Tennessee, Department of Conservation v. Daugherty (In Re Daugherty)

MEMORANDUM

CLIVE W. BARE, Bankruptcy Judge.

This adversary proceeding involves the issue of whether a judgment representing a civil penalty for violations of the Tennessee Mineral Surface Mining Law of 1972, Tenn. Code Ann. § 59-8-201 et seq. (Supp.1982), 1 is excepted by 11 U.S.C.A. § 523(a)(7) (1979) from a debtor’s discharge in bankruptcy.

I

The debtor filed his voluntary chapter 7 petition on July 30, 1981. The plaintiff State of Tennessee filed its complaint on March 2, 1982, requesting an exception from discharge of an indebtedness reduced to judgment and owed by the debtor. There is no…