§45-17-242.05. Payment of tax; records; inspections; seizure and sale of contraband; appraisal; return of confiscated property; re-use of stamps or refill of packages.

(a) After the tax herein authorized has been levied in accordance with the provisions of this part, no person, firm, or corporation shall sell, store, or distribute tobacco or tobacco products, which are subject to such tax, without complying with the provisions of this part and the rules and regulations promulgated and adopted by the county governing body pursuant thereto, and paying any and all tax which such person, firm, or corporation may be liable under this part. Every person, firm, or corporation selling, storing, or distributing in Colbert County any tobacco or tobacco products shall keep such books, documents, papers, and other such records as will enable the county governing body, or an authorized employee thereof, to determine the amount of the tax due the county under this part, and such records shall at all reasonable times be open to inspection by the county governing body, or any officer or employee thereof charged with the duty of collecting and enforcing the tax, and such person, firm, or corporation shall make available to the county governing body or any authorized officer, agent, or employee thereof all stocks of tobacco products as defined in this part which may be in possession of the person, firm, or corporation, at all reasonable times in order to enable the county governing body or any authorized officer, agent, or employee thereof charged with the duty of collecting and enforcing the tax, to inspect the goods to determine if the proper stamps as provided by this part are affixed to the tobacco or tobacco products as provided by this part.

(b) Any tobacco or tobacco products taxable under the provisions of this part, found at any point within Colbert County, Alabama, which tobacco or tobacco products taxable under the provisions of this part, not having affixed to the package or product, as above defined, the stamps as above provided are hereby declared to be contraband goods and the same may be seized by the officer or employee of the county governing body charged with the duty of collecting and enforcing the tax, without a warrant and the goods shall be delivered to the county governing body of Colbert County, Alabama, for sale at public auction to the highest bidder after due advertisement, but the county governing body before delivering any of the goods so seized, shall require the purchaser to affix the proper amount of stamps to the individual package or product as above defined. The proceeds of sale for any goods sold hereunder shall be turned over to the county treasury, and shall be appropriated for the purposes as set out in Section 45-17-242.06; provided, that the cost of confiscation and sale shall be paid out of the proceeds derived from such sale before making remittance to the treasurer.

(c) In all cases of seizure of any tobacco or tobacco products, or other property hereafter made as being subject to forfeiture under provisions of this section which in the opinion of the officer, or person making the seizure, are of the appraised value of fifty dollars ($50), or more, the officer or person shall proceed as follows: First, he or she shall cause a list containing a particular description of the goods, wares, merchandise, or other property seized to be prepared in duplicate and an appraisement thereof to be made by three sworn appraisers to be selected by him or her, who shall be respectable and disinterested citizens of the State of Alabama, residing within Colbert County. The list and appraisement shall be properly attested by the officer, or person, and the appraisers, for which service each of the appraisers shall be allowed the sum of one dollar ($1) per day, not exceeding two days, to be paid by the county governing body out of any revenue received by it from the sale of the confiscated goods or the compromise which may be effected. Second, if the goods are believed by the officer making the seizure to be of value of less than fifty dollars ($50), no appraisement shall be made. The officer, or person, shall proceed to post a notice for three weeks, in writing at three places in the county where the seizure was made, describing the articles and stating the time and place and cause of their seizure and requiring any person claiming them to appear and make such claim in writing within 30 days from the date of the first posting of such notice. Third, any person claiming the tobacco or tobacco products, or other property so seized as contraband within the time specified in the notice, may file with the county governing body a claim in writing, stating his or her interest in the articles seized, and may execute a bond to the county governing body in a penal sum equal to double the value of the goods so seized, but in no case shall the bond be less than the sum of two hundred dollars ($200), with sureties to be approved by the Chairman of the Board of Revenue of Colbert County, conditioned that in the case of condemnation of the articles as seized, the obligors shall pay to the county governing body the full value of the goods so seized and all costs and expenses of the proceedings to obtain such condemnation, including a reasonable attorney's fee. And upon the delivery of such bond to the county governing body, it shall transmit the same with the duplicate list or description of the goods seized to the solicitor of the Colbert County Circuit Court, and the solicitor shall file a bill in the circuit court in equity to secure the forfeiture of the tobacco or tobacco products or other property. Upon the filing of the bond aforesaid, the goods shall be delivered to the claimant pending the outcome of the case; provided, however, the goods must have the proper stamps affixed to each such article of tobacco or tobacco product before turning same over to claimant, the stamps so affixed to be paid for by claimant when goods properly stamped are delivered by the county governing body. Fourth, if no claim is interposed and no bond given within the time above specified, such tobacco or tobacco products or other property shall be forfeited without further proceedings and the same shall be sold as herein provided. And the proceeds of sale when received by the county governing body shall be turned in to the treasury as other revenues are required by law to be turned in: Provided, that in seizure in quantities of less value than fifty dollars ($50), the same may be advertised with other quantities in Colbert County, Alabama, by the county governing body and disposed of as hereinabove provided. The proceedings against tobacco or tobacco products, other property, pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall be considered as proceedings in rem unless otherwise herein provided. Provided, however, should the county governing body have to resort to the courts for collections of the tax due and assessed, no advertisement shall be made and the confiscated tobaccos may be held as evidence pending the results of court action. (d) The county governing body may in its discretion return any tobacco or tobacco products or other property confiscated under this section or any part thereof, when it is shown that there was no intention to violate the provisions of this section. Provided, when any tobacco or tobacco products or other property are confiscated under the provisions of this section, the county governing body may, in its discretion, return such goods to the parties from whom they are confiscated if and when such parties shall pay to the county governing body, or its duly authorized representative, an amount equal to the tax due under this section on the goods confiscated, and in such cases no advertisement shall be made or notices posted in connection with the confiscation. The county governing body may promulgate rules and regulations governing the stamping of any articles or commodities enumerated herein handled by persons, firms, or corporations operating on interstate common carriers. Any rules or regulations of the county governing body, when duly made and promulgated shall have the full force and effect of law.

(e) Whoever removes or otherwise prepares any Colbert County Public Hospital Tax stamps with intent to use, or cause the same to be used, after it has already been used, or buys, sells, offers for sale, or gives away any such washed or removed or restored stamps to any person for using or who used the same, or any person, firm, corporation, who shall reuse or refill with any tobacco products enumerated herein, any box, package, or container from which tobacco products theretofore tax-paid have been removed shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).

(Acts 1957, No. 243, p. 308, §6; Acts 1959, No. 504, p. 1239, §2.)