The Board of Commissioners of the County of Knox brought a case against David C. Wallace in an effort to collect taxes from him for land he owned within their county. The court found that Wallace had not been properly notified by the board as required by law and therefore could not be held liable for any unpaid taxes on his property. The court ruled in favor of Wallace, finding that due process had been violated and thus no tax liability was owed to the board. This ruling established precedent which requires governments to provide proper notice before attempting to enforce collection or taxation upon citizens’ property rights, ensuring fairness and protecting individuals from unjust government action.

In the case of The Board of Commissioners of the County of Knox v. David C. Wallace, a dissenting opinion was offered by Justice McLean in which he argued that the majority's decision to uphold an act passed by Indiana legislature granting authority to county commissioners to levy taxes on real estate for public purposes was unconstitutional and violated Article I Section 10 Clause 1 of the United States Constitution. He reasoned that this clause prohibited states from passing any law impairing contracts between individuals or entities without their consent, and since existing tax titles were not taken into consideration when creating this new taxation system, it constituted as such an impairment. Furthermore, he argued that even if these titles had been considered they would still be invalid because they did not meet certain requirements set forth in state laws regarding taxation systems at the time; thus making them voidable under common law principles regardless whether or not there was a contract involved. In conclusion Justice McLean concluded that while counties may have some power over local matters like taxation within their jurisdiction, they cannot do so if it violates federal constitutional rights granted to citizens through Article I Section 10 Clause 1 - which is what happened here according to him