Bd. of Comr's of Marshall Cnty. v. Shaw, Case Number: 32810

• Decision Date: 03 June 1947
• Docket Number: Case Number: 32810
• Citation: 1947 OK 181,199 Okla. 66,182 P.2d 507
• Parties: BOARD OF COMR'S OF MARSHALL COUNTY v. SHAW
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1947 OK 181

182 P.2d 507

199 Okla. 66

BOARD OF COMR'S OF MARSHALL COUNTY v. SHAW

Case Number: 32810

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: June 3, 1947

Syllabus

¶0 1. STATES - STATUTES - Validity of appropriation made by joint resolution of Legislature.

A joint resolution of the Legislature duly passed in conformity with sections 34 and 35, art. 5, of the Constitution, and approved by the Governor, is a law, and an appropriation therein made is one made pursuant to law as provided in section 55, art. 5, of the Constitution.

2. SAME - Joint resolution reimbursing Marshall and Bryan counties for taxes lost on lands taken for Aylesworth prison farm project was not special or local law and appropriation was not a "gift" forbidden by Constitution but was for public purpose.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 12, S. L. 1945, p. 476, is not a special or local law, but is general legislation incidental to a state enterprise, and does not violate section 59, art. 5, of the Constitution. The money appropriated by said joint resolution was appropriated for a public purpose; did not constitute a gift to, nor was it an assumption of the indebtedness of, the counties therein named, and therefore said joint resolution did not violate sections 14 and 15, art. 10, of the Constitution.

3. SAME - Former decisions overruled in part.

Hawks v. Bland, 156 Okla. 48, 9 P.2d 720, and Wright v. Carter, 161 Okla. 281, 18 P.2d 522, overruled in part.

Original action in mandamus to compel allowance and payment of claims by the Board of County Commissioners of Marshall County against A.S.J. Shaw, State Auditor, and John D. Conner, State Treasurer; the Board of County Commissioners of Bryan County et al. intervened. Writ granted.

Victor C. Phillips, Co. Atty., of Durant, and O.C. Barnes, Co. Atty., and Welch & Welch, all of Madill, for petitioner and interveners.

Mac. Q. Williamson, Atty. Gen., and James C. Harkin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondents.

OSBORN, J.

¶1 This is a petition invoking the original jurisdiction of this court, for a writ of mandamus by the board of county commissioners of Marshall county, filed on October 1, 1946, and on October 14, 1946, respondents C.C. Childers, State Auditor, and A.S.J. Shaw, State Treasurer, filed their response. Thereafter, on application duly granted, the board of education of school district No. 5, Marshall county, and the board of education of school district No. 3, Marshall county, each claiming an interest in the funds sought to be recovered by petitioner, and the board of county commissioners of Bryan county, which asserted a claim similar to that of petitioners, were permitted to intervene. Each of the interveners adopted the petition filed by petitioner. Thereafter A.S.J. Shaw, the present State Auditor, and John D. Conner, the present State Treasurer, were substituted as parties defendant.

¶2 In its petition for the writ, petitioner alleged that in the year 1916, the state, acting through its Board of Public Affairs, acquired title to certain lands located in Marshall county, more particularly described in an exhibit attached to the petition as exhibit "B", for use as a farm in connection with the operation of the Oklahoma State Prison, which farm was known as the Aylesworth Prison Farm; that said real estate was acquired by direct negotiation with the then owners of the lands, and warranty deeds issued and delivered to the state conveying said lands to it; that ad valorem taxes for several years prior to the date the state acquired title were delinquent and unpaid on all of said real estate, and that the state paid to the owners the entire consideration for said lands without regard to the payment of said delinquent taxes, and that it did not pay such taxes nor require the then land-owners to pay them.

¶3 The petition further recites that thereafter, in 1925, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution No. 18 of the 1925 Legislature (S.L. 1925, p. 324), the Board of Affairs was authorized to divide said Prison Farm into tracts and offer the tracts for sale upon installment contracts; that said resolution provided for the assessment of said tracts for ad valorem taxes, and the payment of taxes by the holders of such contracts of purchase; that the Board of Affairs proceded to dispose of said lands in the manner directed by said joint resolution, but that the holders of said contracts of purchase did not pay their annual installments of the purchase price, and that ad valorem taxes against said lands for the years 1926 up to and including 1942 were not paid; that in 1941, pursuant to authority granted by Title 57, c. 4a, S.L. 1941, p. 226, the Board of Affairs instituted actions in the district court of Marshall county to foreclose the lien of the State of Oklahoma created by the contracts of purchase above mentioned; that said actions were prosecuted to conclusion and the real estate sold at sheriff's sale to John Marshall, and that all the proceeds of said sheriff's sale were delivered to the state and applied to the amount due the state under the contracts of purchase.

¶4 The petition further recites that in 1942 the state, acting through the Board of Public Affairs, ordered and directed the county treasurer of Marshall county to cancel all assessments for ad valorem taxes made against said real estate for the years 1908 to 1942, inclusive, and that upon the advice, written opinion, recommendation and direction of the State Examiner and Inspector and the Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma, the county treasurer canceled all of said assessments for ad valorem taxes, and that such action so taken resulted in the cancellation of taxes legally assessed against said real estate and due to Marshall county and its municipal subdivisions in the sum of $14,861.23.

¶5 That thereafter Senate Joint Resolution No. 12, S. L. 1945, p. 476, appropriated the sum of $20,000 for the purpose of reimbursing Marshall county for and on account of the taxes so canceled, and that thereafter, on May 7, 1946, the county treasurer of said county filed his claim with the Board of Affairs in the sum above mentioned, which claim was duly audited and approved by the Board of Affairs and filed with the respondent C.C. Childers, State Auditor, and that the said Auditor has failed, neglected and refused and still refuses to audit and allow said claim, and that respondent State Treasurer has failed, neglected and refused and still refuses to pay any warrant drawn in payment of said claim.

¶6 The petition further alleges that the State Examiner and Inspector has examined the tax rolls of Marshall county as required by section 2 of said Joint Resolution No. 12, and has filed a report thereof with the county treasurer of Marshall county, and with the Board of Affairs as required by said joint resolution, showing separately each tract of land and the amount of taxes delinquent and unpaid upon each tract for the years 1908 to 1942 exclusive of the years when the fee-simple title was in the State of Oklahoma, but including taxes due and unpaid on the date the state acquired title, and taxes canceled pursuant to the order of the Board of Affairs, as above set forth; that a copy of said report was attached to the claim delivered to the respondent, State Auditor, and a copy is attached to the petition herein.

¶7 The petition further alleges that the respondents refuse to audit and allow said claim on the ground and for the reason that Joint Resolution No. 12, passed by the 1945 Legislature, is violative of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma. It prays that this court issue a writ of mandamus requiring respondent State Auditor to audit and allow petitioner's claim, and to issue a warrant in payment thereof, and requiring the respondent, State Treasurer, to pay said warrant so issued.

¶8 The response filed by respondents to said petition alleges that the petition fails to state facts sufficient to entitle petitioner to the relief prayed for; that when the state acquired the lands referred to in said petition, said lands became exempt from ad valorem taxes, and were absolved and relieved from liability from delinquent ad valorem taxes theretofore assessed against them, and from any taxes thereafter assessed against same while the legal and equitable title remained in the state; that there was no obligation upon the state or any of its agents or employees to pay any ad valorem taxes theretofore assessed, or attempted to be assessed, against said lands; that when the lands were sold by the State Board of Affairs pursuant to authority granted by Senate Joint Resolution No. 18, S.L. 1925, p. 324, the Board of Affairs was required to deposit all money received from such sale in the State Treasury to the credit of the general revenue fund, and that when said lands were sold pursuant to the provisions of said act they became subject to ad valorem taxes for subsequent years regardless of whether or not they were placed on the tax records or any assessments entered against them; that said contracts of sale provided that upon the default in payment of any installment of principal or interest of the purchase price the State Board of Affairs should have the right to cancel the contract of purchase and declare the same forfeited, and that when any lands covered by such contract were sold to John Marshall at sheriff's sale, as alleged in petitioner's petition, the status of said lands as to taxability, and liability as to sale for taxes assessed after the execution and delivery of such contracts, remained unchanged and unaffected by the foreclosure actions or sale, and that there was no obligation upon the state, or its agents, to pay said taxes, or to see that they were paid; that if the county treasurer of Marshall county made any entry upon the tax records of said county purporting to cancel any taxes assessed against any tract so sold for any year subsequent to the issuance of such sales contract by the State Board of Affairs, that such entry of...