Tax protester's lawsuit is dismissed

SANDPOINT — A 1st District judge is dismissing a lawsuit filed by a sovereign citizen who argues he should be exempt from property taxes.

Judge Barbara Buchanan dismissed Peter Christian Jensen’s lawsuit with prejudice on March 28, court records show. The nature of the dismissal prevents Jensen from reviving his claims in a new round of litigation.

Jensen sued Treasurer Cheryl Piehl, former Assessor Jerry Clemmons, former Commissioner Glen Bailey and current commissioners Jeff Connolly and Dan McDonald last year. He describes the elected officials as “wrongdoers,” “evil” and “criminals” in court filings. He also called for Buchanan and other officials to be flogged in public with a lash, according to court documents.

Jensen also sued Idaho Transportation Department officials in Kootenai County for requiring him to submit to an eye examination and driver’s testing in order to renew his driver’s license, court records indicate.

Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor William Wilson moved to have Jensen, a repeated pro se litigant, declared a vexatious litigant because of his frivolous and voluminous court filings.

“His trademark is to file numerous frivolous motions which do nothing but cause waste and unnecessary delay. In short, he is a model vexatious litigant,” Wilson said in the motion.

Under an Idaho Court Administrative Rule, vexatious litigants are prohibited form filing any new litigation without being represented by an attorney unless they obtain prior permission from a judge.

Any litigation filed in violation of such an order may be dismissed by the court and the violation of the order may be punished as a contempt of court, according to the court rule.

Buchanan presided over a hearing in the case on March 27 and granted the state’s motion to declare Jensen a vexatious litigant, records show. Jensen did not attend the hearing.

Jensen, a Kelso Lake resident, withdrew his litigation against ITD last month, court record show. The state, however, is seeking $2,585 in attorney fees for having to defend itself in the matter.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.