David Darby says all he wants is his day in court. And now, the Amboy resident believes he will finally get it.
Frustrated by his inability to have a previous case heard in a federal court, Darby said he made the conscious decision to stop paying the taxes on his Amboy property and home. Clark County records show that Darby has not paid his property taxes since the first half of 2008. He now owes Clark County nearly $24,000 in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.
“You show me where its constitutional, and I will pay the taxes,’’ Darby said. “They (county officials) know they can’t do that because they know they don’t have the proof.’’
Prior to his dispute with Clark County, Darby filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Utah.
“I had a civil suit filed in the 10th federal district in Salt Lake City,’’ Darby said. “They wouldn’t hear it. They said they did not have jurisdiction. They also said it was ‘frivolous.’ Because I couldn’t be heard in a court of law, I decided to take it to the next level and put my land in jeopardy. I decided the only way I was going to get it into court was to stop paying my taxes and force them to prove they have title to my land and prove that we are not under a feudal society, which is prohibited in the 1878 Constitution of the State of Washington.’’
As a result of Darby’s delinquent taxes, Clark County has started foreclosure proceedings on his property, which he said he has owned since 1983. The property is located at 15717 NE Grantham Rd., Amboy. His 4.7 acres, with a manufactured home, is valued at $154,712 by the county.
An affidavit that Darby recently submitted to the Clark County Board of Commissioners read: “I, David A. Darby, Natural born Sovereign, pursuant to Article 2, Section 3 of the lawful 1878 Constitution of the State of Washington, have been unconstitutionally terrorized and threatened with unconstitutional theft of private property by the County of Clark of Washington ...
“I have proven through national and state certified documents that I have terminated all contracts with any and all corporate governments, which includes corporate Clark County,’’ the affadavit read. “I have regained my sovereign status to which I was constitutionally born into. Therefore, no unconstitutional (corporate) government has any jurisdiction over me without a formally signed contract between David A. Darby and the Clark County Corporate government.’’
Obviously, Clark County officials don’t have the same interpretation of the law as Darby.
“I assume he has the funds to pay his taxes,’’ said Clark County Treasurer Doug Lasher. “He’s trying to fight a battle back to the Treaty of Paris. A lot of time has gone by since that time. I would think the Native Americans would like to argue a lot of those points.’’
Lasher said when a property owner in the county fails to pay their taxes, after three years he is required by law to file a Certificate of Delinquency and proceed through a court order to foreclose on the property.
“We have to treat everybody equally,’’ Lasher said. “This is a process that’s been in place for well over 100 years. We’ve urged Mr. Darby to pay his taxes and we gave him an opportunity to pay his oldest year’s tax to keep out of foreclosure, but he’s doing this out of his beliefs and principles. My job is to administer the law equally and fairly among everybody. Hopefully, Mr. Darby will eventually pay his taxes and the issue will go away, but that’s up to Mr. Darby.’’
Darby is frustrated because he believes Lasher and other county officials are missing the issue of the case.
“None of them want to recognize the fact that the Constitution says they have to recognize land patents and that all land will be held in allodium, which means clear title,’’ Darby said.
Lasher said Darby has already been in the foreclosure process for two years. Lasher said the county usually has about 15 properties a year that go into the foreclosure process, normally due to issues with the owner brought on by health problems, divorce, bankruptcy or family feuds.
“Those are the main reasons,’’ Lasher said. “It’s rare that we sell homes that are livable that people can move into. There’s only been a little over half a dozen in the last 30 years that that’s been the case.’’
Taylor Hallvik, the attorney handling the case for Clark County, said Darby’s case will likely be back in court very soon.
“We are working to resolve his case as soon as possible,’’ Hallvik said. “I can’t comment on the specifics of his (Mr. Darby) case but with any foreclosure, we work with the court to proceed with the foreclosure and sale of the property until taxes are paid.
“My hope would be to have this in front of the court in the coming weeks so that we could have this case resolved,’’ Hallvik said. “We don’t agree with his (Mr. Darby) characterization of Washington law as it relates to real property taxes.’’
Hallvik said when a case reaches the point that Darby’s has, the next step by the court is to proceed with the tax foreclosure sale.
“Cases in this posture, I would be seeking an order from this court authorizing the treasurer to proceed with the sale,’’ Hallvik said.
Darby said he intends to file his case in a new federal district court and it’s his belief that will prevent Clark County from proceeding to the tax foreclosure sale.
“My next step is to take it completely out of the state and try to put it in federal court and go after the county officials for criminal acts against our constitution by violating their oath of office,’’ Darby said. “I’ve been studying this for 10 years and I have never found one case in law that gives the county the authority to assume title to anyone’s land.’’
Darby said that even if his property is sold in a tax foreclosure sale, he doesn’t plan on leaving his property.
“I am not going to be taken from my land unconstitutionally,’’ he said.
For more information, Darby encouraged area residents to go to www.SovereignProject.com.
