Selected Excerpts From K.S.A. Chapter 79 - Taxation
Article 33 - Cigarettes and Tobacco Products
Current Through July 1, 2023
79-3321 Unlawful Acts
79-3322 Penalties
It shall be unlawful for any person:
(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided by this act, to possess, sell, transport, import, distribute, wholesale or manufacture more than 1,000 cigarettes without the required tax indicia being affixed as herein provided.
(b) To mutilate or attach to any individual package of cigarettes any stamp that has in any manner been mutilated or that has been heretofore attached to a different individual package of cigarettes or to have in possession any stamps so mutilated.
(c) To prevent the director or any officer or agent authorized by law, to make a full inspection for the purpose of this act, of any place of business and all premises connected thereto where cigarettes are or may be manufactured, sold, distributed, or given away.
(d) To use any artful device or deceptive practice to conceal any violation of this act or to mislead the director or officer or agent authorized by law in the enforcement of this act.
(e) Who is a dealer to fail to produce on demand of the director or any officer or agent authorized by law any records or invoices required to be kept by such person.
(f) Knowingly to make, use, or present to the director or agent thereof any falsified invoice or falsely state the nature or quantity of the goods therein invoiced.
(g) Who is a dealer to fail or refuse to keep and preserve for the time and in the manner required herein all the records required by this act to be kept and preserved.
(h) To wholesale cigarettes to any person, other than a manufacturer's salesperson, retail dealer or wholesaler who is:
(1) Duly licensed by the state where such manufacturer's salesperson, retail dealer or wholesaler is located, or
(2) exempt from state licensing under applicable state or federal laws or court decisions including any such person operating as a retail dealer upon land allotted to or held in trust for an Indian tribe recognized by the United States bureau of Indian affairs.
(i) To have in possession any evidence of tax indicia provided for herein not purchased from the director.
(j) To fail or refuse to permit the director or any officer or agent authorized by law to inspect a carrier transporting cigarettes.
(k) To vend small cigars, or any products so wrapped as to be confused with cigarettes, from a machine vending cigarettes, nor shall a vending machine be so built to vend cigars or products that may be confused with cigarettes, be attached to a cigarette vending machine.
(l) To sell, furnish or distribute cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or tobacco products to any person under 21 years of age.
(m) Who is under 21 years of age to purchase or attempt to purchase cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or tobacco products.
(n) Who is under 21 years of age to possess or attempt to possess cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or tobacco products.
(o) To sell cigarettes to a retailer or at retail that do not bear Kansas tax indicia or upon which the Kansas cigarette tax has not been paid.
(p) To sell cigarettes without having a license for such sale as provided herein.
(q) To sell a vending machine without having a vending machine distributor's license.
(r) Who is a retail dealer to fail to post and maintain in a conspicuous place in the dealer's establishment the following notice: "By law, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and tobacco products may be sold only to persons 21 years of age and older."
(s) To distribute samples within 500 feet of any school when such facility is being used primarily by persons under 21 years of age unless the sampling is:
(1) In an area to which persons under 21 years of age are denied access;
(2) in or at a retail location where cigarettes and tobacco products are the primary commodity offered for sale at retail; or
(3) at or adjacent to an outdoor production, repair or construction site or facility.
(t) To sell cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or tobacco products by means of a vending machine, including vending machines that sell packaged, single cigarettes, in any establishment, or portion of an establishment, which is open to minors, except that this subsection shall not apply to:
(1) The installation and use by the proprietor of the establishment, or by the proprietor's agents or employees, of vending machines behind a counter, or in some place in such establishment, or portion thereof, to which minors are prohibited by law from having access;
(2) the installation and use of a vending machine in a commercial building or industrial plant, or portions thereof, where the public is not customarily admitted and where machines are intended for the sole use of adult employees employed in the building or plant.
(u) To sell cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or tobacco products by means of a self-service display in any establishment, except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to:
(1) A vending machine that is permitted under subsection (t);
(2) a self-service display that is located in a tobacco specialty store; or
(3) a self-service display located in a facility where the retailer ensures that no person younger than 21 years of age is present or permitted to enter at any time.
(v) To sell or distribute in this state; to acquire, hold, own, possess or transport for sale or distribution in this state; or to import or cause to be imported, into this state for sale or distribution in this state:
(1) Any cigarettes the package of which (A) bears any statement, label, stamp, sticker or notice indicating that the manufacturer did not intend the cigarettes to be sold, distributed or used in the United States, including but not limited to, labels stating "For Export Only,", "U.S. Tax-Exempt,", "For Use Outside U.S." or similar wording; or (B) does not comply with (i) all requirements imposed by or pursuant to federal law regarding warnings and other information on packages of cigarettes manufactured, packaged or imported for sale, distribution or use in the United States, including but not limited to the precise warning labels specified in the federal cigarette labeling and advertising act, 15 U.S.C. § 1333; and (ii) all federal trademark and copyright laws;
(2) any cigarettes imported into the United States in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5754 or any other federal law, or federal regulations implementing such laws;
(3) any cigarettes that such person otherwise knows or has reason to know the manufacturer did not intend to be sold, distributed or used in the United States; or
(4) any cigarettes for which there has not been submitted to the secretary of the U.S. department of health and human services the list or lists of the ingredients added to tobacco in the manufacture of such cigarettes required by the federal cigarette labeling and advertising act, 15 U.S.C. § 1335a.
(w) To alter the package of any cigarettes, prior to sale or distribution to the ultimate consumer, so as to remove, conceal or obscure:
(1) Any statement, label, stamp, sticker or notice described in sub- section (v); or
(2) any health warning that is not specified in, or does not conform with, the requirements of, the federal cigarette labeling and advertising act, 15 U.S.C. § 1333.
(x) To affix any stamp required pursuant to K.S.A. 79-3311, and amendments thereto, to the package of any cigarettes described in subsection (v) or altered in violation of subsection (w).
(y) To possess, sell, transport, import, distribute, wholesale or manufacture cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or roll-your-own tobacco in violation of K.S.A. 50-6a01 et seq., and amendments thereto.
(z) To sell cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or roll-your-own tobacco in any manner that is not a direct, face-to-face exchange between the retailer and the consumer, except: (1) Mail-order sales, which shall not include mail-order redemption coupons and distribution of free samples through the mail; (2) vending machines as provided in subsection (t); and (3) self-service displays as provided in subsection (u).
History: L. 1933, ch. 122, § 18 (Special Session); L. 1939, ch. 329, § 18; L. 1967, ch. 498, § 14; L. 1969, ch. 460, § 1; L. 1988, ch. 384, § 1; L. 1996, ch. 214, § 7; L. 2000, ch. 92, § 3; L. 2010, ch. 8, § 10; L. 2012, ch. 127, § 1; L. 2017, ch. 96, § 11; L. 2023, ch. 18, § 3; July 1.
(a) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, shall be guilty of a violation of K.S.A. 79-3321(a), (c), (d), (f), (h), (i), (j), (v), (w), (x) or (y), and amendments thereto, is a:
(A) Class A misdemeanor for a first violation, and the offender shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,500 upon a first conviction;
(B) severity level 6, nonperson felony for a second violation, and the offender shall be fined not less than $50,000 nor more than $100,000 upon a second conviction; and
(C) severity level 6, nonperson felony for a third and all subsequent violations, and the offender shall be fined $100,000 upon a third and all subsequent convictions.
(2) It shall be a defense to prosecution under K.S.A. 79-3321(a), and amendments thereto, that a licensee has: (A) Segregated the cigarettes from public view; (B) marked the cigarettes as not for retail sale to consumers; and (C) within 72 hours of receipt, notified the licensee’s wholesale dealer, in writing, that the cigarettes do not bear indicia of Kansas tax and that the wholesale dealer shall remove the cigarettes from the licensee’s premises.
(b) Except as provided in subsections (a), (c) or (d), a violation of K.S.A. 79-3321, and amendments thereto, is a class B misdemeanor and upon conviction, an offender shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or by both for each separate violation. In addition thereto any person found liable for any license fee or tax imposed under the provisions of this act shall be personally liable for such license fee or tax plus a penalty in an amount equal to 100% thereof.
(c) (1) It is a class B person misdemeanor punishable by a minimum fine of $200 for any person to: (A) Sell, give or furnish any cigarettes or tobacco products to any person under 18 years of age; or (B) buy any cigarettes or tobacco products for any person under 18 years of age.
(2) It shall be a defense to a prosecution under this subsection if: (A) The defendant is a licensed retail dealer, or employee thereof, or a person authorized by law to distribute samples; (B) the defendant sold, furnished or distributed the cigarettes or tobacco products to the person under 18 years of age with reasonable cause to believe the person was of legal age to purchase or receive cigarettes or tobacco products; and (C) to purchase or receive the cigarettes or tobacco products, the person under 18 years of age exhibited to the defendant a driver’s license, Kansas nondriver’s identification card or other official or apparently official document containing a photograph of the person and purporting to establish that the person was of legal age to purchase or receive cigarettes or tobacco products.
(3) It shall be a defense to a prosecution under this subsection if: (A) The defendant engages in the lawful sale, furnishing or distribution of cigarettes or tobacco products by mail; and (B) the defendant sold, furnished or distributed the cigarettes or tobacco products to the person by mail only after the person had provided to the defendant an unsworn declaration, conforming to K.S.A. 53-601, and amendments thereto, that the person was 21 or more years of age.
(4) For purposes of this subsection the person who violates this subsection shall be the individual directly selling, furnishing or distributing the cigarettes or tobacco products to any person under 18 years of age or the retail dealer who has actual knowledge of such selling, furnishing or distributing by such individual or both.
(d) Violation of K.S.A. 79-3321(m) or (n), and amendments thereto, is a cigarette or tobacco infraction for which the fine is $25. In addition, the judge may require the juvenile to appear in court with a parent or legal guardian.
(e) Any agent, employees or others who aid, abet or otherwise participate in any way in the violation of the Kansas cigarette and tobacco products act or in any of the offenses hereunder punishable shall be guilty and punished as principals to the same extent as any person violating this act.
(f) The secretary of revenue or the secretary’s authorized agent may refer such evidence as may be available concerning violations of this act or any rules and regulations or order hereunder to the attorney general or the proper county or district attorney, who may in the prosecutor’s discretion, with or without such a reference, institute the appropriate criminal proceedings under this act. Upon receipt of such reference, the attorney general or the county attorney or district attorney may request that a duly employed attorney of the department of revenue prosecute or assist in the prosecution of such violation or violations on behalf of the state. Upon approval of the secretary or the secretary’s authorized agent, such employee shall be appointed a special prosecutor for the attorney general or the county attorney or district attorney to serve without compensation from the attorney general or the county attorney or district attorney. Such special prosecutor shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by law for assistant attorneys general or assistant county or district attorneys and such other powers and duties as are lawfully delegated to such special prosecutor by the attorney general or the county attorney or district attorney. If an attorney employed by the secretary or secretary’s authorized agent acts as a special prosecutor, the secretary may pay extradition and witness expenses associated with the case.
History: L. 1933, ch. 122, § 19 (Special Session); L. 1939, ch. 329, § 19; L. 1967, ch. 498, § 15; L. 1984, ch. 358, § 4; L. 1996, ch. 214, § 8; L. 1998, ch. 192, § 11; L. 2000, ch. 92, § 4; L. 2017. ch. 96, § 12; L. 2023, ch. 18, § 4; June 22.