Federal Lawsuit Targets Saginaw County and Kochville Township Over Unconstitutional Property Seizure

For Immediate Release | September 20, 2025
https://olcplc.com/public/media?1758335332

A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against Saginaw County, Kochville Township, and Treasurer Timothy Novak, accusing them of orchestrating the unconstitutional seizure of valuable commercial property in Kochville Township.

The suit alleges that local officials took a prime three-acre parcel across the street from Home Depot along Beuker Drive—valued at nearly half a million dollars—and transferred it directly to Kochville Township for only approximately $33,000, the amount of imposed penalties and delinquent taxes owed. Rather than place the property into public auction, where competitive bidding would have produced fair market value and protected the owner’s constitutional rights, the defendants arranged a below-market transfer that enriched the government at private expense.

Meeting minutes show that Township officials knew precisely what they were doing. At a May 2023 board meeting, Township Manager Steve King urged the Kochville Board to “strongly consider” the purchase, calling it an opportunity that would “more than likely never happen again.” The Township Board then voted unanimously to purchase the land for only the tax balance, securing a property worth many times more without paying fair value.

“This case shines a spotlight on government officials who knowingly manipulated the tax foreclosure process for their own benefit,” said attorney Philip L. Ellison of Outside Legal Counsel PLC. “The Constitution does not permit the government to take private property for pennies on the dollar. When officials confiscate wealth in this way, it is an unconstitutional taking and an excessive fine under the Bill of Rights.”

The case, filed on September 19, 2025, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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