Jarrod C. Kieffer

Jarrod joined Stinson’s Wichita, Kan., office in 2006 as an associate. He is a member of the Business Litigation and Property Tax Appeal Divisions. He represents clients in a variety of business litigation matters, including construction disputes, employment discrimination, and real estate litigation. Jarrod's primary focus has been in the area of Kansas property tax appeal, representing clients before the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals and the state courts on issues relating to real and personal property valuation and equalization, and on tax exemption matters. Prior to joining the firm, he was a judicial law clerk for Judge Donald W. Bostwick, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, in Wichita. His primary responsibilities included legal research, drafting orders and memoranda, monitoring caseload, and managing pending motions. Jarrod was also a student law clerk for Judge Janice Miller Karlin, Bankruptcy Judge, in the U.S. District Court from 2003 to 2004. Jarrod mentored under the now-retired Bob O'Connor, who was one of the preeminent property tax attorneys in Kansas for many decades prior to his retirement.

Representative Experience

In his many years as a trial attorney, Jarrod has represented both taxpayers and taxing jurisdictions in various property-related disputes. Jarrod has successfully represented clients before the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals in various classification, valuation and exemption matters. Jarrod has had many significant litigation cases, including the following:

• Representing the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., in tax appeals matters arising out of the Village West development.
• Pursuing property tax appeals on behalf of owners of various types of commercial and retail properties, including special use and special purpose properties.
• Representing clients before the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals in various classification, valuation, and exemption matters.
• Representing clients with property tax disputes relating to heavy industrial facilities.
• Participating in a broad variety of cases presenting various oil and gas property tax and valuation issues.

Published Decisions

• On November 5, 2009, the Kansas Supreme Court granted Jarrod's motion to publish a property tax opinion in a case that he won at the Kansas Court of Appeals. The Kansas Court of Appeals' opinion re-affirmed a decision which Jarrod had won at the (former) Kansas Board of Tax Appeals and thereby reversed an intermediate decision on judicial review of the District Court of Reno County, Kansas. The case involved the valuation for Kansas property tax purposes of the Dillon Stores' Distribution Center, in Hutchinson, Kansas. The Court of Appeals' opinion dealt with the following issues: (1) appraising a complex or "campus" of buildings individually as a technique for determining the fair market value of the property as a whole, and (2) the adequacy of the findings of the Board of Tax Appeals' opinion in the case. The case is captioned in the Court of Appeals as In the Matter of the Protests of City of Hutchinson/Dillon Stores for Taxes Paid for 2001 and 2002 in Reno County, Kansas, and In the Matter of the Protests for Dillon Real Estate Co., Inc. for Taxes Paid for 2001 and 2002 in Reno County, Kansas, Case No. 08-100499-A, dated Aug. 21, 2009.       
• On April 8, 2010, Jarrod successfully obtained an affirmation from the Kansas Court of Appeals of a Kansas Court of Tax Appeal's decision in favor of Dillon Real Estate Company, Inc. In that case, the Court of Tax Appeals granted relief to Dillon Real Estate Company pursuant to a tax grievance filed on its behalf by Jarrod. Jarrod successfully argued that the City of Topeka had improperly assessed taxes against Dillon Real Estate Company during the pendency of an annexation proceeding. The Court of Appeals upheld the Court of Tax Appeals' Order, granting tax relief to the client. The decision captioned as In the Matter of the Appeal of Dillon Real Estate Co., Inc., et al., 228 P.3d 1080 (Kan. App. 2010).     

Jarrod has obtained many orders in favor of his clients from the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals.

Education

Of Note

Community Involvement

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