Kent Hovind

Kent E. Hovind (born January 15, 1953) is an American Christian fundamentalist apologist and tax protestor. His young Earth creationist ministry focuses on denial of accepted scientific knowledge in the fields of biology (evolution and abiogenesis), geophysics, and cosmology in favor of a literalist interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative found in the Bible. Hovind's views, which combine elements of creation science and conspiracy theory, are dismissed by the scientific community as fringe theory and pseudo-scholarship. Answers in Genesis, a fundamentalist organization advocating young Earth creationism, openly criticized him for continued use of discredited arguments abandoned by others in the movement.

Hovind established Creation Science Evangelism (CSE) in 1989 and Dinosaur Adventure Land in 2001 in Pensacola, Florida. He frequently spoke on Young Earth creationism in schools, churches, debates, and on radio and television broadcasts. His son Eric Hovind took over operation of CSE after Hovind began serving a ten-year prison sentence in January 2007 for federal convictions for failing to pay taxes, obstructing federal agents, and structuring cash transactions. In September 2021, Hovind was convicted of domestic violence against his estranged wife.

Biography

At the age of 16, Hovind became a born-again Christian<ref name="affidavit1998"/> within the Independent Fundamental Baptist church.<ref>"I am, without apology, an independent fundamental Baptist." Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1971, he graduated from East Peoria Community High School in East Peoria, Illinois. He entered Illinois Central College and then transferred to the unaccredited Midwestern Baptist College in 1972, attaining a Bachelor of Religious Education in 1974.<ref name="affidavit1998"/>

He married his wife Jo in 1973 and they had three children between 1977 and 1979. Between 1975 and 1988, Hovind served as an assistant pastor and teacher at three private Baptist schools, including one he started.<ref name="affidavit1998">"Affidavit of Kent E. Hovind (2005) with Circuit Court of Escambia County August 10, 2005"</ref>

In 1989, the family moved to Pensacola, Florida, where Jo attended (then unaccredited) Pensacola Christian College and earned a bachelor's degree in music and master's degrees in music and sacred music.<ref name="TCM2012-281">Jo Delia Hovind v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Template:Webarchive; T.C. Memo. 2012-281; October 3, 2012; also available online at Jo Hovind v Commissioner of Internal Revenue (2012 Order).</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1998, Hovind created his Dr. Dino web site and began producing articles and selling video tapes, books, and fossil replicas.<ref name="TCM2012-281"/> Prior to his incarceration, Hovind had numerous speaking engagements (around 700 in 2004<ref name="DarwinfreeNYT"/>) at churches, private schools, and other venues each year, in addition to hosting a daily internet radio talk show and establishing Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola, Florida. In 1999, his son Eric Hovind began traveling to present his arguments and seminars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="EricJoins1999">Kent Hovind wrote his son, Eric, "joined our CSE staff May 10th. He is taking my seminar to schools and churches and has quite a few meetings scheduled already." Template:Cite web</ref> Kent and Jo divorced in 2016.<ref>Judgment dated June 21, 2016, recorded June 24, 2016, Jo D. Hovind v. Kent E. Hovind; Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Patriot University

In 1988 and 1991 respectively, Hovind received a master's degree and doctorate in Christian Education through correspondence from (also unaccredited) Patriot University, then in Colorado Springs, Colorado.<ref group="notes">now Patriot Bible University in Del Norte, Colorado, which no longer offers this program</ref><ref name="HovindWhereDidYou">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Forrest">Template:Cite news</ref> Patriot University is a diploma mill.<ref name="KauffmanYD"/><ref name="PigliucciBoudry2013">Template:Cite book</ref>

Having a website called "Dr. Dino" has provoked some academics to look closely at how Hovind presents his education and credentials. All his known degrees are from unaccredited institutions, and he has no training in paleontology.<ref name="LoxtonProthero2013"/> Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy, expert on the history of creationism and activist in the creation–evolution controversy, wrote that Hovind's lack of training makes academic discussion impossible<ref name="Forrest"/> and has said that his understanding of historical and scientific research is deficient.<ref name="KauffmanYD">Template:Cite news</ref> Karen Bartelt, an organic chemistry professor who debated Hovind,<ref name="Forrest"/> examined Hovind's dissertation and found it is incomplete,<ref group="notes">It contains four chapters totaling 101 pages, but Hovind's introduction claims the work is 250 pages with 16 chapters.</ref> contains numerous spelling errors, lacks references, shows flawed reasoning, and states that it does not present any original research.<ref name="LoxtonProthero2013"/><ref name="Holley2015">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Bartelt">Template:Cite web</ref>

Creation Science Evangelism and Creation Today

Hovind established Creation Science Evangelism in 1989 to evangelize and teach creationism.<ref name="TCM2012-281"/> In May 1999, his son Eric joined Creation Science Evangelism as a speaker, and his daughter Marlissa began training to become Hovind's secretary.<ref name="EricJoins1999"/> That year, CSE merged with Faith Baptist Fellowship of Hawthorne, Florida, beginning a relationship that lasted until 2002. In 2003, with the aid of Glenn Stoll (a promoter of tax-avoidance schemes), Hovind set up a series of entities starting with "an unincorporated association of pure trust" on May 13, under which a corporation sole and several ministerial trusts were established starting on May 23. CSE properties were conveyed to the trusts which operated under business licenses from the "Kingdom of Heaven".<ref name="OrderonProperty"/>

Hovind is associated with the Unregistered Baptist Fellowship (UBF), a loosely affiliated group of roughly 100 churches which share a "theology of Christian resistance" to civil governments. Because the UBF would consider it an acknowledgement of government authority over the church, they reject the highly favorable 501(c)(3) status, which makes donations tax deductible and exempts them from income tax, but not FICA taxes or employee income tax withholding.<ref name="SPLC2001">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Kurst-Swanger2008">Template:Cite book</ref> The UBF holds that governmental authority stops "at the threshold of the church",<ref name="Kurst-Swanger2008" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Hovind has likened his ministry's status to that of the Vatican City State.<ref name="DALFight" /> When the federal government obtained a search warrant in 2004, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) criminal investigator made the sworn statement that the organization did not have a business license and did not have tax-exempt status.<ref name="ParkFinance" />

Hovind was convicted of 58 felony counts in November 2006<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and sentenced to ten years in prison in January 2007; Eric Hovind took over Creation Science Evangelism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2007, God Quest Inc. was incorporated with Eric Hovind as president,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and that November, God Quest Inc. filed in Florida to do business under the trade name Creation Science Evangelism.<ref>Fictitious Name Detail: Creation Science Evangelism, Registration #G07317900401, November 13, 2007, from State of Florida, Department of State. Retrieved May 15, 2015.</ref> In June 2008, Eric announced that the CSE website would incorporate the CSE blog and change format allowing for "only positive comments" about Hovind and CSE,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and in late 2011, Creation Science Evangelism's DrDino.com website was redirected to CreationToday.org.<ref>Kyle Winkler, Template:Cite web</ref> The new website announced "Creation Today is a ministry of God Quest, Inc." with focus on "creation, apologetics and evangelism."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Dinosaur Adventure Land

Entrance to the park

In 2001, Hovind started Dinosaur Adventure Land, a young Earth creationist theme park located behind Hovind's home in Pensacola.<ref name="CSICOP">Template:Cite news</ref> With the slogan, "Where Dinosaurs and the Bible meet!", the facility on roughly Template:Convert<ref name="AdamEveTRex">Template:Cite news</ref> had an indoor "Science Center" and an outdoor space with a variety of simple dinosaur-themed rides and activities, each of which was tied to some religious message. For example, the "Jumpasaurus" was a trampoline next to a basketball hoop; children would have one minute to make as many baskets as they could, and the message was that one has to be coordinated to do more for Jesus. Annual attendance was 38,000.<ref name="DarwinfreeNYT"/><ref name="CSICOP"/> The park depicted humans and dinosaurs co-existing in the last 4,000–6,000 years and also contains a depiction of the Loch Ness Monster.<ref name="HeresyNS">Template:Cite news</ref> The Southern Poverty Law Center said the park also "claims that a few small dinosaurs still roam the planet".<ref name="SPLC2004">Template:Cite news</ref> A 2004 Skeptical Inquirer article discussed a visit to Hovind's dinosaur theme park and concluded that the park is "deceptive on many levels".<ref name="CSICOP"/> In Reports of the National Center for Science Education, George Allan Alderman described it as "essentially a playground with a few exhibits, several fiberglass dinosaurs, a climbing wall, and a couple of buildings." He summarized it as "shabby".<ref name="AldermanAllen">Template:Cite web</ref>

The venture encountered legal issues when the owners did not get a building permit in 2002 (see below). In April 2006, Escambia County officials closed the building in question.<ref name="ParkExtinction"/> In July 2009, the courts ruled that the properties could be seized and sold to satisfy Hovind's criminal penalties (see below).<ref name="pnjruling">Template:Cite news [ The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref> Another Florida ministry theme park, the Holy Land Experience, successfully lobbied for a property tax exemption law for parks "used to exhibit, illustrate, and interpret biblical manuscripts" in 2006; Dinosaur Adventure Land, which was not a 501(c)(3) organization, failed to have the law expanded to be included.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> Eric Hovind kept the park and CSE operating throughout 2008,<ref name="DALFight">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref> but in July 2009, a judge allowed the government seizure to proceed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2009, Dinosaur Adventure Land's website announced it was closed,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and CSE announced its re-opening as the "Creation Store" in November 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In April 2016, Hovind discussed plans for a new Dinosaur Adventure Land, which included an 80-foot-tall model dinosaur that would be the largest in the state, with commissioners in Conecuh County, Alabama.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A supporter donated a Template:Convert parcel of land in Lenox, Alabama, a former gravel pit.<ref name ="AL2018">Template:Cite web</ref> Volunteers started work by June 2016,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and it opened in April 2018. Template:As of, total attendance had exceeded 1,000, according to Hovind. Dinosaur Adventure Land is operated by a 501(c)(3) organization, Creation Science Evangelism Ministries Inc. Its revenue streams are donations, book and DVD sales, and YouTube advertising. There is no admission charge and it operates without liability insurance. Facilities include a science center, a campground, a four-wheeler park, and church services including baptisms.<ref name ="AL2018"/>

On March 15, 2020, a seven-year-old boy drowned at the park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Creationism

The Hovind Theory

Hovind presented a version of young Earth creationism he calls the "Hovind Theory" in lectures and in the book Unmasking the False Religion of Evolution.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref name="FalseReligion">Template:Cite web</ref> The Hovind Theory is entirely rejected in the scientific community, and its plausibility has even been criticized by other young Earth creationists.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="CMIIntegrity">Template:Cite news</ref>

In Hovind's narrative, dinosaurs and humans coexisted and Tyrannosaurus rex was a vegetarian prior to the fall of man.<ref name="AdamEveTRex"/><ref name="MooreDecker2008"/> Hovind expands upon the late 19th- and early 20th-century vapor canopy concept of a protective shield that made Earth a relative paradise between the expulsion from Paradise and Noah's flood.<ref name="Giberson2015">Template:Cite book</ref> The flood is expressed as a function of natural rather than miraculous processes.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Noah's family and two of every kind of animal<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (including dinosaurs, which fit because babies were taken aboard and conditions allowed larger humans, making the ark's size, based on cubits, larger<ref name="Lebo2009">Template:Cite book</ref>) boarded Noah's Ark before an ice meteor impacted the Earth. Fragments from the meteor caused planetary rings and impact craters on the moon and other solar system bodies.<ref name="Grant2011"/> The remainder were drawn to the North and South Poles by the Earth's magnetic field as cataclysmic snowfall which buried the mammoths standing up.<ref name="FalseReligion"/><ref name="Grant2011"/> The ice on the poles cracked the Earth's crust, releasing the "fountains of the deep". According to Hovind, these events caused an ice age, and made the Earth wobble around, collapsing the vapor canopy that protected it.<ref>'The Hovind Theory' - part 6 of his CSE series</ref>

In the next few months of the flood, the dead animals and plants were buried, and became oil, coal, and fossils.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The last months of the flood included geological instability, when the plates shifted, forming ocean basins and mountain ranges. The Grand Canyon was formed in a couple of weeks during this time.<ref name="MooreDecker2008">Template:Cite book</ref>

Criticism from creationists

In a rare case of open dissent within the movement over the substance of creation science,<ref name="PettoGodfrey2007">Template:Cite book</ref> Answers in Genesis (AiG) published a 2002 position paper titled: "Arguments we think creationists should NOT use".<ref name="dontuse">Template:Cite web</ref> After Hovind issued a point-by-point rebuttal,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Carl Wieland, Ken Ham, and Jonathan Sarfati of AiG wrote that the claims made by Hovind were "fraudulent" and contained "mistakes in facts and logic which do the creationist cause no good."<ref name="DarwinfreeNYT">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="CMIIntegrity"/><ref name="dontuse"/> In particular, AiG criticized Hovind for "persistently us[ing] discredited or false arguments" as well as "fraudulent claims" from Ron Wyatt,<ref name="CMIIntegrity"/> and described one of Hovind's claims as "self-refuting".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Rancorous disagreements resulted in AiG splitting into U.S. and Australian chapters in 2005. The Australian branch, renamed Creation Ministries International (CMI), maintained content critical of Hovind on their website, while the U.S. branch, led by Ken Ham, removed it.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2009, CMI said that they had relaxed their stance because CSE's revamped website had removed some of Hovind's claims to which they objected.<ref name="CMIIntegrity"/>

Greg Neyman, an old-Earth creationist who runs the Old Earth Ministries website<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (renamed from Answers in Creation), writes that Hovind's articles about humans and dinosaurs coexisting are unsupported by evidence and that they "embarrass the young earth creation science community as a whole".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Moore2014">Template:Cite book</ref>

To the Orthodox Jewish creationist, Hovind's approach relies upon a strict literal reading of the King James translation. Where Jews interpret the Hebrew through Talmud and Midrash, Hovind relies on a direct reading of English. For example, Hovind claims that the word dinosaur, which was introduced to English in 1841, refers to what previously had been called dragon. Dragon is used where tannin (Template:Langx) appears, but it means serpent or crocodile.<ref name="HeresyNS"/>

Anti-evolution claims

Hovind contends that "Darwinism" produced "Communism, Socialism, Nazism, abortion, liberalism and the New Age Movement".<ref name="radicalreligion"/><ref name="JarrettKentState"/> He blamed the forced Cherokee resettlement on a belief in evolution, although the Trail of Tears preceded On the Origin of Species, the book which first presents the theory of evolution by natural selection, by roughly two decades.<ref name="Forrest"/><ref name="KauffmanYD"/> Hovind maintains that biology textbooks are lying in order to brainwash youth.<ref name="Brainwashed">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Rauser2012">Template:Cite book</ref> He said, "Satan is using evolution theory to make kids go to hell."<ref name="CreationEvolutionMeyer">Template:Cite news</ref> Hovind claims he is not trying to eliminate evolution from schools,<ref name="Brainwashed"/> but says "schools should teach both viewpoints."<ref name="CreationEvolutionMeyer"/> Hovind said that in order to forge "missing link" transitional fossils to support human evolution, the Smithsonian Institution has 33,000 sets of human remains in its basement, some taken alive (murder).<ref name="Forrest"/><ref name="MooreDecker2008"/> In an interview prior to speaking at Kent State University, Hovind said "You should have another rebellion here at Kent State and do it for the right reason," the reason being protesting evolution and referred to the Kent State shootings when he added, "This time, don't get shot."<ref name="JarrettKentState">Template:Cite web</ref>

In the pseudoscience of cryptozoology, Hovind published and co-authored Claws, Jaws, and Dinosaurs with William Gibbons, another Creationist who has searched for dinosaurs in the Congo under the belief that discovering a cryptid would somehow undermine evolutionary theory and that dinosaurs were dragons.<ref name="LoxtonProthero2013">Template:Cite book</ref> Dinosaur Adventure Land had displays about the existence of the Loch Ness Monster<ref name="Grant2011">Template:Cite book</ref> and Beowulf as history rather than legend.<ref name="CSICOP"/>

Debates

Prior to his convictions, Hovind was a prolific debater. While Hovind campaigns against evolution, the level of support for evolution is essentially universal within the scientific community and academia;<ref>Template:Cite court available at Wikisource: Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover page 83
Sample organizational statements:

• AAAS: Template:Cite web
• InterAcademy Partnership: Template:Cite book
• NSTA: Template:Cite web

NCSE maintains an extensive list of statements</ref> support for creationism is minimal among scientists in general, and virtually nonexistent among those in the following fields: biology, paleontology, geology, etc.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> C. A. Chinn and L. A. Buckland classify his debate style, common among Young Earth Creationists, as eristic: focused on winning by rhetoric rather than illuminating by careful examination of evidence.<ref name="TaylorFerrari2012">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1993, Hovind announced that he would debate the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould, who had a longstanding opposition to debating Creationists and had turned down numerous challenges. When contacted about the announcement, Gould said he had never heard of Hovind, much less agreed to debate.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In May 2004, Michael Shermer debated Hovind in front of a predominantly creationist audience. Shermer claimed the exchange was "not an intellectual exercise", but rather "an emotional drama", and concluded, "Unless there is a subject that is truly debatable with a format that is fair, in a forum that is balanced, it only serves to belittle both the magisterium of science and the magisterium of religion."<ref name="ShermerHovind">Template:Cite news</ref> Massimo Pigliucci also debated Hovind, and expressed surprise at Hovind's ignorance of evolutionary theory. Pigliucci recalled Hovind tried "to convince the audience that evolutionists believe humans came from rocks" and subsequently "evolved from bananas."<ref name="Pigliucci2002">Template:Cite book</ref> William Reville, Director of Microscopy at University College Cork, wrote that Hovind's ideas are not rational or scientific because they are not testable.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Hovind has repeatedly declined offers for written debates where his claims would be scrutinized by scientists, including his decline of a debate offer from Dave Thomas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

During a debate with Farrell Till, Hovind said that Donald Johanson had uncovered the leg bones of Lucy at a different site over a mile away from the reported site, in a deeper stratum, quipping, "I would like to know how fast the train was going that hit that chimpanzee."<ref>Template:Cite web reprinted in The REALL News 2(2) (March 1994).</ref> This was clearly contrary to the published statements by Johanson. After Hovind had been informed in 1993 that his statement was false, he agreed to stop using the claim. When he repeated the claim in 1995, he once more agreed he was in error.<ref>Template:Cite news A version appears as Lucy's Knee Joint: How creationists deal with their errors in the Skeptic 15(4):34–6 (Summer 1995). Retrieved December 3, 2015.</ref>

$250,000 offer

In 1990, Hovind made a $10,000 offer to anyone who could meet a set of requirements he said would prove evolution, and he later raised the amount to $250,000.<ref name="offer">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2007, Creation Science Evangelism removed the offer from its website.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The premises of Hovind's offer have been rejected both by scientists and fellow creationists as fundamentally flawed.<ref name="CMIIntegrity"/><ref name="talkorigins"/> Hovind's conditions would require a claimant not only to prove the theory of evolution, but also abiogenesis, astrophysics and cosmology, and additionally prove that no gods could possibly exist.<ref name=talkorigins>Template:Cite web</ref> The judges would be hand-picked without assurances that they would be unbiased or qualified to assess the merit of claims, and it is possible that no panel was convened when a claim was submitted. Some forms of evidence would be excluded prior to judging.<ref name="Isaak2007">Template:Cite book</ref>

Answers in Genesis dismissed the challenge as a gimmick.<ref name="MooreDecker2008"/>Template:Rp A 2005 challenge on Boing Boing offered $250,000 to anyone who could prove that the Flying Spaghetti Monster (the deity of a parody religion constructed to make a point about giving time to alternative views on evolution) was not the father of Jesus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Political activity

In 1999, a Bradenton, Florida pastor asked the school board to consider adding Creationism to the curriculum. The school board chairman's actions raised issues when, in his capacity as a citizen, he helped fund a series of seminars by Hovind, but he was within ethical guidelines. More controversy was raised when a school employee was sent to videotape the lectures, although without intention for rebroadcast.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Ultimately, there was no curriculum change.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Hovind was criticized for his involvement with Arkansas state Representative Jim Holt's Anti-Evolution Bill in 2001 (House Bill 2548).<ref name="Hovindconnection">Don Michael, "The Hovind connection: Check your facts, legislators." Northwest Arkansas Times. April 5, 2001</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This bill "would have required that when public schools refer to evolution that it be identified as an unproven theory." Opponents of the bill worried that it would subject Arkansas to the same type of derision that occurred when the state's balanced-treatment law was struck down in McLean v. Arkansas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Holt called upon Hovind as an expert who "testified for Holt before the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, alleging much of the information pertaining to evolution in our science textbooks is false."<ref name="Hovindconnection"/>

In 2007, David Vitter added a $100,000 earmark in a U.S. Senate appropriations bill, directed towards the Louisiana Family Forum "to develop a plan to promote better science education". Their website included a document, Template:"'A Battle Plan—Practical Steps to Combat Evolution' by Kent Hovind". After a reporter's inquiries, the document, which called evolution "not a harmless theory but a dangerous religious belief" and blamed it for atrocities by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Pol Pot, was removed from their website. The earmark was withdrawn from the bill.<ref name="Blumenthal2010"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Chick tracts

The most widely distributed antievolution work, Big Daddy?,<ref name="MooreDecker2008Chick">Template:Cite book</ref> was first published in 1972<ref group="notes">There may also be a 1970 version.</ref><ref name="WorldOfChick">Template:Cite book</ref> and revised several times; it is one of the controversial Chick tracts, comic strips intended to convert people to fundamentalist Christianity.<ref name="Burack2008">Template:Cite book</ref> Material from Hovind was incorporated into the 2000 revision.<ref name="WorldOfChick"/><ref>Big Daddy?, tract from Chick Publications.</ref><ref>Article from Chick Publications Battle Cry July/August 2000 Newsletter, Author Claims Some Dinosaurs Live Today!</ref>

Miscellaneous

Hovind believes that the King James Version is the most accurate English-language Bible translation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Politics and conspiracy theories

Hovind has made controversial remarks regarding conspiracies, science, creation, equal rights, religion, and government. His presentations on creationism and evolution are a mix of Christian Fundamentalism and conspiracy theories.<ref name="ShermerHovind"/> His creationist presentations have asserted that creationism is not taught in public schools due to a New World Order conspiracy, established by Satan and involving Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, the British royal family, the State of Israel, the American Civil Liberties Union (which he calls "the American Communist Lawyers Union"), U.S. government officials, business leaders, and social activists. In May 1999, he claimed "the implementation of the NWO's world-domination plan was May 5, 2000."<ref name="Holley2015"/><ref name="Delphia">Template:Cite news</ref>

Hovind has promoted several conspiracy theories about the U.S. government. He has claimed that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks<ref name="Blumenthal2010">Template:Cite book</ref> and the Oklahoma City bombing.<ref name="MooreDecker2008"/> Regarding UFOs, Hovind recommends books by conspiracy theorists who believe "some UFO's are U.S. Government experiments with electrogravitic propulsion as opposed to jet propulsion, while others are Satanic apparitions."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="DinosaursExistGuardian">"Alberta: Evangelist says dinosaurs existed in God's world," The Guardian (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island), December 2, 2000</ref> The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) criticized Hovind for referring followers to books by Irwin Schiff,<ref name="SPLC2004"/> a tax protester who has been convicted of tax evasion multiple times.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The SPLC has criticized Hovind for "point[ing] his followers to Citizens Rule Book, popular among antigovernment 'Patriots', and to Media Bypass, an antigovernment magazine with strong antisemitic leanings",<ref name="SPLC2004"/> and for selling of books such as Des Griffin's Fourth Reich of the Rich and Peter Kershaw's In Caesar's Grip, and recommending The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a well-known antisemitic hoax.<ref name="radicalreligion"/>

Hovind claims that the cyanide-releasing compound laetrile is a "cancer cure" which the U.S. government is conspiring to suppress<ref name="CSICOP"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and that diseases including HIV, Gulf war syndrome, Crohn's colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer's were engineered by "the money masters and governments of the world" for the purpose of global economic domination.<ref name="Blumenthal2010"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He has denounced democracy as "evil and contrary to God's law",<ref name="radicalreligion">Template:Cite web</ref> and called global warming a communist conspiracy.<ref name="DinosaursExistGuardian"/>

In his lectures, he claimed that the United States government was implanting pet-tracking microchips into people allowing them to be tracked by satellite,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> even though the transponder range made that impossible.<ref name="MarkoftheBeastBS">Template:Cite magazine</ref> On his website, Hovind associated the UPC bar code with the Mark of the Beast, and wrote that there were reports of people paying for groceries by having their hands scanned in 1999.<ref name="Forrest"/><ref name="radicalreligion"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

YouTube copyright controversy

File:HovindCopyrightNotice.jpg

Kent Hovind/Creation Science Evangelism copyright policy prior to September 2007

On September 16, 2007, the Rational Response Squad (RRS) complained that Creation Science Evangelism was filing spurious DMCA requests that had caused RRS YouTube videos to be taken down and the RRS YouTube account to be banned.<ref name="WiredHovind">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In response to the copyright claims, the RRS threatened a lawsuit.<ref name="RRS">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Christian Post">Template:Cite news</ref>

At the time of the complaints, the CSE's website indicated the videos were not copyrighted, and the CSE encouraged copying and distributing them.<ref name="WiredHovind"/> Five days later, the CSE copyright page was changed to say that copied material must be left unedited.<ref name="Ars Technica">Template:Cite web</ref> According to a spokesperson for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, CSE's claim was "clearly bogus",<ref name="WiredHovind September 25">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and as of September 25, 2007, the Rational Response Squad account had been reinstated, and some of the videos had been put back online.<ref name="WiredHovind September 25"/>

Legal issues

Escambia County (2002–2006)

On August 15, 2002, Hovind was arrested for assault, battery, and burglary in an incident with a CSE secretary. The charges were dropped in December.<ref name="CSICOP"/><ref name="MooreDecker2008"/><ref>Case number 2002 CF 004020 A Template:Webarchive, December 9, 2002. Escambia County, Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Template:Webarchive. Retrieved May 14, 2015.</ref>

On September 13, 2002, Hovind was charged with failure to observe county zoning regulations for Dinosaur Adventure Land, a misdemeanor.<ref name="CSICOP"/> In April 2006, the Dinosaur Adventure Land buildings were closed by county officials, and the Florida circuit court found the owners in contempt, ordering fines of $500 for each day the buildings were used.<ref name="ParkExtinction">Template:Cite news</ref> Hovind argued he did not need a permit due to the nature of the building, but after a 5-year court battle over the $50 building permit, on June 5, 2006, Hovind pleaded nolo contendere as charged to three counts: constructing a building without a permit, refusing to sign a citation,<ref name=mm023489a>Case #2001 MM 023489 A Template:Webarchive decided June 5, 2006, recorded by Escambia County Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Template:Webarchive. Retrieved May 14, 2015.</ref> and violating the county building code.<ref name="ParkExtinction"/><ref name=mm026670a>Case #2002 MM 026670 A Template:Webarchive decided June 5, 2006, recorded by Escambia County Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Template:Webarchive. Retrieved May 14, 2015.</ref> Hovind paid fines totaling $675.<ref name=mm023489a/><ref name=mm026670a/>

Federal civil tax matters, bankruptcy, and renouncing citizenship (1996–2006)

Hovind was originally reported to the Internal Revenue Service by Pensacola Christian College senior vice President Rebekah Horton in the mid-1990s, after she learned of Hovind's anti-tax stand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hovind's organization had neither business licenses nor tax-exempt status,<ref name="ParkFinance">Template:Cite news</ref> nor was it considered a church by people who worked there.<ref name="begins">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref><ref name="employees">Template:Cite news</ref> The ministry's organizational structure was described by the United States Tax Court as appearing to be "based on various questionable trust documents purchased from Glen Stoll, a known promoter of tax avoidance schemes", leading the Court to conclude that Hovind used these trust documents as well as other fraudulent means to conceal the ownership and control of his activities and properties.<ref name="TCM2006-143"/>

According to the IRS, Hovind earned $50,000 a year through speaking engagements,<ref group="notes">In 2004, Hovind told The New York Times that he had 700 speaking engagements per year.</ref><ref name="DarwinfreeNYT"/> and in 2002 alone, CSE sold more than $1.8 million in merchandise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On average, Hovind made bank deposits in excess of $1 million each year,<ref name="investigated">Template:Cite news</ref> and eventually that grew to about $2 million a year.<ref name="hardtobelive">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> About half that income went to employees who were salaried or were paid hourly wages. However, Hovind derived "substantial revenue" from these activities that appeared to be "income to [him] personally".<ref name="TCM2006-143">Hovind v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2006-143 Template:Webarchive, CCH December 56,562(M) (2006).</ref>

On March 1, 1996, Hovind filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition to avoid paying federal income taxes, claiming he was not a citizen of the United States and that he did not earn income.<ref name="Bankruptcy">In re Hovind, case no. 96-04256, U.S. Bankr. Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.), 197 B.R. 157 (Bankr. N.D. Fla. 1996), at [1].</ref> He claimed that as a minister, everything he owned belonged to God and he was not subject to paying taxes for doing God's work.<ref name="Brunson2018">Template:Cite book</ref> On June 5, 1996, the Court dismissed Hovind's bankruptcy case, finding he had lied about his possessions and income. The court upheld the IRS's determination that his claim "was filed in bad faith for the sole purpose of avoiding payment of federal income taxes" and called Hovind's arguments "patently absurd". It also said that "the IRS has no record of the debtor ever having filed a federal income tax return."<ref name="Bankruptcy"/>

In 1998, the IRS requested account information about Hovind from an internet provider after Hovind made claims on an internet broadcast about his own tax law noncompliance, going back to the 1970s. When the provider initially balked, the courts granted a subpoena on the basis that the IRS could demonstrate that Hovind had received income but had filed no income tax returns going back to 1991.<ref name="Baruh2007">Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2003, Hovind would tell The New York Times, "I haven't filed a tax return in 30 years."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On May 13, 1998, Hovind and his wife filed a "Power of Attorney and Revocation of Signature" document in Escambia County which would nullify any of their promises, debts, or legal agreements made prior to April 15, 1998. The Hovinds claimed they had signed government documents "due to the use of various elements of fraud and misrepresentations, duress, coercion, under perjury, mistake, 'bankruptcy'," and argued that Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme". The document referred to the United States Government as "the 'bankrupt' corporate government", renounced the Hovinds' United States citizenship and Social Security numbers to become "a natural citizen of 'America' and a natural sojourner", and referred to their home state of Florida as "the State of Florida Body-Politic Corporation."<ref name="PowerofAttorney">"Power of attorney and revocation of signature" Template:Webarchive, May 5, 1998. Filed with Escambia County, Florida Clerks Office Template:Webarchive as Instrument #1998483189. Retrieved May 14, 2015.</ref> Judges and the IRS did not appear to honor this as a legally relevant document in future decisions.<ref name="pleads"/> In 2002, Hovind was again delinquent in paying his taxes, and unsuccessfully sued the IRS for harassment.<ref name="pleads">Template:Cite news</ref>

At various times, the government alleged that Hovind had not filed personal U.S. federal income tax returns for the years 1989 through 1997.<ref>In re Hovind, 197 B.R. 157 (Bankr. N.D. Fla. 1996); Hovind v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2006-143, CCH Dec. 56,562(M) (2006).</ref> In the spring of 2004, the IRS conducted an audit and criminal investigation regarding Hovind's unfiled personal Federal income tax for 1995 through 1997.<ref name="TCM2006-143"/> IRS agent Scott Schneider said, "Since 1997, Hovind has engaged in financial transactions indicating sources of income and has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year during some of these years, which would require the filing of federal income taxes."<ref name="ParkFinance"/> On June 3, 2004, the IRS executed a search warrant on Hovind's home and businesses to confiscate financial records and attempt to deliver notices of Federal tax liens of $504,957.24, which Hovind refused to accept.<ref name="TCM2006-143"/><ref>IRS Raids Home and Business of Creationist Christianity Today April 19, 2004</ref><ref name="taxliens">The following instruments were recorded by the Escambia County Clerk Template:Webarchive on June 3, 2004: 2004247800 Template:Webarchive, 2004247801 Template:Webarchive, 2004247804 Template:Webarchive, 2004247805 Template:Webarchive, 2004247810 Template:Webarchive, 2004247812 Template:Webarchive. Retrieved May 14, 2015.</ref> Agents confiscated $42,000 in cash found in various places in the residence. Six guns were present, including an SKS semiautomatic rifle.<ref name="pleads"/> That day, Hovind withdrew $70,000 from the CSE bank account, half in cash.<ref name="autogenerated1">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref>

On July 7, 2006, the United States Tax Court found that Hovind was deficient in paying his federal income taxes in 1995–1997, totaling $520,099. The Tax Court ruled that the IRS had a valid lien on Hovind's property and said that Hovind's defense was based on "bizarre arguments, some of which constitute tax protester arguments involving excise taxes and the alleged '100% voluntary' nature of the income tax."<ref name="TCM2006-143"/> With penalties, he owed $3.3 million for tax years 1998–2006 by 2013.<ref name="PayTaxes2013">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref><ref>Order and decision Template:Webarchive, United States Tax Court, Docket 4245-10. May 15, 2003.</ref> Jo Hovind was ordered to pay $1.6 million.<ref name="TCM2012-281"/><ref name="PayTaxes2013"/>

Federal criminal tax-related trial and convictions in 2006

On July 11, 2006, Hovind was indicted on 58 counts in the District Court in Northern Florida in Pensacola. The first 12 counts were charges for willful failure to collect, account for, and pay over federal income taxes and FICA taxes in connection with the CSE operation, totaling $473,818 for the 12 fiscal quarters of 2001–2003. The next 45 counts were charges for knowingly structuring transactions by making multiple cash withdrawals totaling $430,500 in amounts just under the $10,000 which requires reporting (a technique known as "structuring"), for which his wife was also charged. The last count was a charge of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the administration of the internal revenue laws by falsely listing the IRS as his only creditor when filing for bankruptcy, filing a false and frivolous lawsuit against the IRS in which he demanded damages for criminal trespass, making threats of harm to those investigating him and to those who might consider cooperating with the investigation, filing a false complaint against IRS agents investigating him, filing a false criminal complaint against IRS special agents (criminal investigators), and destroying records.<ref>Indictment, United States of America v. Kent E. Hovind and Jo D. Hovind, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division, case no. 3:06CR83/MCR (July 11, 2006).</ref><ref name="arrested">Template:Cite news forums.steroid.com</ref><ref name="arrested2">Template:Cite news</ref> Because of reports of weapons on the Hovind property, the indictment was originally sealed for fear of danger to the arresting agents.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

At arraignment, Hovind claimed incomprehension to the charges, telling the court: "I still don't understand what I'm being charged for and who is charging me."<ref name="arrested"/> The presiding magistrate judge asked Hovind if he wrote and spoke English, to which Hovind responded, "To some degree." The judge replied that the government adequately explained the allegations and the defendant understands the charges "whether you want to admit it or not."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hovind stated that he did not recognize the government's right to try him on tax-fraud charges. At first he attempted to enter a plea of "subornation of false muster," but then entered a not guilty plea "under duress" when the judge offered to enter a plea for him. When asked about his home, Hovind called it a "church parish", and denied any residence except the "church of Jesus Christ", worldwide.<ref name="pleads"/> Hovind's passport and guns were seized. Hovind protested, arguing that he needed his passport to continue his evangelism work, and that "thousands and thousands" were waiting to hear him preach in South Africa the following month. The court refused to reconsider, accepting the argument that "like-minded people" might secret Hovind away if he left the country.<ref name="arrested"/>

The trial began on October 21, 2006. Hovind hoped to convince a jury that his amusement park admission and merchandise sales, over $5 million from 1999 through March 2004, belonged to God and could not be taxed.<ref name="begins"/> Evidence produced at the trial revealed that Jo Hovind had requested financial assistance from Baptist Healthcare by claiming that the Hovinds had no income.<ref name="PNJdenyincome"/> IRS agents told the court how Hovind had attempted "bullying tactics" and had sued the government three times to pressure them to stop investigating. The lawsuits had been thrown out.<ref name="begins"/> The prosecution countered attempts to describe workers as missionaries, ministers, and volunteers, introducing memos in which they had been called employees. Workers testified that they had to punch time cards, had vacation and sick days, and did not receive W-2 tax forms. After the IRS executed the search warrant, employees were required to sign non-disclosure agreements to remain employed.<ref name="employees"/> A lawyer who did work for a non-profit Christian organization testified that Hovind claimed to have "beat" the tax system and that he favored cash transactions because they were untraceable and, consequently, untaxable.<ref name="detailedactions">Template:Cite news</ref>

Hovind's lawyer engaged in a lengthy cross-examination of the lead IRS investigator,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the case ended on November 1 with the defense calling no witnesses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After closing arguments were presented on November 2, the jury deliberated three hours before finding the Hovinds guilty on all counts, 58 for Hovind and 45 for his wife.<ref name="WifeSentenced">Template:Cite news</ref> The Pensacola News Journal said, "The saddest thing: had they cooperated with the agents, they probably wouldn't be worrying about prison sentences now."<ref name="hardtobelive"/>

Sentencing, appeals, and imprisonment (2007–2019)

After the convictions and pending sentencing, Hovind was incarcerated in the Escambia County Jail as a "danger to the community" and a flight risk.<ref name="Guilty">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref> His wife would remain free until after the appeal.<ref name="sentencesupheld">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref>

On January 19, 2007, Hovind was sentenced to ten years in prison with three years' probation and ordered to pay the federal government restitution of over $600,000. During the sentencing phase, a tearful Hovind, hoping to avoid prison, told the court, "If it's just money the IRS wants, there are thousands of people out there who will help pay the money they want so I can go back out there and preach."<ref name="sentencing">Template:Cite news</ref> However, Hovind's court room behavior was in stark contrast to phone calls he made while in jail and played by the prosecution.<ref name="Decade">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'" as "Kent Hovind gets 10 years for violating federal tax law".</ref> The tapes, posted online by the Pensacola News Journal, included one conversation with Hovind and son Eric, who were planning to hide a motor vehicle title and property deeds to prevent the government from collecting the property to pay for owed debt.<ref name="jailcalls">Template:Cite web</ref> At sentencing, he denied being a "tax protester",<ref name="Decade"/> but the prosecution,<ref name="begins"/> an IRS spokesman,<ref name="Decade"/> and the Pensacola News Journal<ref name="PNJdenyincome">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="JoLawBreaker"/> used the term to describe him.

On June 29, 2007, Jo Hovind was sentenced to one year of imprisonment, three years of supervision upon release and fined $8,000.<ref name="WifeSentenced"/> In court, Jo Hovind offered explanations for the 45 checks just under $10,000 and for checks cashed before and after the reporting deadline, telling the judge "I really did not have a leadership role in CSE" and finished "I would never knowingly do anything illegal." The judge said that while Hovind was the principal authority at CSE, Jo managed the payroll; she had cashed roughly 200 checks totaling $1.5 million over a four-year period, relying on cash to avoid IRS scrutiny.<ref name="JoLawBreaker"/> The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied both appeals on December 30, 2008,<ref name="sentencesupheld"/> and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on November 2, 2009.<ref>Case No. 09-5043, November 2, 2009, Kent E. Hovind v. United States, 130 S.Ct. 490 (2009).</ref>

Hovind appealed the amount of his 2006 U.S. Tax Court ruling on personal income taxes to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, but on July 2, 2007, a three-judge panel denied the appeal, finding that Hovind had failed to raise the issue at the appropriate time.<ref name="11thAppealDenied">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref>

In November 2010, Hovind filed a motion in U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida claiming the prosecution and defense erred at various stages of the case;<ref>Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'"</ref> it was denied the following May.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was one of at least six motions to dismiss he filed that year on various procedural or constitutional grounds.<ref name="PNJ2019">Template:Citation</ref>

In July 2015, Hovind was released to home confinement for roughly one month to finish his prison sentence for his 2006 conviction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Almost a year after his release, Hovind said he would continue to fight his conviction and the property seizure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In October 2019, Hovind filed a motion to vacate in the trial court without obtaining the required certification from the appellate court; the motion was dismissed, summarily.<ref name="PNJ2019"/>

CSE property forfeitures

Property on Dinosaur Adventure Land

In 2007, the government placed liens on ten of the Hovinds' properties for money owed<ref name="JoLawBreaker">Template:Cite news</ref> following a June 27, 2007, judgment, which included an order that the properties be forfeited under Template:Usc for costs of $5,800, a fine of $2000, and restitution of $604,874.87.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On December 30, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied the Hovinds' appeal and affirmed the convictions and sentences entered by the district court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the appeal, Jo Hovind served her prison term from January 20, 2009,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to December 3, 2009.<ref name="JoDeliaHovindinmatefinder">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, Eric Hovind and Glen Stoll, an individual who has been associated with the Embassy of Heaven organization and who has falsely claimed to be a lawyer,<ref>United States v. Stoll, case no. 2:05-cv-00262-RSM, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (Seattle Div.); June 27, 2005.</ref> attempted to prevent the forfeitures of Hovind's ten properties, including Dinosaur Adventure Land, in connection with the federal tax problems.<ref name="DALex">Template:Cite news The story can be found in the collection: "The evolution of 'Dr. DinoTemplate:'".</ref> (In early 2019, Stoll himself was indicted by a Federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon on unrelated charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, making a false statement on a loan application, and tax evasion.<ref>News release, "Washington State Man Accused of Marketing Fraudulent Tax Avoidance Schemes Disguised as Churches, Other Entities," April 19, 2019, United States Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, U.S. Department of Justice, at [2].[</ref>) The government sought the property, deeded to Stoll and Eric prior to Hovind's convictions, since cash had been withdrawn from the bank accounts and could not be recovered. In a court filing, however, Eric Hovind said that he owned one of the properties and that he "took active control over the lot by personally building a home on it with $70,000 he borrowed from CSE."<ref name="OrderonProperty">Template:Cite news page 13</ref> The court accepted Eric's ownership of that property, but allowed the government to seize the other nine properties.<ref name="OrderonProperty"/> The court ruling denying the Hovinds' appeal cleared the way for forfeiture proceedings on Hovind-owned properties, including those on which Dinosaur Adventure Land sat, to continue<ref name="sentencesupheld"/> to satisfy the debt.<ref name="pnjruling"/>

In March 2012, the federal government sued Creation Science Evangelism to remove liens placed on Hovind's former property that was seized after his conviction, and in June, the court ruled in favor of the government.<ref name="USCSE">Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2013, facing the sale of lots that were once part of Dinosaur Adventure land, Hovind acted. Using legal advice from another inmate, he filed a civil right suit against corrections personnel (a "Bivens action") alleging that they intentionally delayed court documents which hindered another appeal. Based on the assumption that it would trigger a chain of rulings that would ultimately result in the original sentence being overturned, he then filed several lis pendens on the properties.<ref>The following instruments are recorded by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Escambia County, Florida Template:Webarchive on May 29, 2013: 2013037931 Template:Webarchive, 2013037932 Template:Webarchive, 2013037933 Template:Webarchive, 2013037934 Template:Webarchive. Retrieved May 14, 2015.</ref><ref name=TrialFirstWeek>Template:Cite news</ref> A federal judge rejected Hovind's claims and dismissed the filings ("void ab initio"), and asked for a "show of cause" from Hovind to explain why he should not be found in contempt of court for the false filings.<ref name="VoidLiens">Amended order on motion for discharge of liens Template:Webarchive Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Escambia County, Florida, Instrument #2013077090, October 9, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2015. Online at United States v. Hovind (Amended Order on Motion for Discharge of Liens).</ref> His release date was approaching when he would face new charges related to the lis pendens filings.<ref name=LegalWoes>Template:Cite news</ref>

Federal mail fraud and criminal contempt trial in 2015

On October 21, 2014, Hovind was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida, on two counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy with Paul John Hansen to commit mail fraud, and one count of criminal contempt for interfering with the sale of Pensacola properties Hovind was forced to forfeit as a result of the 2006 case.<ref name="LegalWoes" /><ref>Indictment, October 21, 2014, United States v. Hovind, case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> Hovind and Hansen pleaded not guilty and were tried together.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On March 2, 2015, the trial began in U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. On the first day of testimony, the prosecution discussed Hovind and Hansen's "dozens of filings", including several lis pendens, used to resist a court-ordered forfeiture due in part to legal advice Hovind took from his "cellmate in a New Hampshire prison camp".<ref name=TrialFirstDay>Template:Cite web</ref> The prosecution case included numerous emails, recorded phone calls, and court filings related to the forfeited properties.<ref name=TrialFirstWeek/> The prosecution presented audio of Hovind characterizing a lis pendens by asking his daughter, "Have you ever taken a step into dog crap and it gets stuck on your feet and it's really hard to get off?"<ref name=TrialFirstDay/> Hansen and Hovind took the stand in their own defense. According to journalist Kevin Robinson, during Hovind's testimony, he "refused to give short answers" and said that he believed his actions were lawful.<ref name=TakesWitnessStand>Template:Cite web</ref> On March 12, 2015, Hovind was found guilty on one count of criminal contempt,<ref name=Verdict>Template:Cite web</ref> Hansen on two counts of criminal contempt,<ref name="codefendant">Template:Cite web</ref> and the jury was hung on the remaining charges.<ref name=Verdict/>

A trial on the counts on which the jury could not reach a verdict had been ordered to begin on May 18, 2015.<ref>Court order, March 20, 2015, docket entry 155, United States v. Hovind, case no. 3:14-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> However, on May 16, 2015, the prosecution filed its "Government's Motion to Dismiss Counts One, Two and Four of the Superseding Indictment Without Prejudice," citing "issues regarding the technical sufficiency of the Superseding Indictment, including the adequacy of notice."<ref>Docket entry 194, May 16, 2015, United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen, case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> Later, on May 16, the Court cancelled the jury selection and trial that had been scheduled to begin on Monday, May 18, in order, in the Court's words, to permit the defendants to respond to the government's motion.<ref>Docket entry 195, May 16, 2015, United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen, case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On Monday, May 18, 2015, the U.S. District Court made two decisions. First, the Court granted the prosecutor's request for a "without prejudice" dismissal of the three remaining charges against Hovind, allowing the prosecutor to go back to a Federal grand jury and seek a new indictment if desired.<ref>Docket entry 198, May 18, 2015, United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen, case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref> Second, the Court rendered a judgment of acquittal on the criminal contempt charge on which Hovind had been found guilty by the jury. On that point, the Court concluded that in the specific order that Hovind had been found guilty of violating, there was no actual language that prohibited Hovind from doing anything.<ref>Docket entry 197, May 18, 2015, United States v. Kent E. Hovind and Paul John Hansen, case no. 3:14-cr-00091-MCR, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola Div.).</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On August 21, 2015, Paul John Hansen was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years' probation for the two counts of contempt.<ref name="codefendant"/>

Domestic violence

Hovind was arrested in Alabama on July 30, 2021, for allegedly throwing his estranged wife, Cindi Lincoln, to the ground in October 2020. Additionally, she petitioned for a protective order in Conecuh County, Alabama, saying that she had to go to the emergency room after being "bodyslammed". She has also stated that she had been threatened by one of Hovind's associates.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> At a bench trial in the Connecuh County Courthouse on September 20, 2021, he was found guilty of domestic violence. He was sentenced to one year in jail which would be suspended following 30 days in the county jail to start by October 18, fined $500, and ordered to pay restitution for medical expenses.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> A request for a retrial was denied, and an appeal requesting a jury trial was filed in the Alabama Circuit Courts.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

See also

• Tax protester history in the United States

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:IMDb name