FRANKFORT — The state Revenue Cabinet will allow a Breathitt County man to challenge a $1 million tax bill for 517 marijuana plants found near his trailer home.

        Charles Thomas Jr., 27, was never criminally charged with growing the plants seized near his trailer a year ago. But Mr. Thomas was listed as the “dealer” responsible for the plants by a state police investigator in a report to the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet.

        The agency notified Mr. Thomas that under a 1994 law, he owed the state $1,038,078.38 in taxes, penalties and interest. And the law required him to post a bond in the amount of the tax — an impossibility for Mr. Thomas, a college dropout who works part time.

        Mr. Thomas sued in Franklin Circuit Court last fall, claiming the bond requirement violates his constitutional right of due process. The Revenue Cabinet decided this week that it would allow Mr. Thomas to make his case without posting bond.

        “We've agreed to give him his chance to protest and present evidence through the normal protest process here in the cabinet,” said Dana Mayton, commissioner of the cabinet's Department of Law. She said the cabinet has the authority to effectively waive certain requirements to avoid the risk of a case going to trial.

        “I guess it's good news that I'm getting a hearing,” Mr. Thomas told the Courier-Journal in a telephone interview. “But I still don't see why I have to prove I don't owe this tax. They need to change this law, it's crazy.”

        The Kentucky General Assembly passed the Marijuana and Controlled Substance Tax as a way to get tough on drug dealers. It requires people who possess controlled substances to pay an annual tax. The tax is $1,000 per marijuana plant. If plants are discovered and the tax has not been paid, a fine of $1,000 per plant is added to the tax bill.

        Mr. Thomas got his tax bill after investigators concluded that Mr. Thomas was growing the marijuana, because of its proximity to his trailer home. The records list Mr. Thomas as the only suspect in the case.

        However, a Breathitt County grand jury later concluded that evidence presented by the state police was insufficient to justify any indictment of Mr. Thomas.

        Ms. Mayton said details of the agreement with Mr. Thomas were yet to be worked out, but she expected Mr. Thomas and the cabinet would agree to settle the lawsuit soon.

        Ms. Mayton said a “protest officer” from the cabinet will review records from Mr. Thomas and his lawyers and probably arrange a meeting with them. That officer will make a recommendation to Ms. Mayton, who said she will decide whether the tax is due. For large and unusual cases such as this, Ms. Mayton said she makes the decisions after consulting Cabinet Secretary Mike Haydon.

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