 88 (1999) (“Any compulsory disposition of the property, whether denominated a ‘sale’ or otherwise, is within the purview of the [homestead] law.”).
Arguably, homestead laws are intended to protect homestead property solely from creditors. Id. (“Homestead statutes may be invoked to protect premises from sale under execution, attachment, or any other process which seeks to appropriate the property to the payment of the claims of creditors.” (emphasis added)).
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
OPINION
RUSSELL A. ANDERSON, Chief Justice.
We are asked in this appeal to decide whether Minnesota’s drug asset forfeiture statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.5311, subd. 2 (2006), is constitutional as applied to homestead property. Appellants, county attorneys for Renville and Yellow Medicine counties, obtained judgment of forfeiture of respondents’ homestead properties under the drug asset forfeiture statute. In a consolidated appeal, the court of appeals reversed. We affirm, holding that the Minnesota Constitution precludes the forfeitures of respondents’ homestead properties.
The facts in this case are undisputed and the issue purely legal. Respondents each pleaded guilty to drug felonies, Kent Feigum in Renville County and Luverne Johnson in Yellow Medicine County. Each county sought forfeiture of Feigum’s and Johnson’s respective homestead properties pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 609.5311, subd. 2(a). In both cases, the parties agreed that the property was homestead property within the meaning of Minn.Stat. § 510.01 (2006) and that the county could satisfy the elements of the forfeiture statute. The sole issue was whether the forfeiture statute is constitutional as applied to homestead property. Both the Renville County and the Yellow Medicine County [26]*26district courts ordered forfeiture to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Feigum and Johnson appealed, and their cases were consolidated. Torgelson v. 17138 880th Ave., 734 N.W.2d 279, 281 (Minn.App.2007). The court of appeals reversed both forfeitures, holding that the Minnesota Constitution protects homestead property from forfeiture. Id. at 284. Both Renville and Yellow Medicine counties petitioned for further review, which we granted. We review questions of law, including constitutional issues, de novo. State v. Bussmann, 741 N.W.2d 79, 82 (Minn.2007).
The Minnesota Bill of Rights provides: “A reasonable amount of property shall be exempt from seizure or sale for the payment of any debt or liability. The amount of such exemption shall be determined by law.” Minn. Const, art. I, § 12. Pursuant to this constitutional directive, the legislature enacted Minn.Stat. § 510.01, which provides an exemption for homestead property:
The house owned and occupied by a debtor as the debtor’s dwelling place, together with the land upon which it is situated to the amount of area and value hereinafter limited and defined, shall constitute the homestead of such debtor and the debtor’s family, and be exempt from seizure or sale under legal process on account of any debt not lawfully charged thereon in writing, except such as are incurred for work or materials furnished in the construction, repair, or improvement of such homestead, or for services performed by laborers or servants * * *.1
Homestead exemptions are to be liberally construed. Denzer v. Prendergast, 267 Minn. 212, 217-18, 126 N.W.2d 440, 444 (1964).
The drug asset forfeiture statute provides as follows:
All property, real and personal, that has been used, or is intended for use, or has in any way facilitated, in whole or in part, the manufacturing, compounding, processing, delivering, importing, cultivating, exporting, transporting, or exchanging of contraband or a controlled substance that has not been lawfully manufactured, distributed, dispensed, and acquired is subject to forfeiture under this section * * *.
MinmStat. § 609.5311, subd. 2(a). We have recognized that civil in rem forfeiture is at least in part a penalty, and accordingly it should be disfavored and strictly construed.2 Jacobson v. $55,900 in U.S. Cur[27]*27rency, 728 N.W.2d 510, 521 (Minn.2007); see also Austin v. United States, 509 U.S. 602, 621-22, 113 S.Ct. 2801, 125 L.Ed.2d 488 (1993) (holding that forfeitures of real property pursuant to federal law are fines that fall within the scope of the Excessive Fines Clause of the United States Constitution); Riley v. 1987 Station Wagon, 650 N.W.2d 441, 443 (Minn.2002) (“[T]o the extent that the forfeiture law at issue here is, in part, ‘punishment’ and, therefore, disfavored generally, we strictly construe its language and resolve any doubt in favor of the party challenging it.”).
We have never addressed whether Article I, Section 12, of the Minnesota Constitution prohibits drug asset forfeiture of homestead property. Yet we have long construed the constitutional language to refer to “ ‘debts or liabilities of every kind or description, without exception.’” Denzer, 267 Minn. at 220, 126 N.W.2d at 445 (quoting Tuttle v. Strout, 7 Minn. 465, 468 (Minn.,1862) (1905)). We have held that the exemption protects homesteads from claims sounding in tort as well as contract, observing that “we do not think the legislature intended to, or could, make property exempt from satisfaction of one class of obligations and not the other in view of the language of the constitution as construed by this court.” Id., 126 N.W.2d at 445; see also Cargill, Inc. v. Hedge, 375 N.W.2d 477 (Minn.1985) (approving reverse piercing of the corporate veil so that owners could have homestead exemption for family farm held in the name of their closely held corporation).
The constitutional phrase “debt or liability” is broad, and we see no basis for excluding civil forfeiture from its scope. “Liability” is defined as “1”. The quality or state of being legally obligated or accountable; legal responsibility to another or to society, enforceable by civil remedy or criminal punishment * * *. 2. A financial or pecuniary obligation; “DEBT.” Black’s Law Dictionary 932 (8th ed.2004). Although “debt” and “liability” can be synonymous, it is presumed that if the Constitution’s authors used two different words, they intended two different meanings. See Urban v. Am. Legion Dep’t of Minn., 723 N.W.2d 1, 5 (Minn.2006) (“We must presume that * * * no statutory language should be deemed superfluous or insignificant.”). No other state that has considered whether the homestead exemption protects homesteads from forfeiture has the term “liability” in its homestead exemption. The breadth of the term “liability” coupled with the rule that homestead exemptions are to be construed liberally suggests that the constitutional language is broad enough to encompass forfeitures. See 40 Am.Jur.2d Homestead § 88 (1999) (“Any compulsory disposition of the property, whether denominated a ‘sale’ or otherwise, is within the purview of the [homestead] law.”).
Arguably, homestead laws are intended to protect homestead property solely from creditors. Id. (“Homestead statutes may be invoked to protect premises from sale under execution, attachment, or any other process which seeks to appropriate the property to the payment of the claims of creditors.” (emphasis added)). Even if this is so, however, we have recognized that the framers of the Minnesota Constitution deliberately left Section 12 of Article I vague, leaving open the possibility for applications beyond what they specifically foresaw. See In re Haggerty, 448 N.W.2d 363, 364 (Minn.1989) (“It was originally proposed that the Minnesota Constitution [28]*28contain a homestead exemption with a specific dollar limit, Minnesota Convention Debates 99 (1857) (debates of July 24, 1857), but it was determined the constitution should not contain perfect or specific laws.”).
We also find persuasive the reasoning of several other state supreme courts that have held that state forfeiture laws violate statutory or constitutional homestead exemptions.3 Although interpreting different language, these courts have applied principles and policies underlying the concepts of the homestead exemption and forfeiture that hold true in Minnesota. The supreme courts of Florida, Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma, as well as the Appellate Court of Illinois, have held that their state homestead exemptions prohibit forfeiture of homestead property. These states tend to rely on the twin maxims, recognized in Minnesota, that homestead laws are to be liberally construed and that forfeiture is a harsh and disfavored penalty that should be strictly construed. E.g., Butterworth v. Caggiano, 605 So.2d 56, 58 (Fla.1992); In re Bly, 456 N.W.2d 195, 199, 200 (Iowa 1990); State ex rel. Means v. Ten Acres of Land, 877 P.2d 597, 601 (Okla.1994). In the widely cited case Butterworth v. Caggiano, the Florida Supreme Court addressed whether a homestead was subject to forfeiture in light of the requirements of Florida’s constitution, which exempts homesteads “ ‘from forced sale under process of any court’ ” with exceptions for taxes and for purchase, improvement, or labor obligations. 605 So.2d at 58 (quoting Fla. Const, art X, § 4). Noting that the exemption must be liberally construed and forfeiture disfavored, the court took a broad view of the exemption and observed that it “uses broad, nonlegal terminology that was intended simply to guarantee that the homestead would be preserved against any involuntary divestiture by the courts, without regard to the technicalities of how that divestiture would be accomplished.” Butterworth, 605 So.2d at 59. The court concluded that
in light of the historical prejudice against forfeiture, the constitutional sanctity of the home, and the rules of construction requiring a liberal, nontechnical interpretation of the homestead exemption and a strict construction of the exceptions to that exemption, we hold that * * * the Florida Constitution prohibits civil or criminal forfeiture of homestead property.
Id. at 61; see also Tramel v. Stewart, 697 So.2d 821, 824 (Fla.1997); People v. 1403 E. Parham, 251 Ill.App.3d 198, 190 Ill.Dec. 573, 621 N.E.2d 1026, 1031 (1993) (finding that Illinois’ statutory homestead exemption from “attachment, judgment, levy or judgment sale for the payment of his or her debts or other purposes ” prohibited forfeiture); State ex rel. Braun v. 918 N. County Line Rd., 251 Kan. 685, 840 P.2d 453, 455 (1992) (finding that because forfeiture was not one of the enumerated exceptions to the homestead exemption, it was constitutionally prohibited, notwithstanding a statute providing that a person con[29]*29victed of a drug violation was presumed to have consented to forfeiture); Means, 877 P.2d at 601.
Many decades ago, we aptly summarized the policy of the homestead exemption as follows:
The homestead law is to be liberally construed. It would not be wholesome to construe the statute as conserving lawful homes only. To do so would tend to increase the burdens of the community chest; destroy homes; divide families; and increase the population of our orphan asylums. We construe our homestead law as relating to all debtors. It does not prescribe personal qualifications touching the moral character of the debtor; and upon principle and reason we see no justification for excluding from its protection the vicious, the criminal, or the immoral. All must live, and right consideration should contemplate not only the living but the next generation. This statute rests upon the thought of family. Our established policy is not restricted to right-thinking or right-acting persons; but sounds in hope for the future both as to the debtor and his children.4
Denzer, 267 Minn. at 217-18, 126 N.W.2d at 444 (quoting Ryan v. Colburn, 185 Minn. 347, 350, 241 N.W. 388, 389 (1932)). In light of these well-established principles, the language of our constitution, and the decisions of other jurisdictions, we hold that the Minnesota Constitution’s homestead exemption, as implemented by Minn. Stat. § 510.01 (2006), exempts homestead property from forfeiture.5
Affirmed.