41-805. Nuisances; places and properties operated or used in violation of act; lien for fines and costs; leases void; procedure for seizure and sale of vehicles and airplanes; appeals; stay of proceed
41-805
41-805. Nuisances; places and properties operated orused in violation ofact; lien for fines and costs; leases void; procedure for seizure and sale ofvehicles and airplanes; appeals; stay of proceedings.(1) Any room, house, building, boat, vehicle, airplane, structure or place ofany kind where alcoholic liquors are sold, manufactured, bartered or givenaway, in violation of this act, or any building, structure or boat wherepersons are permitted to resort for the purpose of drinking alcoholic liquors,in violation of this act, or any place where such liquors are kept for sale,barter or gift, in violation of this act, and all such liquors, and allproperty kept in and used in maintaining such a place, are each and all of themhereby declared to be a common nuisance. Any person who maintains or assists inmaintaining such common nuisance is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable byimprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding $25,000, orby both. If the court finds that the owner of real property knew or should haveknown under the circumstances of the maintenance of a common nuisance on suchproperty, contrary to the liquor laws of this state, and did not make a bonafide attempt to abate such nuisance under the circumstances, such propertyshall be subject to a lien for, and may be sold to pay all fines and costsassessed against the occupant of such building or premises for any violation ofthis act; and such lien shall be immediately enforced by civil action, in anycourt having jurisdiction, by the county or district attorney of the countywherein such building or premises may be located, or by the attorney for thedirector, when ordered by the director. For purposes of this section, evidenceof a bona fide attempt to abate such nuisance by the owner of the propertyshall include, but not be limited to, the filing of a written report, by suchowner or at such owner's direction, to the local law enforcement agency thatthe property is suspected by the owner of the property of being used inmaintaining a common nuisance as set forth in K.S.A. 22-3901, and amendmentsthereto, contrary to the liquor laws of this state. If a tenant of any buildingor premises uses the building or premises, or any part thereof, in maintaininga common nuisance as hereinbefore defined, or knowingly permits such use byanother, such use shall render void the lease under which the tenant holds, andshall cause the right of possession to revert to the owner or lessor, who maymake immediate entry upon the premises, or may invoke the remedy provided forthe forcible detention thereof.
(2) Upon the filing of a complaint or information charging that a vehicle orairplane is a common nuisance as above declared, a warrant shall be issuedauthorizing and directing the officer to whom it is directed to arrest theperson or persons described in the complaint or information or the person orpersons using the vehicle or airplane in violation of this act and to seize andtake into the officer's custody all such vehicles and airplanes so used whichthe officer finds, and safely keep them subject to the order of the court. Inthe complaint or information it shall not be necessary to accurately describethe vehicle or airplane so used, but only such description shall be necessaryas will enable the officer executing the warrant to identify it properly.
Whenever any vehicles or airplanes shall be seized under any such warrant,whether an arrest has been made or not, a notice shall issue within 48 hoursafter the return of the warrant in the same manner as a summons, directed tothe defendant in such action and to all persons claiming any interest in suchvehicles or airplanes, fixing a time, to be not less than 60 days, and place atwhich all persons claiming any interest therein may appear and answer thecomplaint made against such vehicles or airplanes and show cause why theyshould not be adjudged forfeited and sold as hereinafter provided. Such noticeshall be served upon the defendant in the action in the same manner as asummons if the defendant be found within the jurisdiction of the court, and acopy thereof shall also be posted in one or more public places in the county inwhich the cause is pending. If at the time for filing answer the notice has notbeen duly served or sufficient cause appear, the time for answering shall beextended by the court and such other notice issued as will supply any defect inthe previous notice and give reasonable time and opportunity for all personsinterested to appear and answer. At or before the time fixed by notice, anyperson claiming an interest in the vehicles or airplanes seized, may file ananswer in writing, setting up a claim thereto, and shall thereupon be admittedas a party defendant to the proceedings against such vehicles or airplanes. Thecomplaint or information and answer or answers that may be filed shall be theonly pleadings required. At the time fixed for answer, or at any other time tobe fixed by the court, a trial shall be held in a summary manner before thecourt on the allegation of the complaint or information against the propertyseized. Whether any answer shall be filed or not, it shall be the duty of thecounty or district attorney to appear and adduce evidence in support of suchallegation.
(3) If the court finds that such vehicles or airplanes were at the time acommon nuisance, as defined in this section, the court shall adjudge forfeitedso much thereof as the court finds to be a common nuisance, and shall order theofficer in whose custody they are to sell them publicly. The officer shallcause notice to be given by publication for at least one week in the officialcounty paper of the time and place of the sale of the property and shall filein the court a return showing the sale of the property and the amount receivedtherefor and shall pay the same into court to await the order of the court. Thecourt, if it approves such sale, shall declare forfeited the proceeds of thesale and, after paying out of the proceeds of the sale the costs of the action,including costs of sale and the keeping and maintenance of the property, shallout of the balance of the money received from the property at the sale, pay allliens, according to their priorities, which are established by intervention orotherwise at the hearing or another proceeding brought for that purpose asbeing bona fide and for value and as having been created without the lienorhaving any notice that the vehicle or airplane was being used in so violatingthe provisions of this act and without the lienor having any notice at any timesubsequent to the creation of the lien and prior to the seizure in time to haveprotected the lien that the vehicle was so being used. The balance remainingshall be paid to the state treasurer pursuant to K.S.A. 20-2801, and amendmentsthereto, except that, if upon proper proof, a lien as herein provided isestablished in excess of the value of the vehicle as found by the court, thecourt may order, without sale, the surrender of such vehicle to such lienorupon the payment of all costs as is herein provided.
(4) Either the state or any defendant or other person claiming the vehicleor airplane seized, or an interest therein, may appeal from the judgment of thecourt in any such proceedings against the property seized in the mannerprovided for taking appeals in criminal cases. Any claimant of such propertywho appeals, in order to stay proceedings, must enter into an undertaking witha sufficient surety to the state of Kansas,to be approved by the judge of thedistrict court, in the sum of not less than $100 nor less than double theamount of the value of the property as fixed by the court and the costsadjudged against the property, conditioned that the claimant will prosecute theappeal without unnecessary delay, and if judgment is entered againstthe claimant on appeal, the claimant will satisfy the judgment and costs, andno bond shall be required for an appeal by the state, and such appeal shallstay the execution of the judgment.
History: L. 1949, ch. 242, § 94; L. 1973, ch. 106, § 7; L. 1978,ch. 105, § 12; L. 1990, ch. 114, § 4; L. 1992, ch. 314, § 7;L. 2006, ch. 124, § 4; July 1.