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.