KRS 131.622: When cigarettes deemed contraband -- Seizure and destruction --

Injunction to compel compliance -- Prohibition against sale -- Penalty.

(1) (a) The following shall be contraband and subject to seizure and destruction:

1. Any cigarettes that have been affixed with a stamp in this state in

violation of KRS 131.612; or

2. Any cigarettes in the possession of a retailer from a tobacco product

manufacturer or brand family that has been removed from the directory.

(b) Whenever any peace officer of this state, or any representative of the

department, finds any contraband cigarettes, the cigarettes shall be

immediately seized and stored in a depository to be selected by the officer or

representative.

(c) The seized cigarettes shall be held for a perio d of twenty (20) days to allow

the owner or any person having an interest in the cigarettes to protest the

seizure.

(d) At the time of seizure, the officer or representative shall:

1. Notify the department of the nature and quantity of the cigarettes seize d;

and

2. Deliver to the person in whose custody the cigarettes are found a receipt

for the cigarettes. The receipt shall state on its face the date of seizure,

and a notice that the cigarettes shall be destroyed if the seizure is not

protested in writing to the Department of Revenue, Frankfort, Kentucky,

within twenty (20) days from the seizure.

(e) The owner or any person having an interest in the seized cigarettes may appeal

to the Board of Tax Appeals a final determination made by the department

pursuant to KRS 49.220.

(f) If the owner or any person having an interest in the seized cigarettes fails to

protest the seizure before the end of the twenty (20) day holding period, the

department shall destroy the seized cigarettes.

(2) The Attorney General may seek an injunction to restrain a violation of KRS

131.612 or 131.616 by a distributor or stamping agent and to compel the distributor

or stamping agent to comply with KRS 131.612 and 131.616. In any action brought

pursuant to this section, the state shall be entitled to recover the costs of

investigation, costs of the action, and attorneys' fees from any distributor or

stamping agent found to be in violation of KRS 131.612 or 131.616.

(3) No stamping agent, distributor, retailer, or any other person shall sell or distribute

cigarettes, or acquire, hold, own, possess, transport, import, or cause to be imported

cigarettes that the stamping agent, distributor, retailer, or person knows are intended

for distribution or sale in the state in violation of KRS 131.612. A violation of this

section is a Class A misdemeanor.

(4) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a stamping agent or distributor from

possessing unstamped containers of cigarettes hel d in inventory for delivery to, or

for sale in, another state if in possession of proof that the cigarettes are intended for

sale in another state.

(5) In addition to or in lieu of any other civil or criminal remedy provided by law, upon

a determination th at a stamping agent or distributor has violated KRS 131.612 or

any administrative regulation promulgated pursuant to KRS 131.600 to 131.630, the

commissioner may suspend the sale of cigarette stamps to the stamping agent or

distributor for failure to comply with the provisions of KRS 131.600 to 131.630.