Information from the County Attorney's Office
By Steven J. Franzen, Campbell County Attorney
The Kentucky Court of Appeals recently rendered an unpublished decision dealing with an issue sometimes known as “Tree Piracy” and the appropriate damages when someone cuts timber off another’s property without the other person’s consent. In the case mentioned above, a landowner contracted for the removal and sale timber located on the landowner’s property. During the removal, the contractor also removed a single walnut tree from another landowner’s property whose property shared a common boundary.
In this case, the adjacent landowner who lost the walnut tree sued under Kentucky Tree Piracy statute (KRS 364.130) for treble damages and legal costs, including attorney’s fees. The Circuit Court found in favor of the adjacent landowner and attributed damages equally between the landowner and the contractor in the total amount of three times the value of the tree or $1,853.25. The Circuit Court Judge also awarded attorney’s fees in the amount of $21,100.00. The Court of Appeals subsequently upheld the award.
This case deals with a problem in Kentucky known as “Tree Piracy” whereby someone would go onto another person’s land without consent and cut and remove valuable trees. If the landowner could only sue for the value lost, such would not be much of a deterrent to future thefts. Therefore, the Kentucky legislature in 1956 passed a statute (KRS 134.130) that provides that any person who cuts down timber growing upon the land of another shall pay to the rightful owner of the timber three times the stumpage value of the timber, three times (treble) the cost of any damages caused to the real estate itself and also shall pay all legal costs incurred by the owner of the timber. The treble damages could be limited in some circumstances through advanced notice before cutting occurred. Treble damages could also be limited because of a 2017 Legislative amendment that exempts treble damages from resulting when a residential property or farmland owner maintaining a fence row unintentionally removes timber based on a good-faith mistake as to the location of an unmarked boundary line.
Requiring the timber thief to pay three times the value of the timber lost and three times the damages caused to the property along with all other legal costs incurred by the owner of the timber, as in this case, would certainly seem to deter that type of conduct.
Beyond the ability to obtain relief through civil litigation, an intentional theft may also allow for reporting and requesting misdemeanor or felony criminal theft charges to be filed. However, this is rarely prosecuted because (1) the costs involved to determine the amount or value of the trees stolen; and (2) the intent of the actor(s) removing the trees.
Landowners can help protect themselves from timber theft by making sure to have clearly marked boundary lines, keeping in contact with adjacent property owners, and walking the property on a regular basis. If you are a victim, you should contact an attorney to assist you. For more information on timber theft, you can visit the Kentucky Division of Forestry website at: http://forestry.ky.gov/LandownerServices/Pages/TimberTheftandTrespass.aspx.
If you have any topics you would like to have covered in this column, please contact my office by e-mail at countyattorney@campbellcountyky.gov, by phone at (859) 491-7700 or by regular mail addressed to 319 York Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.