Aaron v. City of Tipton

Citation218 Ind. 227,32 N.E.2d 88
Decision Date04 March 1941
Docket NumberNo. 27480.,27480.
PartiesAARON v. CITY OF TIPTON.
CourtSupreme Court of Indiana

218 Ind. 227
32 N.E.2d 88

AARON
v.
CITY OF TIPTON.

No. 27480.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

March 4, 1941.


Appeal from Madison Circuit Court; Charles E. Smith, Judge.

Action by Gladys E. Aaron against the City of Tipton, Ind., to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by a defective sidewalk. From a judgment in favor of the defendant, the plaintiff appeals.

Judgment reversed with instructions to overrule demurrer and for further proceedings.

Transferred from the Appellate Court of Indiana under Burns' Ann.St. § 4-209, Baldwin's 1934, § 1364.

[32 N.E.2d 89]

Christian & Waltz, of Noblesville, and Charles Salyer, of Anderson, for appellant.

Cleon Wade Mount, of Tipton, and Pence, O'Neill & Diven, of Anderson, for appellee.


SWAIM, Chief Justice.

The sufficiency of a notice served by the appellant on the city of Tipton prior to bringing an action against said city for damages for personal injuries, alleged to have been caused by a defective sidewalk, is the sole question presented by this appeal. The only objection to the notice was that it was not verified.

Section 2 of Ch. 111, Acts of 1933, p. 705 (§ 48-8002, Burns' 1933, § 12512, Baldwin's, 1934), provided that, ‘No action shall be brought or maintained by any person against any city * * * for damages suffered or claimed to have resulted from injuries to such person * * * unless written notice containing a brief general description of the date and approximate hour, place, defect or other condition, and cause of the accident or occurrence producing any such injury, * * * together with the nature and extent of such injuries, * * * shall, within sixty (60) days thereafter * * * be served * * * upon the mayor or the clerk of any city * * *.’ Section 3 of the act provided that, ‘Such notice shall be signed and duly verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths by the person so affected, or by the agent or attorney serving the same.’ § 48-8003, Burns' 1933, § 12513, Baldwin's 1934.

The 1935 session of the General Assembly enacted another statute on this subject, Ch. 80, Acts of 1935, p. 235 (§ 48-8001, Burns' 1933 (Pocket Part), § 12515-1, Baldwin's Supplement May, 1935), which was approved February 23, 1935, and became effective June 10, 1935. This act provided for notice in all actions for damages arising from any negligence, wilfullness, nuisance or other tort of any municipal corporation, thus increasing the number of actions against a city in which notice was necessary. Under this statute verification of the notice was not required and all laws or parts of laws in conflict with said statute were repealed.

The accident out of which this action arose occurred on March 28, 1935, and within sixty days thereafter, towit, on May 17, 1935, a written notice, signed by the appellant and fully describing the time, place and cause of the accident and the resulting injuries to the appellant, was served on the mayor and clerk of the appellee city. Thereafter, on June 25, 1935, after the 1935 Act became effective, the appellant filed her original complaint.

On January 22, 1938, the appellant filed a third amended complaint, a demurrer to which was sustained on the ground that the notice to the city was not verified. The action of the court in sustaining the demurrer is the only alleged error assigned by the appellant.

The appellee contends that the statute, which was in effect at the time of the accident and at the time the notice was served, required that such notice be verified and that inasmuch as the complaint failed to allege that the notice was verified the complaint was demurrable for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

In 1907 the first statute was passed which required notice to the city of an injury before maintaining an action for damages therefor. Ch. 153, Acts of 1907, p. 249. Our courts have held that the purpose of such notice as required by this and the later notice statutes was to inform the city officials with reasonable certainty of the time, place, cause and nature of the accident and the general nature and extent of the injuries so that the city might investigate all the facts pertaining to its liability and prepare its defense, or adjust the claim. Gary v. McNulty, 1935, 99 Ind.App. 641, 194 N.E. 193;Gary v. Wilson, 1937, 103 Ind.App. 376, 8 N.E.2d 109;Indianapolis v. Willis, 1935, 208 Ind. 607, 194 N.E. 343. Since this statute, instead of giving a statutory right, is a statutory limitation on the remedy, it is in derogation of the common law and should be strictly construed.

While we do not decide the question, it might be argued that the requirement of

[32 N.E.2d 90]

verification in the 1933 Act, supra, served no purpose and was, therefore, merely a directory provision rather than a mandatory provision. Most cases holding that the verification of the notice of a claim against a municipal corporation, where required by statute, is mandatory, are cases where the verification serves some useful purpose, as in claims on account or for services, and where the verification is made a condition precedent to the liability of the municipal corporation rather than a condition precedent to the filing of an action on liability which had accrued prior to the notice. Commonwealth Water Co. v. Castleton, 1920, 192 App.Div. 697, 183 N.Y.S. 753;McEwen Mfg. Co. v. Covington, 1925, 112 Okl. 40, 239 P. 219;Richardson v. City of Salem, 1908, 51 Or. 125, 94 P. 34.

The appellant contends that the notice given in this case...

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