United States v. County of Clark

Decision Date01 October 1877
Citation95 U.S. 769,24 L.Ed. 545
PartiesUNITED STATES v. COUNTY OF CLARK
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

ERROR to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Missouri.

On the 24th of September, 1874, the United States, on the relation of William A. Johnston, filed a petition for a mandamus against the county court of Clark County, Missouri, and the justices thereof.

An amended alternative writ was filed on the 5th of April, 1875, in which it is alleged, that William A. Johnston obtained in said Circuit Court a judgment, June 6, 1874, against said county, for $8,606.64, on four instalments of interest on one hundred bonds of said county, for $500 each, which it executed and delivered June 1, 1871, by order of its county court, under the authority conferred by the charter of the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad Company; that the said county court was authorized and empowered to levy a tax of one-twentieth of one per cent upon the assessed value of taxable property for each year after the issue of said bonds; that by the laws of said State it is the duty of said county court to levy taxes, and pay all the indebtedness of said county; and that, in addition to the said one-twentieth of one per cent, the said county is authorized to levy a tax of one-half of one per cent yearly, on the taxable property of the county, to pay its debts and expenses; that the valuation of taxable property in said county is not less than $3,740,000; that said county court, for the year 1874, levied a tax for county purposes of only four mills on the dollar, leaving unlevied one mill, which they were authorized to levy; that said county court did not levy the tax of one-twentieth of one per cent, nor any other sum, for the years 1872, 1873, and 1874, to pay the interest on said bonds, for which said judgment was rendered; that the tax of one-twentieth of one per cent would not raise over $1,500 or $2,000 a year, while the amount of the bonds issued was $200,000, and required a tax yielding $16,000; that a tax of one mill on the dollar of the valuation will not exceed $3,750, and is not sufficient with the one-twentieth of one per cent to pay said judgment in one year; that an execution was issued on said judgment, and returned 'no property found,' and a demand made on said county court to levy and collect taxes to pay said judgment; that said officers have neglected to levy and collect said taxes; and that said Johnston is without adequate remedy at law.

The writ was thereupon issued, commanding the county court and the justices thereof to 'levy and collect a tax of one-twentieth of one per cent, for the years of 1872, 1873, and 1874, and each of the following years, and apply a pro rata share thereof on the plaintiff's judgment; and to levy the residue of said five-mill tax for the year 1874, and each succeeding year, and collec said taxes, and apply the same yearly on the plaintiff's judgment, until interest at the rate of seven per cent and costs are paid the satisfied in full,' or that they appear on a day named in the writ, and show cause why they refuse to do so.

The defendants, in their answer, alleged, that Clark County, in the year 1872, adopted what is termed in the laws of Missouri 'township organization,' and had from that time been governed by the laws of Missouri pertaining to township organization; that the county court of said county, on May 3, 1871, executed $200,000 in bonds of said county, to pay for two thousand shares of stock for which it had that day wrongfully, fraudulently, and corruptly subscribed in the Missouri and Mississippi Railroad Company, and placed said bonds in the hands of an agent, to be paid over to said company, from time to time, as the said road progressed through said county; that all of said bonds had been fraudulently disposed of by said agent, and remained unpaid, with the coupons thereon; that a judgment for $4,124 had been rendered against said county on coupons of part of said bonds in favor of Waterman & Beaver, on June 6, 1874; that none of said $200,000 of bonds were delivered on the first day of June, 1871, or before January, 1874, and that the same belonged to the county of Clark, until January, 1874; that the county court of said county had no authority to subscribe for said two thousand shares of the capital stock of said Missouri and...

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16 cases
  • Liddell v. State of Mo.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • March 5, 1984
    ...to satisfy a judgment against a municipality. Each of these cases arose in a commercial context. In United States v. County Court of Clark County, 95 U.S. (5 Otto) 769, 24 L.Ed. 545 (1878), a bondholder sought a court-ordered tax levy to pay interest coupons for years preceding the year the......
  • State ex rel. Craighead County v. St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • February 11, 1924
    ...199 F. 237. Mandamus will not issue to compel the performance of an act not required by law. 127 Ark. 349; 77 F. 567; 23 C. C. A. 236; 95 U.S. 769; 99 U.S. 591; 155 U.S. 1; 30 Ark. 450; Ark. 312; 47 Ark. 80; 104 Ark. 590. A writ which commands officers to violate the Constitution is void. 1......
  • Puget Sound Gillnetters Ass'n v. Moos
    • United States
    • Washington Supreme Court
    • June 9, 1977
    ...from which they derive their power. Supervisors v. United States, 85 U.S. (18 Wall.) 71, 21 L.Ed. 771 (1873); United States v. County of Clark, 95 U.S. 769, 24 L.Ed. 545 (1878); Missouri ex rel. Laclede Gas Light Co. v. Murphy, 170 U.S. 78, 18 S.Ct. 505, 42 L.Ed. 955 In Murphy the court sta......
  • Huddleston v. Dwyer
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit
    • October 25, 1944
    ...to compel county or municipal officers to do that which they are not authorized to do by the laws of the state. United States v. Clark County, 95 U.S. 769, 24 L.Ed. 545. And it is not the office of the writ to bring about the levying of a special tax when taxation of that kind finds no auth......
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