Coordinates

19°42′20″N155°5′9″N

{{infobox england county | name

Kent | image | motto ''Invicta'' | map | status Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county | origin | region South East England | arearank Ranked 10th | area_km2 3736 | adminarearank Ranked 10th | adminarea_km2 3544 | adminhq Maidstone | iso GB-KEN | ons 29 | nuts3 UKJ42 | poprank Ranked | popestdate | pop | density_km2 | adminpoprank Ranked | adminpop | ethnicity 96.9% White1.9% Asian | council 150px"CANTIA" Kent County Councilhttp://www.kent.gov.uk/Medway Councilhttp://www.medway.gov.uk/ | exec | mps *Julian Brazier (C) Rehman Chishti (C) Greg Clark (C) Damian Collins (C) Tracey Crouch (C) Charlie Elphicke (C) Michael Fallon (C) Roger Gale (C) Helen Grant (C) Damian Green (C) Gordon Henderson (C) Adam Holloway (C) Gareth Johnson (C) Mark Reckless (C) Hugh Robertson (C) Laura Sandys (C) John Stanley (C) | subdivmap | subdivs #Sevenoaks # Dartford # Gravesham # Tonbridge and Malling # Medway (Unitary) # Maidstone # Tunbridge Wells # Swale # Ashford # Canterbury # Shepway # Thanet # Dover }}

Kent () is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of Medway. Kent has a nominal border with France halfway through the Channel Tunnel. Maidstone is its county town and historically Rochester and Canterbury have been accorded city status, though only the latter still holds it.

Kent's location between London and the continental Europe has led to its being in the front line of several conflicts, including the Battle of Britain during World War II. East Kent was named ''Hell Fire Corner'' during the conflict. England has relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of the past 800 years; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance to the country's security. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone, and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.

Because of its abundance of orchards and hop gardens, Kent is widely known as "The Garden of England" – a name often applied when marketing the county or its produce, although other regions have tried to lay claim to the title. Major industries in the north-west of Kent have included cement, papermaking, and aircraft construction, but these are now in decline. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt. South and East Kent rely on tourism and agriculture. Coal mining has also played its part in Kent's industrial heritage.

History

The area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era. There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley.

The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word ''Cantus'' meaning "rim" or "border". This describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as ''Cantium'', or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC.

The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. It is possible that another ethnic group occupied what is now called The Weald and East Kent. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as ''Cantia'' from about 730 and as ''Cent'' in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the ''Cantwara'', or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital.

In 597, Pope Gregory I appointed Augustine as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. The Diocese of Canterbury became Britain's first Episcopal See and has since remained Britain's centre of Christianity.

In the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto ''Invicta'', meaning "undefeated". This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy. The Kent people's continued resistance against the Normans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomous County Palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales and Scotland.

During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler, Jack Cade's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I.

The Royal Navy first used the River Medway in 1547. By the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established at Chatham. By 1618, storehouses, a ropewalk, a drydock, and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham.

By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along the coast following the raid on the Medway, a successful attack by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667.

The 18th century was dominated by wars with France, during which the Medway became the primary base for a fleet that could act along the Dutch and French coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to the Atlantic, this role was assumed by Portsmouth and Plymouth, with Chatham concentrating on shipbuilding and ship repair. As an indication of the area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was a one-inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Many of the Georgian naval buildings still stand.

In the early 19th century, smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline. Gangs such as The Aldington Gang brought spirits, tobacco and salt to the county, and transported goods such as wool across the sea to France.

In 1889, the County of London was created and the townships of Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, Lee, Eltham, Charlton, Kidbrooke and Lewisham were transferred out of Kent and in 1900 the area of Penge was gained. Some of Kent, notably Dartford, is contiguous with Greater London.

During World War II, much of the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over the county. Between June 1944 and March 1945, over 10,000 V1 flying bombs, known as "Doodlebugs", were fired on London from bases in Northern France. Many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, and barrage balloons, yet both London and Kent were hit by around 2,500 of these bombs.

After the war, Kent's borders changed several more times. In 1965 the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley were created from nine towns formerly in Kent. In 1998, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham left the administrative county of Kent to form the Unitary Authority of Medway. During this reorganisation, through an "apparent" administrative oversight, the city of Rochester lost its official city status.

Climate

Kent is one of the warmest parts of Britain. On 10 August 2003, in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham the temperature reached 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom.

Here is a climate chart for Wye near Ashford.

Physical geography

Kent is in the southeastern corner of England. It borders the River Thames and the North Sea to the north, and the Straits of Dover and the English Channel to the south. France is across the Strait.

The major geographical features of the county are determined by a series of ridges and valleys running east-west across the county. These are the results of erosion of the Wealden dome, a dome across Kent and Sussex created by Alpine movements 10–20 million years ago. This dome consists of an upper layer of Chalk above successive layers of Upper Greensand, Gault Clay, Lower Greensand, Weald Clay, and Wealden sandstone. The ridges and valleys formed when the exposed clay eroded faster than the exposed chalk, greensand, or sandstone.

Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Ashford, and Folkestone are built on greensand, while Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are built on sandstone. Dartford, Gravesend, the Medway towns, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Canterbury, Deal, and Dover are built on chalk. The easterly section of the Wealden dome has been eroded away by the sea, and cliffs such as the white cliffs of Dover are present where a chalk ridge known as the North Downs meets the coast. Spanning Dover and Westerham is the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Wealden dome is a Mesozoic structure lying on a Palaeozoic foundation, which can often create the right conditions for coal formation. This is found in East Kent roughly between Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. The Coal Measures within the Westphalian Sandstone are deep about 250 m – 400 m (800 – 1300 ft) and subject to flooding. They occur in two major troughs, which extend under the English Channel where similar coalfields are located.

Seismic activity has occasionally been recorded in Kent, though the epicentres were offshore. In 1382 and 1580 there were two earthquakes exceeding 6.0 on the Richter Scale. In 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007 there were earthquakes of around 4.3. The 2007 earthquake caused physical damage in Folkestone.

The coastline of Kent is continuously changing, due to tectonic uplift and coastal erosion. Until about 960, the Isle of Thanet was an island, separated by the Wantsum channel, formed around a deposit of chalk; over time, the channels silted up with alluvium. Similarly Romney Marsh and Dungeness have been formed by accumulation of alluvium.

Kent's principal river, the River Medway, rises near East Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards to Maidstone. Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames as its final tributary near Sheerness. The Medway is some long. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge. The Medway has captured the head waters of other rivers such as the River Darent. Other rivers of Kent include the River Stour in the east.

Demographics

Kent 1,579,206 5.8% 96.5% 2.0% 0.4% 74.6% 0.6% 0.7%

Kent Compared
United Kingdom Census 2001	2001 UK census	|	South East England	England'''
Total population	|	8,000,645	49,138,831
Foreign born	|	8.1%	9.2%
White	|	95.1%	90.9%
Asian	|	2.7%	4.6%
Black	|	0.7%	2.3%
Christian	|	72.8%	72%
Muslim	|	1.4%	3.1%
Sikh	|	0.5%	0.7%

As of the 2001 UK census, Kent, including Medway, had 1,579,206 residents and 646,308 households, of which 1,329,718 residents and 546,742 households were within the administrative boundaries. Of those households, 48.9% were married couples living together, 9.0% were co-habiting couples and 8.7% were lone parents; 28.0% of households consisted of individuals, 14.6% had someone of pensionable age living alone, and 30.4% included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males.

The ethnicity of Kent was 96.5% White, 0.9% mixed race, 0.3% Chinese, 1.7% other Asian and 0.4% Black. The place of birth for residents was 94.2% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.5% Germany, 0.9% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.8% Africa, 0.6% Far East, 0.9% South Asia, 0.2% Middle East, 0.4% North America, 0.1% South America and 0.3% Oceania. Religion was recorded as 74.6% Christian, 0.7% Sikh, 0.6% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.1% Jewish, while 15.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion, and 7.8% did not state their religion.

Government

Kent County Council (KCC) and its 12 district councils administer most of the county (3352 km²), while the Medway Towns Council, a unitary authority and commonly called Medway Council, administers the more densely populated remainder (192 km²). Together they have around 300 town and parish councils. Kent County Council's headquarters are in Maidstone, while Medway's offices are at Gun Wharf, Chatham.

As of the 2009 county council elections, Kent County Council was controlled by the Conservatives, which won 74 of the Council's 84 seats, 7 were won by the Liberal Democrats, 2 by the Labour Party and 1 by the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association. As of the 2007 local elections, Medway Council was controlled by the Conservatives; 33 of the Council's 55 seats were held by the Conservatives, 13 by the Labour Party, 8 by the Liberal Democrats and 1 by an Independent. Currently, all of Kent's district councils are controlled by the Conservatives; the only British county that is in this position.

At the national level, Kent is represented in Parliament by 17 MPs, all of whom are Conservative. Kent is in the European Parliament constituency of South East England, which elects ten members of the European Parliament.

Economy

As of the 2001 UK census, employment statistics for the residents in Kent, including Medway, were as follows: 41.1% in full-time employment, 12.4% in part-time employment, 9.1% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 3.7% students without jobs, 12.3% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons. Of residents aged 16–74, 16% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide.

The average hours worked per week by residents of Kent were 43.1 for males and 30.9 for females. Their industry of employment was 17.3% retail, 12.4% manufacturing, 11.8% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 8.9% construction, 8.2% transport and communications, 7.9% education, 6.0% public administration and defence, 5.6% finance, 4.8% other community and personal service activities, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 1.6% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 0.1% private households. This is higher than the whole of England for construction and transport/communications, and lower for manufacturing.

Kent is sometimes known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards and hop gardens. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish.

However, in recent years, there has been a significant drop in agriculture, and industry and services are increasing their utilisation of the area. This is illustrated by the following table of economic indicator gross value added (GVA) between 1995 and 2000 (figures are in millions of British Pounds Sterling).

Regional GVA<12,36915,25918,1261,8232,3482,671

Year		|	Agriculture		Industry		Services
COLSPAN=8>County of Kent (excluding Medway)
1995	|	379	3.1%	3,886	31.4%	8,104	65.5%
2000	|	259	1.7%	4,601	30.2%	10,399	68.1%
2003	|	287	1.6%	5,057	27.9%	12,783	70.5%
COLSPAN=8	Medway
1995	|	21	3.1%	560	31.4%	1,243	68.2%
2000	|	8	1.7%	745	30.2%	1,595	67.9%
2003	|	10	1.6%	802	27.9%	1,859	69.6%

{| |- | Components may not sum to totals due to rounding |- | includes energy and construction |- | includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured |}

North Kent is heavily industrialised with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton, brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on the Medway and Swale, engineering and aircraft design and construction at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford and papermaking at Swanley, and oil refining at Grain. A steel mini mill in Sheerness and a rolling mill in Queenborough.There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness, although the older one, built in 1965, was closed at the end of 2006.

Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during the 19th and 20th century. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway.

Kent's original paper mills stood on streams like the River Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on the River Stour. Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and at Kemsley on The Swale. In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its own windmill or watermill, with over 400 windmills known to have stood at some time. Twenty eight survive within the county today, plus two replica mills and a further two in that part of Kent now absorbed into London. All the major rivers in the county were used to power watermills.

From about 1900, several coal pits operated in East Kent. The Kent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries, including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986.

The west of the county (including Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks) is generally more affluent than the east, especially when compared to the coastal regions of Folkestone, Dover & Thanet. This is partly due to the former's proximity to London, making it prime "commuter belt" and the latter's geographic extremities. The eagerly awaited CTRL 2009 rail service, using the high speed Channel Tunnel line to bring coastal areas' travel times to London down to around an hour, is hoped to further regeneration.

Arts

Kent has provided inspiration for several notable writers and artists. Canterbury's religious role gave rise to Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'', a key development in the English language. The father of novelist Charles Dickens worked at the Chatham Dockyard; in many of his books, the celebrated novelist featured the scenery of Chatham, Rochester, and the Cliffe marshes. The landscape painter J. M. W. Turner spent part of his childhood in the town of Margate in East Kent, and regularly returned to visit it throughout his life. The East Kent coast inspired many of his works, including some of his most famous seascapes. During the late 1930s, Nobel Prize-awarded novelist William Golding worked as a teacher at Maidstone Grammar School, where he met his future wife Ann Brookfield.

The county's largest theatre is The Marlowe Theatre, situated in the centre of Canterbury. It is currently being redeveloped to re-open in October 2011.

Transport

Roads

With the Roman invasion, a road network was constructed to connect London to the Channel ports of Dover, Lympne and Richborough. The London–Dover road was Watling Street. These roads are now approximately the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28. The A2 runs through Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury and Dover; the A20 through Eltham, Wrotham, Maidstone, Charing, Ashford. Hythe, Folkestone and Dover; the A21 around Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and on to Hastings in East Sussex. In the 1960s, two motorways were built; the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M20 from Swanley to Folkestone. Part of the M25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to the Kent and Essex tunnel at Dartford. The Dartford tunnel has been joined by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, together providing four lanes in each direction. The M26 motorway, built in 1980, provides a short link between the M25 at Sevenoaks and the M20 near Wrotham. Kent currently has more motorways by distance than any other county in the UK, with sections of the M2, M20, M25 and M26 totalling 173km within the extents of the ceremonial county.

Water

The medieval Cinque Ports, except for Dover, have all now silted up. The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up to Allington and navigable up to Tonbridge. Kent's two canals are the Royal Military Canal between Hythe and Rye, which still exists, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built in 1824, it was purchased in 1846 by the railways, which partially backfilled it. Container ports are located at Ramsgate and Thamesport.

Railways

The earliest locomotive-driven passenger-carrying railway in Britain was the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which opened in 1830. This and the London and Greenwich Railway later merged into South Eastern Railway (SER). By the 1850s, SER's networks had expanded to Ashford, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, and the Medway towns. SER's major London termini were London Bridge, Charing Cross, and Cannon Street. Kent also had a second major railway, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Originally the East Kent Railway in 1858, it linked the northeast Kent coast with London terminals at Victoria and Blackfriars.

The two companies merged in 1899, forming the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). In the aftermath of World War I, the government's Railways Act 1921 grouped railway companies together; the SECR joined neighbouring London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to form the Southern Railway. Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948, forming British Rail. The railways were privatised in 1996 and most Kent passenger services were franchised to Connex South Eastern. Following financial difficulties, Connex lost the franchise and was replaced by South Eastern Trains and after Southeastern.

The Channel Tunnel was completed in 1994 and High Speed 1 in November 2007 with a London terminus at St Pancras. A new station, Ebbsfleet International, opened between Dartford and Gravesend, serving northern Kent. The high speed lines will be utilised to provide a faster train service to coastal towns like Ramsgate and Folkestone. This station is in addition to the existing station at Ashford International, which has suffered a massive cut in service as a result.

In addition to the "mainline" railways, there are several light, heritage, and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways; Spa Valley Railway near Tunbridge Wells on the old Tunbridge Wells West branch, East Kent Railway on the old East Kent coalfield area and the Kent and East Sussex Railway on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition there is the gauge, tourist-oriented Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on the southeast Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsula. Finally, there is the , industrial Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway.

Air

A limited number of charter flights are provided by Kent's Kent International Airport at Manston, and London Ashford Airport at Lydd. However, most passengers across the South East use the larger Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports. In 2002, it was revealed that the government was considering building a new four-runway airport on the marshland near the village of Cliffe on the Hoo Peninsula. This plan was dropped in 2003 following protests by cultural and environmental groups.

Education

The county has three universities; Canterbury Christ Church University with campuses throughout East Kent, University of Kent, with campuses in Canterbury and Medway, and University of Greenwich (a London University), with sites at Woolwich, Eltham, London and Medway. The University of Creative Arts (UCA) also has three of its five campuses in the county.

Whereas much of Britain adopted a comprehensive education system in the 1970s, Kent County Council (KCC) and Medway Unitary Authority are among around fifteen local authorities still providing wholly selective education through the eleven-plus examination with students allocated a place at a secondary modern school or at a grammar school. Together, the two Kent authorities have 38 of the 164 grammar schools remaining in Britain.

KCC has the largest education department of any local authority in Britain, providing school places for over 289,000 pupils.

Nursery 1 0

Schools in Kent (data from 2000)
LEA	|	Primary	Secondary (modern)	Secondary (Grammar)	Special school>Special	pupil referral unit>Pupil Referral Units	Independent	City Technology College>City Technology College	Total
KCC	|	475	74	32	34	11	83	1	711
Medway	|	89	14	6	3	1	7	0	120

For the 2005–06 school year, KCC and Medway introduced a standardised school year, based on six terms, as recommended by the Local Government Association in its 2000 report, "The Rhythms of Schooling".

Kent County Council LEA maintains 96 secondary schools, of which 33 are selective schools and 63 are secondary modern schools.

National Challenge schools

Kent has the highest number of National Challenge schools in England, schools which are branded "failing" based on the British Government's floor targets that 30% of pupils achieve at least 5 GCSE grades A* to C. Of the 63 secondary modern schools, 33 achieved below this requirement meaning that 52% of Kent secondary modern schools (34% out of all 96 maintained secondary schools) are failing.

Local media

Television

Much of Kent is served by the BBC's South East region, which is based in Tunbridge Wells and provides local news for the county and East Sussex. Its commercial rival is ITV Meridian Ltd, which has a newsroom at The Maidstone Studios despite the main studio being based in Hampshire. Main transmitters providing these services are located at West Hougham, near Dover and Bluebell Hill, located between Chatham and Maidstone. Those parts of Kent closer to London such as Gravesend, Dartford and parts of Sevenoaks lie within the ITV London and BBC London areas, taking their television signals from the Crystal Palace transmitter.

The county is also served by two internet-based TV channels, Kent TV (part-owned by Kent County Council) and YourKentTV which is owned by KOS Media.

Radio

Kent has three county-wide stations – BBC Radio Kent, based in Tunbridge Wells; and the commercial stations Heart and Gold, both based in Whitstable and London.

Most of the county is covered by local radio network KMFM, owned by the KM Group. Other than the breakfast show, programmes are the same across all seven stations in the network:

KMFM Ashford

KMFM Canterbury

KMFM Maidstone

KMFM Medway

KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country

KMFM Thanet

KMFM West Kent

The county has five community radio stations.

BRFM covers the Isle of Sheppey

SFM covers Sittingbourne

CSR 97.4FM covers Canterbury, as a joint production between the city's two universities

Academy FM (Thanet) covers Thanet

Academy FM (Folkestone) covers Folkestone

A licence has been granted for Radio Sunlight in Gillingham, but no broadcast dates have yet been set.

Dover Community Radio (DCR) offers a podcasting service for the people of Dover district on their website, hoping in the future to apply for a community radio licence to cover the town and its environs.

Newspapers

The KM Group, KOS Media and Kent Regional News and Media all provide local newspapers for most of the large towns and cities. County-wide papers include the ''Kent Messenger'', ''Kent on Saturday'', ''Kent on Sunday'', and the ''Kent and Sussex Courier''.

See also

List of places in Kent

List of civil parishes in Kent

List of fire stations in Kent

List of windmills in Kent

:Category:Towns in Kent

:Category:Villages in Kent

List of tourist attractions in Kent

Recreational walks in Kent

Thames Gateway – includes details of regeneration projects in the northern areas of Kent

List of people from Kent

Lord Lieutenant of Kent

High Sheriff of Kent

Thanet

Duke of Kent

References

External links

Kent Parishes – Forum for History, Genealogy, Ancestry and local information

Kent County Council – local government website

Kent Wildlife Trust – Kent Wildlife Trust is the most active conservation trust in the county

Kent Online – a Kent Messenger Group website

Camelot Village – Kent heritage

Kent Downs – Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty website

CPRE Kent- Kent Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)

historic-kent.co.uk – further information on villages throughout Kent.

BBC – origins of Kent placenames

Kent Coast in Pictures – photographs of the coastline of Kent.

Kent County Cricket Club

Official Kent Tourism Guide

Official Heart of Kent Tourism Guide

BBC feature on the Kent eleven-plus

Kent-Weather – A county-wide weather forecasting website.

Category:Anglo-Saxon England Category:Non-metropolitan counties Category:South East England

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Coordinates	19°42′20″N155°5′9″N
name	Sundance Kid
image name	Sundance Kid and wife-clean.jpg
nationality	American
birth name	Harry Alonzo Longabaugh
birth date	1867
birth place	Mont Clare, Pennsylvania, United States
death date	November 6, 1908
death place	San Vicente, Bolivia
alias	The Sundance Kid
allegiance	Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch
occupation	Cowboy
spouse	Etta Place
children	}}

Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – c. November 6, 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, in the American Old West. Longabaugh likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker) after Parker was released from prison around 1896. Together with the other members of "The Wild Bunch" gang, they performed the longest string of successful train and bank robberies in American history.

Early life and career

Longabaugh was born in Mont Clare, Pennsylvania, in 1867. At age 15, he traveled westward on a covered wagon with his cousin George. In 1887, Longabaugh stole a gun, horse and saddle from a ranch in Sundance, Wyoming. While attempting to flee he was captured by authorities and was convicted, being sentenced to 18 months in jail by Judge William L. Maginnis. During this jail time he adopted the nickname of the Sundance Kid. After his release, he went back to working as a ranch hand and in 1891, as a 25-year-old, he worked at the Bar U Ranch in what is today Alberta, Canada, which was one of the largest commercial ranches of the time.

Longabaugh was suspected in 1892 in a train robbery, then again in 1897 in a bank robbery along with five other men. He became associated with a group known as the "Wild Bunch" which included his famous partner Robert Leroy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy.

Although Longabaugh was reportedly fast with a gun and often referred to as a "gunfighter", he is not known to have killed anyone prior to a later shootout in Bolivia, where he and Parker were alleged to have been killed. He became better known than another outlaw member of the gang dubbed "Kid", Kid Curry (real name Harvey Logan), who killed numerous men while with the gang. It is possible that often the "Sundance Kid" was mistaken for "Kid Curry", since many articles referred to "the Kid". Longabaugh did participate in a shootout with lawmen who trailed a gang led by George Curry to the Hole-in-the-Wall hideout in Wyoming and was thought to have wounded two lawmen in that shootout. With that exception, though, his verified involvement in shootouts is unknown.

Longabaugh and Logan used a log cabin at what is now Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming, as a hide-out before they robbed a bank in Red Lodge, Montana. Parker, Longabaugh and other desperados met at another cabin brought to Old Trail Town from the Hole-in-the-Wall country in north central Wyoming. That cabin was built in 1883 by Alexander Ghent.

Historically, the gang was for a time best known for their lack of violence during the course of their robberies, relying heavily on intimidation and negotiation, but nevertheless if captured they would have faced hanging. However, that portrayal of the gang is less than accurate and mostly a result of Hollywood portrayals depicting them as usually "non-violent". In reality, several people were killed by members of the gang, including five law enforcement officers killed by Logan alone. "Wanted dead or alive" posters were posted throughout the country, with as much as a $30,000 reward for information leading to their capture or death.

They began hiding out at the ''Hole In The Wall'', located near Kaycee, Wyoming. From there they could strike and retreat, with little fear of capture, since it was situated on high ground with a view in all directions of the surrounding territory. Pinkerton detectives led by Charlie Siringo, however, hounded the gang for a couple of years.

Parker and Longabaugh, evidently wanting to allow things to calm down a bit and looking for fresher robbing grounds, left the United States on February 20, 1901. Longabaugh sailed with his "wife" Etta Place and Parker aboard the British ship ''Herminius'' for Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Death

The facts concerning Longabaugh's death are not known for certain. On November 3, 1908, near San Vicente in southern Bolivia, a courier for the ''Aramayo Franke y Cia'' Silver Mine was conveying his company's payroll, worth about 15,000 Bolivian pesos, by mule when he was attacked and robbed by two masked American bandits who were believed to be Longabaugh and Parker. The bandits then proceeded to the small mining town of San Vicente where they lodged in a small boarding house owned by a local miner named Bonifacio Casasola.

When Casasola became suspicious of his two foreign lodgers (a mule they had in their possession was from the Aramayo Mine, and was identifiable because of the mine company logo on the mule's left flank) Casasola left his house and informed a nearby telegraph officer who notified a small Bolivian Army cavalry unit (the Abaroa Regiment) stationed nearby. The unit dispatched three soldiers, under the command of Captain Justa Concha, to San Vicente where they notified the local authorities. On the evening of 6 November, the lodging house was surrounded by a small group consisting of the local mayor and a number of his officials, along with the three soldiers from the Abaroa Regiment.

When the three soldiers approached the house where the two bandits were staying, the bandits opened fire, killing one of the soldiers and wounding another. A gunfight then ensued. At around 2 a.m., during a lull in the firing, the police and soldiers heard a man screaming from inside the house. Soon, a single shot was heard from inside the house, after which the screaming stopped. Minutes later, another shot was heard.

The standoff continued as locals kept the place surrounded until the next morning when, cautiously entering, they found two dead bodies, both with numerous bullet wounds to the arms and legs. One of the men had a bullet wound in the forehead and the other had a bullet hole in the temple. The local police report speculated that, judging from the positions of the bodies, one bandit had probably shot his fatally wounded partner-in-crime to put him out of his misery, just before killing himself with his final bullet.

In the following investigation by the Tupiza police, the bandits were identified as the men who robbed the Aramayo payroll transport, but the Bolivian authorties did not know their real names, nor could they positively identify them. The bodies were buried at the small San Vicente cemetery, where they were buried close to the grave of a German miner named Gustav Zimmer. Although attempts have been made to find their unmarked graves, notably by the American forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow and his researchers in 1991, no remains with DNA matching the living relatives of Parker and Longabaugh have been discovered.

This uncertainty has led to many claims that one or both survived and eventually returned to the United States.

One of these claims was that Longabaugh lived under the name of William Henry Long in the small town of Duchesne, Utah. Long died in 1936 and was buried in the town cemetery. His remains were exhumed in December 2008, and testing was performed to determine whether he was Harry Longabaugh, but the results did not support the William Long theory.

Aliases

The Sundance Kid

Frank Smith

H.A. Brown

Harry A. Place (his mother's maiden name was Annie Place)

Harry Long

In popular culture

Portrayed by Alan Hale, Jr. in the 1957 B-movie ''The Three Outlaws,'' with Neville Brand as Butch Cassidy.

Portrayed by Robert Redford in the 1969 film ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''. Redford named the Sundance Film Festival after the Sundance Kid.

A character in the 1951 film ''The Texas Rangers''. The fictional tale has him and real-life outlaws Sam Bass, John Wesley Hardin, Butch Cassidy and Dave Rudabaugh forming a gang, then squaring off against two convicts recruited by John B. Jones to bring them to justice.

William Katt portrayed the Sundance Kid and Tom Berenger played Butch in ''Butch and Sundance: The Early Days''.

A TV movie called ''The Legend of Butch & Sundance'' was released in 2006. David Clayton Rogers plays as Butch, Ryan Browning plays as Sundance, and Rachelle Lefevre plays as Etta Place .

Swedish rock band Kent released a song titled "Sundance Kid" on their album ''Vapen & Ammunition''

Canadian Sam Roberts released a song called "Sundance" on his album Love at the End of the World

In ''The Simpsons'' Hallowe'en special, Treehouse of Horror XIII, the Sundance Kid along with Billy The Kid, Frank James, his brother Jesse James, and Kaiser Wilhelm are the "hole-in-the-ground gang." When asked by Comic Book Guy what happened to Butch Cassidy, he replies that they "ain't joined at the hip."

In the movie ''The Way of the Gun''. Benicio del Toro's character is called Mr. Longbaugh and Ryan Phillipe's character is called Mr. Parker after Butch Cassidy.

References

Category:1867 births Category:Year of death unknown Category:People from Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Category:American bank robbers Category:People of the American Old West Category:Missing people Category:American expatriates in Argentina Category:Outlaws of the American Old West Category:American outlaws Category:Deaths by firearm in Bolivia

cs:Sundance Kid cy:Sundance Kid de:Sundance Kid es:Sundance Kid fr:Sundance Kid it:Sundance Kid lt:Harry Longabaugh ja:サンダンス・キッド pt:Sundance Kid ru:Сандэнс Кид fi:Sundance Kid sv:Sundance Kid uk:Санденс Кід zh:日舞小子

Coordinates	19°42′20″N155°5′9″N
Name	Stacey Kent
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stacey Kent
Origin	South Orange, New Jersey
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Jazz
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1996–present
Label	Blue Note Records
Website	Official site }}

Stacey Kent is a Grammy nominated Anglo-American jazz singer.

Background

Kent attended Newark Academy in Livingston, New Jersey. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and moved to England after her graduation. While studying at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she met the tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, whom she married on August 9, 1991.

In the early 1990s, Kent began her professional career singing regularly in a popular nightspot, Café Boheme in London's Soho. After two or three years, Kent began opening for established jazz acts across the road at the Ronnie Scott's nightclub in London.

Her first CD, ''Close Your Eyes'', was released in 1997. She has released seven CDs , and has been also featured on Tomlinson's albums, most recently ''The Lyric'' (2005), which won "Album of the Year" at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards.

Kent's music has been championed by critic and jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton, and she won the 2001 British Jazz Award and the 2002 BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist. She has also presented jazz programmes on BBC Radio 2 and 3.

At the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards, Tomlinson, upon receiving the award for "Album of the Year" for ''The Lyric,'' announced that Kent had signed with Blue Note records label.

Kent's album, ''The Boy Next Door'' achieved Gold album status in France in September, 2006. ''Breakfast On The Morning Tram'' (2007) achieved Platinum album status in France in November, 2007 and Gold album status in Germany in February, 2008 and was nominated for Best Vocal Jazz Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

Kent appeared in Ian McKellen's 1995 film version of ''Richard III'', singing a jazz version of Christopher Marlowe's poem ''The Passionate Shepherd to His Love''.

Booker Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro wrote the liner notes to Kent's 2003 album, ''In Love Again''. Ishiguro has co-written four of the songs on the fall 2007 Blue Note album ''Breakfast on the Morning Tram''. One of the songs written by Ishiguro, "The Ice Hotel," with music composed by Tomlinson won first prize in the International Songwriting Competition in April 2008.

On 31 March 2009 Kent received the National Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) - a government decoration - in recognition of her contribution to the arts, from French Culture Minister Christine Albanel.

Stacey's latest album, Raconte-Moi, released on March 22, 2010, (Blue Note/EMI) is an all-French album.

Discography

''Close Your Eyes'' (1997)

''The Tender Trap'' (1998)

''Only Trust Your Heart'' (1999)

''Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire'' (2000)

''Dreamsville'' (2001)

''Brazilian Sketches'' (2001)

''In Love Again: The Music of Richard Rodgers'' (2002)

''The Boy Next Door'' (2003)

"The Christmas Song" (single, 2003)

''SK Collection'' (2001)

''SK Collection II'' (2003)

''The Lyric (Jim Tomlinson & Stacey Kent album)'' (2005)

''SK Collection III'' (2006)

''Breakfast on the Morning Tram'' (2007) Blue Note/EMI

''Raconte-Moi'' (2010) Blue Note/EMI

References

External links

Official website

Official website

Interview Zicline.com Étienne Payen

Review of Breakfast on the Morning Tram at Gabe's View

Category:1968 births Category:American female singers Category:American jazz singers Category:BBC Radio 3 presenters Category:Blue Note Records artists Category:Candid Records artists Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Category:Living people Category:People from South Orange, New Jersey Category:Sarah Lawrence College alumni Category:Women in jazz

de:Stacey Kent es:Stacey Kent fr:Stacey Kent he:סטייסי קנט pl:Stacey Kent pt:Stacey Kent sv:Stacey Kent

Coordinates	19°42′20″N155°5′9″N
name	Kent Hovind
residence	Pensacola, Florida, currently incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
birth name	Kent E. Hovind
birth date	January 15, 1953
birth place	USA
known	Advocate of Young Earth creationism, convicted of tax-related crimes
occupation	Evangelist, Christian theme park operator
religion	Independent Baptist
spouse	Jo Delia Hovind
children	Kent Andrew HovindEric HovindMarlissa Dublin
website	Creation Science Evangelism
weight	}}

Kent E. Hovind (born January 15, 1953) is an American Young Earth creationist famous for his creation science seminars that aim to convince listeners to reject theories of evolution, geophysics, and cosmology in favor of the Genesis creation narrative as found in the Bible. Hovind's views are contradicted by scientific evidence and research. Some of his ideas have also been criticized by Young Earth creationist organizations like Answers in Genesis.

Hovind established the Creation Science Evangelism ministry in 1989 and frequently argued for Young Earth creationism and made other controversial remarks in his talks at private schools and churches, at debates, and on radio and television broadcasts. Since January 2007, Hovind has been serving a ten-year prison sentence after being convicted of 58 federal counts, including twelve tax offenses, one count of obstructing federal agents, and forty-five counts of structuring cash transactions. He is currently incarcerated at the FPC Satellite Camp of the ADX Florence prison in Florence, Colorado.

Biography

On February 9, 1969, at the age of 16, Hovind became a born again Christian. In 1971, he graduated from East Peoria Community High School. He holds three degrees in Christian education (1974, 1988, 1991) from unaccredited institutions. He is married and has three adult children and five grandchildren. One of his sons, Eric Hovind, travels doing creationist presentations and debates using many of his father's arguments.

Between 1975 and 1988, Hovind served as an assistant pastor and teacher at three private Baptist schools, including one he started. As these were private schools, Hovind was not required to have any teaching credentials or accredited qualifications. In 1989, Hovind started Creation Science Evangelism. In 1998, Hovind created his ''Dr. Dino'' web site and began producing articles and selling video tapes, books, and fossil replicas.

Prior to his convictions, Hovind spoke at churches, private schools, and other venues each year. Hovind also hosted a daily internet radio talk show and has established Dinosaur Adventure Land in Pensacola, Florida.

Education

In 1971 he graduated from East Peoria Community High School in East Peoria, Illinois. From 1972 to 1974, Hovind attended the non-accredited Midwestern Baptist College and received a Bachelor of Religious Education.

In 1988 and 1991 respectively, Hovind was awarded a master's degree and doctorate in Christian Education through correspondence from the non-accredited Patriot University in Colorado Springs, Colorado (now Patriot Bible University in Del Norte, Colorado, which no longer offers this program). Having a website called "Dr. Dino" has provoked some academics to look closely at how Hovind presents his education and credentials. Chemistry professor Karen Bartelt has said that it is "''very'' unusual for a person with a Ph.D., even a real one, to list oneself in the phonebook as "Dr Hovind", as Hovind has done." [emphasis in original]. 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 academic training makes it impossible to engage him on a professional level.

Other critics of Hovind have pointed out that Patriot Bible University is a diploma mill, as it has unreasonably low graduation requirements, lack of sufficient faculty or educational standards, and a suspicious tuition scheme. The school's current policies allow students to attain bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and even "Doctor of Ministry" degrees in months, rather than years, for as little as $25 per month. Currently Patriot offers a monthly fee, unlike most universities, which only charge per-credit fees.

Bartelt has stated that Hovind's doctoral dissertation is evidence of the poor requirements at Patriot and that Hovind lacks knowledge of basic science. Bartelt noted that Hovind's dissertation is incomplete (it contains four chapters totaling 101 pages, but Hovind's introduction claims the work is 250 pages with 16 chapters), of low academic quality, with poor writing, poor spelling, and poor grammatical style. Bartelt asserts that pages are repeated, references are absent, and it is not an original work with original ideas.

In the past, when questioned about his education and qualifications, Hovind has said his critics use ad hominem arguments, and Patriot has issued similar comments. In 2010, Patriot responded to Wikileaks' claim to have revealed Hovind's dissertation, writing that the Wikileaks file was not the "finished" product, but because they do not "retain ownership to student thesis’ or dissertations, as is commonly practiced by many schools", they "cannot release student work to the public". Patriot will not send copies of Hovind's doctoral dissertation, which is unusual for an institution to do since dissertations are made available to the public. As a general rule, doctoral dissertations are published by the associated university and made available to the public, so that other students conducting research in similar areas may use the information in the dissertation as a reference. Bartlet wrote that the copy she viewed is on file at the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), but the organization cannot distribute it due to copyright restrictions. The NCSE's copy was received from Skip Evans, who obtained Hovind's dissertation from Patriot with Hovind's permission in March 1999.

Creation Science Evangelism

After receiving his first correspondence degree, Hovind started the Creation Science Evangelism ministry (CSE) in 1989. The ministry aims to evangelize people by teaching them creationism. During Hovind's trial, the prosecution said the ministry does not have the proper licensing nor is it registered as a nonprofit, which resulted in legal troubles mentioned below. In January 2007, Eric Hovind, Kent's son, announced that he will run CSE due to his father's ten year prison term. After finishing high school at Pensacola Christian Academy in 1996, Eric attended Jackson Hole Bible College a one-year non-accredited institution. In November 2007, God Quest Inc. filed to do business under the trade name CSE with Florida. God Quest Inc. was incorporated by Eric Hovind, Bill Nadolny, Scott Porter, and Stephen Lawwell in July 2007.

In February 2008, Eric Hovind signed a letter on behalf of God Quest Ministries for the Florida Family Policy Council to the Florida Board of Education opposing the statement: "Evolution is the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported by multiple forms of scientific evidence." 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. During the 2008 election, CSE issued political articles for evangelical voters and linked to material by David Barton.

Dinosaur Adventure Land

In 2001, Hovind started Dinosaur Adventure Land (DAL), a young Earth creationist theme park located behind Hovind's home in Pensacola, Florida. The park depicts humans and dinosaurs co-existing in the last 4,000–6,000 years and also contains a depiction of the Loch Ness monster. Dinosaurs are central to Hovind's website and creation advocacy because "the creation world view says dinosaurs have always lived with man and there might still be a few alive today." A 2004 ''Skeptical Inquirer'' article explored visiting Hovind's dinosaur theme park and concluded that the park is deceptive and deliberately misleads visitors. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted the park also "claims that a few small dinosaurs still roam the planet."

The venture has encountered legal issues, as the owners failed to acquire a building permit for the park (see below). In 2008 Eric Hovind and Glen Stoll attempted to prevent the forfeitures of Hovind's ten properties, including DAL, in connection with Kent Hovind's federal tax problems. The government sought the property, deeded to Stoll and Eric prior to Hovind's convictions, since cash that Hovind withdrew from his bank accounts cannot be recovered. In July 2009, the courts ruled that the properties could be seized and sold to satisfy Hovind's federal tax debts. On August 24, 2009, Dinosaur Adventure Land's website announced it was "closed until further notice". In November 2010, CSE announced the "re-opening" of the "Creation Store" in central Pensacola."

Earnings and assets

According to the IRS, Hovind reportedly earned $50,000 a year through speaking engagements and, in 2002 alone, the ministry sold more than $1.8 million in merchandise. Also, Hovind's theme park and merchandise sales earned more than US$5 million from 1999 to March 2004. On average, they say, Hovind "has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million per year." Eventually that grew to about $2 million a year. 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."

Prior to his prison term, Kent Hovind also owned at least 10 properties, including DAL. As of 2009 the government is seizing the property for money owed, but in a court filing Eric Hovind said he owned one of the properties and "took active control over the lot by personally building a home on it with $70,000 he borrowed from CSE." The court accepted Eric's ownership due to improvements made on the property and allowed Eric to keep that property, but is allowing the government to seize the other nine properties.

Creationism

The "Hovind Theory"

Hovind summarizes his version of the young Earth creation story in the self-titled "Hovind Theory" taken from a variety of creationist sources. The "Hovind Theory" was presented at Hovind lectures and in his work "Unmasking the False Religion of Evolution".

Hovind explained the Biblical account of Noah as follows: Noah's family and two of every "kind" of animal (including young dinosaurs) safely boarded the Ark before a ice meteor came flying toward the Earth and broke up in space. Some of the meteor fragments became rings and others caused the impact craters on the moon and some of the planets. The remaining ice fragments fell to the North and South Poles of the Earth, concentrated towards those regions by the Earth's magnetic field.

He explains the fossils were created by billions of organisms that were washed together by the mass destruction of the worldwide flood, buried, and fossilized.

The resulting "super-cold snow" fell near the poles, burying the mammoths standing up. Ice on the North and South Poles cracked the crust of the Earth, releasing the fountains of the deep, which in turn caused certain ice age effects, namely the glacier effects. This made the Earth "wobble around" and collapsed the vapor canopy that protected it.

During the first few months of the flood, the dead animals and plants were buried, and became oil and coal, respectively. The last few months of the flood included geological instability, when the plates shifted. This period saw the formation of both ocean basins and mountain ranges, and the resulting water run-off caused incredible erosion – Hovind states that the Grand Canyon was formed in a couple of weeks during this time. After a few hundred years, the ice caps slowly melted back, retreating to their current size, and the ocean levels increased, creating the continental shelves. The deeper oceans absorbed much of the carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere and thus allowed greater amounts of radiation to reach the Earth's surface. As a result, human lifespans were shortened considerably in the days of Peleg.

The level of support for evolution is essentially universal within the scientific community and academia, while support for creationism is minimal among scientists in general, and virtually nonexistent among those in the relevant fields: Biology, Paleontology, Geology, etc.

About the Hovind theory in particular: Karen Bartelt, a chemist, commented that Hovind's "message appeals to those who are unaware that his 'evidence' is without merit." Furthermore, the plausibility of the Hovind Theory has been criticized by both scientists and other young Earth creationists.

Hovind's ideas have been published in the controversial Chick Tracts, comic strips intended to convert people to fundamentalist Christianity.

Hovind's $250,000 offer

According to Hovind's website, he has offered $10,000 since 1990 to those who can "prove the theory of evolution." He has since raised the amount of the reward to $250,000.

Responses

Critics view this offer to be spurious because of the conditions which Hovind imposes. The theory of evolution as defined by Hovind covers not only the process of evolution but also abiogenesis, astrophysics, and cosmology. Also, unlike Hovind, scientists in the field of evolutionary biology do not distinguish between micro- and macro-evolution as distinct processes, instead contending that all evolution takes place as microevolution, and that macroevolution is cumulative microevolution.

Critics argue that the offer is merely a publicity stunt designed to be impossible to win because it requires the claimant to disprove all possible theories for the origin of species, no matter how ridiculous: his FAQ states that claimants must "prove beyond reasonable doubt that the process of evolution ... is the only possible way the observed phenomena could have come into existence."

Hovind has said a panel of judges would decide if a claim had met his criteria, but he has refused to say who would be (or is) on that panel, or what their qualifications might be. Challengers who have submitted claims to Hovind say they have become convinced that he does not actually use a panel of judges, in spite of his promise to do so. In one case, after twice stating that he would send a particular response to his judges (according to his website any responses he sent were considered "legitimate"), Hovind stated, "Thanks for reminding me about not sending minor changes to the committee. This would be a waste of time for everyone involved. If you ever get any evidence that does support evolution please send it to me". The respondent felt that this indicated dishonesty on Hovind's part and confirmed public suspicions that he never intended to pay.

People have approached Hovind in regard to the challenge, addressing it from perspectives ranging from "Large-scale Evolution" to the "Big Bang Theory" to polar bears. In 2001, biologist Massimo Pigliucci attempted to collect Hovind's prize. During a debate with Hovind, Pigliucci said Hovind did not send any details or names of scientists judging the evidence and Hovind "could have decided on his own" to dismiss the evidence. Pigliucci later issued a "counter-challenge" as "a spoof meant to uncover Hovind's challenge for the gimmick that it is" by asking for "empirical evidence, that Christianity is the only true religion and that a god with the exact characteristics of the one(s) described in the bible actually exists".

The winter 2005 issue of ''Skeptic'' included an article titled "Doubting Dr. Dino" by Adam Kisby. Kisby lays out Hovind's arguments in formal logic, and says that the assumptions "God is a necessary cause of the universe" and "The universe is eternal, i.e., un-caused" lead to contradictions. Kisby sent his proof to Hovind and reports that "many weeks later I received a terse reply from Hovind in which he dogmatically rejected my proof." Hovind's reason was "the universe is evidence of a Designer – not proof there is no Designer." Kisby concluded "I contend that either my proof is technically correct or Hovind's $250,000 offer is fundamentally flawed. If my proof is correct, then Hovind is constrained by the terms of his offer to release the money. On the other hand if Hovind's offer is flawed then he is morally obligated to withdraw it or modify it." The Spring 2006 issue of ''Skeptic'' contained criticisms of Kisby's proposed proof.

Some creationist groups also do not approve of Hovind's offer. Answers in Genesis said it "would prefer that 'creationists' refrained from gimmicks like this."

Criticism

From creationists

Hovind has been criticized by other creationists, including young Earth creationists and old Earth creationists, who believe that many of his arguments are invalid and, consequently, undermine their causes. Disagreements over how to respond to Hovind's claims have themselves contributed to acrimony between creationist organizations. The Australian and U.S. arms of Answers in Genesis (AiG) were critical of Hovind after he had criticized a position document from Creation Ministries International, "Arguments we think creationists should NOT use". In particular AiG criticized Hovind for "persistently us[ing] discredited or false arguments" and said Hovind's claims are "self-refuting".

The U.S. arm of AiG, led by Ken Ham, had an acrimonious split with its Australian parent in 2005. The Australian organization then split itself entirely off from its parent group, now styling itself Creation Ministries International. Material critical of Hovind was no longer available on the U.S. Answers In Genesis website, whereas the Australian CMI website retained the critical material. In the 2002 article and a 2006 update, written by Carl Wieland and Jonathan Sarfati stated that the claims made by Hovind are "fraudulent" and contain "mistakes in facts and logic which do the creationist cause no good." CMI also criticized Hovind for using "fraudulent claims" made by Ron Wyatt in his claims. In August 2009, the Australian CMI website has since published an article praising Creation Science Evangelism for removing some faulty arguments, but decided against deleting its article altogether because "there are lots of 'free-to-copy' DVDs of Kent Hovind’s old talks circulating widely around the world and it will be some time before they disappear from circulation.

Creationist astronomer Hugh Ross, of ''Reasons to Believe'', debated Hovind on the age of the Earth during the John Ankerberg Show, televised nationally on the Inspiration Network in September through October 2000. Ross said Hovind was "misrepresenting the field" of different sciences, and Ross told Hovind: "Astronomers view the credibility of the 'Young Earth' as being much weaker than that for a flat Earth." Hovind and Ross previously debated in July 1999 on the Steve Brown Show.

Hovind has stated that carbon dating – a method used by scientists to estimate the age of various objects and events – is unreliable. He has been criticized by Greg Neyman of Answers in Creation (an old Earth creationist group), who says that in Hovind's statements "Hovind goes on to show that he knows absolutely nothing about the science of Carbon Dating." Neyman says that Hovind's claim that "scientists assume the amount of carbon-14 is constant" is wrong, and Neyman writes "there are many periods of decreasing C-14, which disproves his theory that the Earth is young based on C-14 equilibrium."

From non-creationists

Prior to his convictions, Hovind debated atheists, non-YEC Christians, skeptics, and scientists. In May 2004, Michael Shermer debated Hovind in front of a predominantly creationist audience. In Shermer's online reflection, while claiming he won the debate with intellectual and scientific evidence, he felt it was "not an intellectual exercise," but rather it was "an emotional drama." While receiving positive responses from creationist observers, Shermer 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." Others, like evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci, have debated Hovind, and have expressed surprise at Hovind's ignorance of evolutionary theory. Pigliucci indicated surprise at hearing Hovind try "to convince the audience that evolutionists believe humans came from rocks" and at Hovind's assertion that biologists believe humans "evolved from bananas." In addition, William Reville, Biochemist and Director of Microscopy at University College Cork, wrote about Hovind, explaining "Creation science is not science. Science is based on ideas that are testable. What the creationists believe is not rational, but it cannot be disproved."

In Hovind's debates, he focuses on points that he claims serve to discredit evolutionary theory, physical cosmology, and geology. He also presents what he claims is evidence for a Biblical flood, a young Earth, and the canopy theory. Scientists working in the appropriate fields, as well as some young Earth creationists, do not agree with Hovind's assertions.

Others criticize Hovind for his involvement with Arkansas state Representative Jim Holt's Anti-Evolution Bill in 2001 (House Bill 2548). This bill "would have required that when public schools refer to evolution that it be identified as an unproven theory." Some politicians claimed this bill "would have made Arkansas a laughingstock." 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." As for the legislation, "Holt admitted much of the information in his bill came from Jonathan Wells' ''Icons of Evolution''."

Critics charge that Kent Hovind's presentations on creation and evolution are a mix of Christian Fundamentalism and conspiracy theories. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has criticized Hovind because of his 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. The SPLC reported that Hovind accuses Darwinism of having produced "Communism, Socialism, Nazism, abortion, liberalism and the New Age Movement." It also quotes Hovind as claiming that "democracy is evil and contrary to God's law." In response to criticism, Hovind has stated: "I love the Jews. But ''The Protocols of Zion'' [sic] was written to explain how to control the world, I mean, it lays it all out. But it’s really carefully done so that if it is ever discovered the Jews take the blame for it."

The SPLC also criticized Hovind for "point[ing] his followers to ''Citizens Rule Book'', popular among antigovernment "Patriots"; Media Bypass, an antigovernment magazine with strong antisemitic leanings"; and books by tax protester Irwin Schiff" (Schiff has since been convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison).

While Kent Hovind is in prison, Eric has continued operating CSE and has received criticism for errors in his claims. Biologist PZ Myers criticized Eric and CSE employee Jonathon Sampson for their comments on cephalopods, writing "We do have explanations of cephalopod evolution" and "they lack the intelligence to grasp it." In his criticism, Myers criticized Hovind for failing to look up the evolutionary scholarship on cephalopods and linked to his blog article on cephalopod evolution.

Controversial remarks

Politics and conspiracies

Hovind has made controversial remarks regarding conspiracies, science, creation, equal rights, religion, and government over the years. Hovind's creationist presentations have asserted that the reason creationism based on the Genesis creation narrative is not taught in public schools is tied to "an international conspiracy" of "'The New World Order' (NWO) consisting of Ted Turner and his wife Jane Fonda, the British Royal Family, the State of Israel, the ACLU, and a smattering of former and present US government officials, business leaders, and social activists (particularly those advocating population control) — shades of the Trilateral Commission." In May 1999, he claimed "the implementation of the NWO's world-domination plan was May 5, 2000."

Hovind has several conspiracy theories about the U.S. government. He believes that the cyanide-releasing compound Laetrile is a "cancer cure" and argues that the US government is conspiring to suppress a cure for cancer. On his radio program, he has said that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks, killing nearly 3000 people and that a "lot of folks were told not to come to work." He also believes the Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by the government. "Did you know the Federal Government blew up their own building to blame it on the militias and to get rid of some people that weren't cooperating with the system?" 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." Additionally, Hovind believes that the Federal Reserve, the Council on Foreign Relations, the United Nations, and various other groups are planning to create a one world government and that the 1993 World Trade Center attack was staged by the US Government in order to pass "anti-terrorism" legislation that restricts civil liberties. He says, "I love my country, but fear my government. And you should too." He also believes there is no such thing as the separation of church and state, and opposes public schools.

Hovind has also alleged that there is a conspiracy surrounding taxes, the New World Order, and communism, while he promotes tax protesting. Hovind wrote "Although it is tempting for me to go off on a tangent from my creation ministry and spend much time warning people of the communist origin (Karl Marx thought it up in 1848 and pro communists Colonel E. House, Roosevelt, Rockefeller and Sen. Nelson Aldrich implemented it in 1913.) and unconstitutional nature (it violates the 4th, 5th, 13th and 14th amendments) of the current tax system, I will resist that temptation and leave it to others to fight that battle." Hovind further alleged "I sincerely believe that I am not a person required to file a Federal Income Tax Return. This belief is a result of extensive research that I have done." On obeying tax laws, he argued "Some will say the Bible teaches us to obey the authority over us. I agree and I do. The IRS is not the authority over me any more than the government of Japan is." Hovind further offered information and resources for people to avoid paying taxes by claiming to not be residents of the United States.

As part of his "one world government" conspiracy theory, Hovind also believes that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), HIV, West Nile virus, Gulf war syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Wegener's disease, Parkinson's disease, Crohn's colitis, Type I diabetes, and collagen-vascular diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer's were all engineered by "the money masters and governments of the world" for the purpose of global economic domination. Hovind believes "Satan has been using the great pyramid as his symbol for the New World Order" and that "the Great Pyramid could have been built by Adam's relatives" He believes that the United States government is secretly plotting to implant an "electronic ID" microchip in the body of every US citizen, which is the Mark of the Beast. The aim, he believes, is to put "a chip into each of the major muscles and network them together so that a paralyzed person would be able to get some movement from their muscles" so that there "is going to be a system where you cannot buy or sell without the mark in the hands or in the forehead." Yet, the mechanisms and history of such a project do not withstand scientific and historical scrutiny.

Regarding barcodes and the security strip on money, Hovind stated they are tied to a government plot in which barcodes and the "magnetic tape through the center of the paper" money "is of the same type that is on the back of your credit card" for tracking money and people. Thus, the government "want[s] to be able to track the money and find out where it goes."

Hovind has also stated an opposition to democracy, saying: "If Evolution is true, there is no Creator, so laws come from man's opinion. That is called a democracy, which is a terrible form of government. Democracies always degenerate into dictatorships. In America, it is sad to say, has become a democracy." Hovind also stated: "democracy is evil and contrary to God's law" and "democracy is a horrible form of government."

While speaking at Kent State University on an invite from Truth in Love Ministry, Hovind said about protesting evolution, "You should have another rebellion here at Kent State and do it for the right reason," but "This time, don't get shot."

Science

He believes all findings of science will eventually be found to agree with Scripture – which he says is ''a priori'' known to be true. He claims that scientists also have an ''a priori'' assumption, namely that God does not exist (or at least not one that performed special creation).

Hovind tells his audiences, "Evolution is the foundation for communism, nazism, socialism, Marxism and those who want a one-world government." He maintains that biology textbooks are lying and that he considers evolution to be a religion supported by false evidence that is used to brainwash youth. He claims, "Satan is using evolution theory to make kids go to hell." Hovind claims he is not trying to eliminate evolution from schools, but says "schools should teach both viewpoints." He has claimed that everything is a religion, including mathematics. Hovind disregards all fossil evidence, saying that "no fossils can count as evidence for evolution" because "all we know about that animal is that it died", and we do not know that it "had any kids, much less different kids." In regards to different races, Hovind believes the best explanation for the origin of races is that "all families, countries, nations, and tongues were created or developed from" the Tower of Babel Bible story (Genesis 10:20). In 2000, he alleged "global warming is a communist conspiracy."

During a debate with Farrell Till, Hovind made the following statement about Donald Johanson: "[He] found the leg bones of Lucy a mile and a half away from the head bones. The leg bones were 200 feet deeper in a deeper layer of strata. I would like to know how fast the train was going that hit that chimpanzee." According to Donald Johanson, this is false; and although Hovind has been informed of this, he continues to make the statement.

YouTube copyright controversy

On September 16, 2007, ''Wired'' reported, "YouTube has banned a group called the Rational Response Squad (RRS) after it complained its videos were being taken down due to spurious DMCA requests" from Creation Science Evangelism. Furthermore, while the article noted the lack of "any kind of review" with a DMCA request is a problem, the ministry's own website said that "none of the materials ... are copyrighted, so feel free to copy these and distribute them freely." CSE later said that for some of the videos they may not have had copyright claims. In response to the copyright claims, the RRS has posted a message stating it is ready to sue CSE and/or Eric Hovind.

Five days later, on September 21, 2007, the CSE copyright page was changed to say that their material may be copied but must be unedited. Previously, Hovind's website stated, "None of the materials produced by Creation Science Evangelism are copyrighted". According to a spokesperson for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving free speech on the internet, CSE's claim was "clearly bogus". As of September 25, 2007, some of the videos had been put back up and the Rational Response Squad's accounts had been reinstated.

Legal problems

Property taxes and zoning ordinance

On September 13, 2002, Hovind was charged for failure to observe county zoning regulations with respect to Dinosaur Adventure Land. Despite arguments that the owners did not need a permit due to the nature of the building, the park was found in violation of local regulations.

After a 5-year misdemeanor court battle over the $50 building permit, on June 5, 2006, Hovind pled ''nolo contendere'' as charged to three counts: constructing a building without a permit, refusing to sign a citation, and violating the county building code. Hovind was ordered to pay $225 per count. That month Hovind complied with the county law: Hovind estimated he spent $40,000 in legal expenses on this case, but, in a 2002 CSE newsletter, Hovind requested donations stating that the costs approached $100,000.

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

Hovind's ministry is not listed as a tax-exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service, nor is it considered a church by people who work there. 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 it 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.

Hovind was originally reported to the IRS by Pensacola Christian College senior vice president Rebekah Horton in the mid 1990s, after she learned of Hovind's anti-tax stand.

In 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. Hovind was found to have lied about his possessions and income. He claimed that as a minister of God everything he owns belonged to God and he is not subject to paying taxes to the United States on the money he received for doing God's work. The court ordered him to pay the money, upheld the IRS's determination that Hovind's 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 noted that "the IRS has no record of the debtor ever having filed a federal income tax return," although this was not the court's reason for denying the bankruptcy claim. On June 5, 1996, the Court dismissed Hovind's bankruptcy case.

On May 13, 1998, Hovind and his wife filed a "Power of Attorney and Revocation of Signature" document with the Escambia County Clerk of Courts which would nullify any of their promises, debts, or legal agreements made prior to April 15, 1998. The document reads, in part: "I/we do hereby revoke and make void... all signatures on any instruments...". 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'." In this document, the Hovinds argue that Social Security is essentially a "Ponzi scheme", referred to the United States Government as "the 'bankrupt' corporate government", renounced their 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." Judges and the IRS did not appear to honor this as a legally relevant document in future decisions.

In 2002, Hovind was again delinquent in paying his taxes, and unsuccessfully sued the IRS for harassment.

In 2004, IRS agents raided Hovind's home and business to confiscate financial records. IRS agent Scott Schneider said Hovind's businesses had neither business licenses nor tax-exempt status and stated that "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." On June 3, 2004, the IRS filed notices of Federal tax liens of $504,957.24 against Hovind and his son and their businesses due to previous legal maneuverings to evade taxation by moving property between himself, his son, and other legal entities.

On July 7, 2006, the United States Tax Court (Docket number 011894-05L) found that Hovind was deficient in paying his federal income taxes in tax years 1995–97 in the amount of $504,957.24. The Tax Court ruled that the IRS had a valid, perfected lien on Hovind's property in that amount and noted 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." Starting in 2006, the IRS began levying against Hovind's property to satisfy his unpaid tax liabilities.

Federal criminal tax-related trial and convictions in 2006

On July 11, 2006, Hovind was charged in the District Court in Northern Florida in Pensacola with twelve counts of willful failure to collect, account for, and pay over federal income taxes and FICA taxes, forty-five counts of knowingly structuring transactions in federally insured financial institutions to evade reporting requirements, and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the administration of the internal revenue laws. Twelve of the charges were for failing to pay employee-related taxes, totaling $473,818, and 45 of the charges were for evading reporting requirements by making multiple cash withdrawals just under the $10,000 reporting requirement (a technique known as "smurfing"). The withdrawals, totaling $430,500, were made in 2001 and 2002. Jo Delia Hovind, his wife, faced 44 charges.

The government charged that Hovind falsely listed the IRS as his only creditor in his bankruptcy, filed a false and frivolous lawsuit against the IRS in which he demanded damages for criminal trespass, made threats of harm to those investigating him and to those who might consider cooperating with the investigation, filed a false complaint against IRS agents investigating him, filed a false criminal complaint against IRS special agents (criminal investigators), and destroyed records.

After being indicted, Hovind maintained his innocence, and claimed incomprehension of the charges, a claim that the magistrate rejected. Hovind stated that he did not recognize the government's right to try him on tax fraud charges, and initially attempted to enter a plea of "subornation of false muster". Hovind's legal argument hinged on his claim that he was not an employer and therefore owed no taxes for payments to workers. The plea was rejected and Hovind then entered a not guilty plea "under duress" when the judge offered to enter a plea for him.

At the time of the arrest 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. Because of reports of weapons on the Hovind property, the indictment was originally sealed for fear of danger to the arresting agents. More than a half-dozen guns were seized at the Hovind's home, including an SKS semiautomatic rifle. Also, "During an IRS raid at the home, agents found and seized numerous cash stashes totalling $42,000."

Evidence produced at the trial revealed that Jo Hovind had requested financial assistance from Baptist Healthcare claiming that the Hovinds had no income. "'Dr. and Mrs. Kent Hovind do not earn salaries,' wrote Martha Harris, the trust secretary of Creation Science Evangelism to Baptist Healthcare. 'As health insurance is not provided for this couple, we would appreciate (financial assistance).'" However, continues the article, "Kent Hovind, a tax protester, makes a substantial amount of money". The Pensacola News Journal noted, "On the day the IRS searched the Hovind home, Kent Hovind withdrew $70,000 from the Creation Science Evangelism account. Half in a check; the other in cash."

At the time of the indictment, Hovind's defense appeared to be that although there were 30 people working for him, all of whom received remuneration in cash, none of them were employees. According to Hovind, "Nobody's an employee, and they all know that when they come. They come, they work ... The laborer is worthy of his hire – we try to take the purely scriptural approach. We do the best we can with helping people with their family needs. There are no employees here." Hovind had also claimed that he was not liable for taxes that he and his ministry did not have to "render unto Caesar" because his workers are "missionaries", not "employees".

On October 21, 2006, the trial began in which he hoped to convince a jury that his amusement park admission and merchandise sales belonged to God and cannot be taxed. Former and current workers, IRS agents, a bank employee, and a lawyer of a non-profit Christian organization testified in the trial. Workers testified that they had to punch time cards, and had vacation and sick days, while others testified that Hovind claimed he had "beat" the tax system. During the trial, the judge "admonished" Hovind's attorney for wasting time and asking irrelevant questions.

The trial concluded on November 1 with the defense deciding not to present a case. 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 44 for his wife. The ''Pensacola News Journal'' noted, "The saddest thing: Had they cooperated with the agents, they probably wouldn't be worrying about prison sentences now."

Sentencing, appeals, and prison life (2007–current)

On January 19, 2007, Hovind was sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to pay the federal government restitution of over $600,000. After his prison term finishes he will serve another three years of probation. 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." However, Hovind's court room behavior was in stark contrast to phone calls he made while in jail and played by the prosecution. The tapes, posted online by the ''Pensacola News Journal'', included one conversation with Kent and his son, Eric Hovind, plotting to hide a motor vehicle title and property deeds to prevent the government from collecting the property to pay for owed debt.

In February 2007, Hovind argued to the judge that the convictions for structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements should be thrown out. On April 18, 2007, the court rejected the defendants' "unit of the crime" arguments, and the motions for acquittal were denied.

After the convictions, Hovind was incarcerated in the Escambia County Jail as a "danger to the community" and a flight risk. Following his sentencing in January 2007, Hovind was incarcerated at the Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola (minimum security), at Saufley Field, Pensacola, Florida, and was later moved to the Federal Correctional Institution, Marianna (medium security), at Marianna, Florida. In May 2007, he was listed as being an "administrative security level" inmate at Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee, in Tallahassee, Florida, and the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Atlanta, Georgia, until being placed at Federal Correctional Institution, Edgefield, in South Carolina. In August 2010, he was placed at United States Penitentiary, Atlanta; in September he was moved to Federal Correctional Institution, Jesup. In June 2011, he was moved back to Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee then to the FPC Satellite Camp (minimum security) under the adminstration of ADX Florence in Florence, Colorado.

On June 29, 2007, Jo Hovind was sentenced to one year of imprisonment (out of a possible 225 years) and three years of supervision upon release. She was also ordered to pay $8,000 in fines. In court, Jo Hovind told the judge "I really did not have a leadership role in CSE" and finished "I would never knowingly do anything illegal." The prosecutor said that Jo Hovind's statement contradicted the evidence, stating, "I do not believe she's being truthful to the court". The judge stated that "Mrs. Hovind was in charge of the payroll," and that while "Mr. Hovind was the decision-making authority" at CSE and Dinosaur Adventure Land, Jo Hovind had cashed some 200 checks, all under $10,000, for a total of $1.5 million during a four year period. The judge stated that Jo Hovind's sentence was imposed to engender "respect for the law" and as a deterrence to others who might be tempted to break the law.

On July 2, 2007, Hovind's appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Appeals Court for the 2006 U.S. Tax Court judgment (''Kent E. Hovind v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue'') was denied. Hovind "filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit claiming he was prevented from challenging the amount of his tax liability." But "a three-judge panel ruled that Hovind failed to raise the issue at the right time, so he waived his rights to contest his tax liability."

In 2007, the government placed liens on Hovind's 10 properties for money owed. This action stemmed from the June 27, 2007, judgment, which included an order that Hovind's property be forfeited under for costs of $5,800, a fine of $2000, and restitution of $604,874.87. If payment should not be made in full, the Hovinds would be required to pay the principal at an additional 5.1% interest.

On December 30, 2008, the Hovinds' criminal appeal was denied by the Eleventh Circuit Appeals Court. The Court stated that the Hovind's attempts to dismiss their convictions were "without merit". With the appeal denied, wife Jo Hovind began serving time on January 20, 2009, at Federal Correctional Institution, Marianna, and then moved to Metropolitan Correctional Center, Orlando, where she was released on December 3, 2009. The court ruling allowed forfeiture proceedings on Hovind property to continue to satisfy the debt. Eric Hovind kept DAL and CSE open throughout 2008, but in July 2009 a judge allowed the government to seize Hovind property for restitution. On November 30, 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. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Kent Hovind, BOP Register number 06452-017, is scheduled for release from prison on August 11, 2015.

References

External links

; Official Hovind

Dr. Dino – Hovind's official website

KentHovindBlog.com Hovind's official blog

*CSE Blogs – Hovind's former official blog at Archive.org

Dinosaur Adventure Land – Hovind's YEC-theme park website

; Creationist but critical of Hovind

Maintaining Creationist Integrity: A response to Kent Hovind from Answers in Genesis (Archive.org)

Rebuttals to the works of Kent Hovind by Answers In Creation

Maintaining Creationist Integrity from Creation Ministries International

Analysis of Ross–Hovind Debate, 2000 from Creation Ministries International, by Jonathan Sarfati

; Critical of creationism and Hovind

Analysis of Kent Hovind Includes a section on Hovind's relationship with Chick Publishing and responses to the $250,000 Challenge.

Unmasking the False Prophet of Creationism by Barbara Forrest. September 1999.

A Miracle Occurs by Michael Shermer

Kent Hovind FAQs from talk.origins

How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments? a detailed critique by Dave E. Matson

The Kent Hovind Page by John Stear

When Giants Roamed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (2004)

An Academic Review of Hovind's Dissertation by Karen Bartelt, Ph.D

; Court records

Hovind bankruptcy decision (1996)

Escambia County Florida Clerk of the Circuit Court Affidavit (August 10, 2005) A court affidavit Hovind presented containing his biography.

Kent Hovind v Scott Schneider (2002)

(Memo Opinion)

Escambia County (Pensacola, Florida) Clerk of Courts – Court database

; Media sources

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