Arizona State Land Dept. v. Superior Court In and For Cochise County., 15320

• Decision Date: 15 June 1981
• Docket Number: No. 15320,15320
• Citation: 633 P.2d 330,129 Ariz. 521
• Parties: ARIZONA STATE LAND DEPARTMENT, Arizona Board of Appeals, Defendants-Petitioners, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of Arizona, In and For the COUNTY OF COCHISE and the Honorable Richard J. Riley, a Judge thereof, Plaintiffs-Respondents, Dan CRACCHIOLO and Joseph U. Cracchiolo, Plaintiffs-Respondents and Real Parties in Interest.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 330

633 P.2d 330

129 Ariz. 521

ARIZONA STATE LAND DEPARTMENT, Arizona Board of Appeals, Defendants-Petitioners, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of Arizona, In and For the COUNTY OF COCHISE and the Honorable Richard J. Riley, a Judge thereof, Plaintiffs-Respondents Dan CRACCHIOLO and Joseph U. Cracchiolo, Plaintiffs-Respondents and Real Parties in Interest.

No. 15320.

Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc.

June 15, 1981.

Rehearing Denied July 21, 1981.

Robert K. Corbin, Atty. Gen. by Russell A. Kolsrud and Karen L. Schroeder, Asst. Attys. Gen., Phoenix, for defendants-petitioners.

Lesher, Kimble & Rucker, P. C. by Robert O. Lesher, Tucson, for plaintiffs-respondents and real parties in interest.

CAMERON, Justice.

We granted this petition for special action pursuant to Art. 6, § 5 of the Arizona Constitution and Rule 1, Rules of Procedure for Special Actions, 17A A.R.S., along with Gladden Farms, Inc. v. State, 129 Ariz. ---, 633 P.2d 325 (1981), No. 15374, and City of Sierra Vista v. Babbitt, 129 Ariz. ---, 633 P.2d 333 (1981), No. 15360, filed this day, because the question raised is one of state-wide importance and there is no equal, plain, speedy and adequate remedy by appeal.

The facts necessary for a determination of the matter are as follows. The land in question was located in Cochise County and leased by Dan and Joseph Cracchiolo, respondents and real parties in interest, under a grazing lease issued by the petitioner, Arizona State Land Department, when the City of Sierra Vista filed an application to purchase the land. On 27 September 1979, the Arizona State Land Department issued a certificate of purchase for 640 acres of Section 34 to the City of Sierra Vista for the "purpose of wastewater treatment facilities, disposal of wastewater as well as other governmental purposes including park and recreation uses."

The land was appraised at $960,000.00 or $1,500.00 per acre. The City of Sierra Vista paid $96,000.00 down and was to pay the balance of $960,000.00 in annual installments of $34,560.00 with interest at 7% per annum. The City of Sierra Vista accelerated payment and paid the outstanding balance in the sales agreement on 10 December 1980.

The lessees challenged the sale to Sierra Vista in the Superior Court of Cochise County. On 9 December 1980, Judge Richard J. Riley granted the lessees' motion for summary judgment. The judgment provided in part:

" * * * that the sale to the City of Sierra Vista of Section 34, Township 21 South, Range 21 East, Cochise County, Arizona, was and is void and of no force and effect; that the provisions of Arizona Revised Statutes, Sec. 37-132(4) to the extent that those provisions purport to authorize sale of State trust lands to the City of Sierra Vista without public auction is in contravention of the Enabling Act, Sec. 28, and the Constitution of Arizona, Art. X, * * * "

From this judgment, the Arizona State Land Department brought this petition for special action which we accepted for the reasons stated above. The City of Sierra Vista was not a party to the action between the lessees and the State Land Department in the trial court. The City of Sierra Vista filed a separate action in this court. Because the City of Sierra Vista asked for different and additional relief in its separate action, we denied a motion to consolidate.

As to the major issue, we have held in Gladden Farms, Inc. v. State, supra, that Sec. 28 of the Arizona Enabling Act, 1 A.R.S., requires that a sale of a fee to a state agency, the Arizona Division of Emergency Services, must be by advertisement, auction and sale to the "highest and best" bidder. The same reasoning applies with equal force when a municipal corporation such as the City of Sierra Vista is the purchaser of state school trust lands. Any such sale is void, and insofar as the statute, A.R.S. § 37-132(A)(4), would allow such a sale without auction and bid, the statute is contrary to the Enabling Act and is also void. A.R.S. § 37-249; Sec. 28, Enabling Act, 1 A.R.S. The judgment of the Superior Court declaring void the sale of the land to the City of Sierra Vista is therefore affirmed.

There is one other matter we must decide in this case. The Arizona State Land Department contended in the trial court that the lessees did not have standing to bring the action in the Superior Court because they had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies. The order from which the...