Penix v. Delong

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM

This is a timber case. It centers on the question of how much, if any, a landowner is insulated from liability by the employment of an independent contractor employed to cut timber. This includes the issue of civil liability of any kind; but most importantly the exposure to the treble damage provision of KRS 364.130 when the contractor trespasses on adjoining land and cuts timber.

Larry Penix, an Ohio resident, owned land in Martin County, Kentucky. His láñd adjoined Barbara Delong’s property. Penix had his boundary line surveyed by We'stek Development,…