Bell v. People, for Use of Garfield County
| Decision Date | 22 May 1933 |
| Docket Number | 13306. |
| Citation | 92 Colo. 585,22 P.2d 857 |
| Parties | BELL v. PEOPLE, for Use of GARFIELD COUNTY. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied June 12, 1933.
In Department.
Error to District Court, Garfield County; John T. Shumate, Judge.
Suit by the People of the State of Colorado, for the use of Garfield County, against G. H. Bell. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error.
Affirmed.
J. W Bell, of Glenwood Springs, for plaintiff in error.
Frank Delaney, of Glenwood Springs, for defendant in error.
BUTLER, Justice, sitting for ADAMS, Chief Justice.
The people of the state of Colorado sued G. H. Bell and others sureties on an official bond given by Charles H. King, as treasurer of Garfield county. The case is entitled 'The People of the State of Colorado, for the Use of Garfield County.'
Due to the closing of the bank in which King had deposited the money, King failed to deliver the county funds to his successor in office; hence the suit. Bell's demurrer on the ground that the plaintiff has no legal capacity to sue was overruled. Bell stood upon his demurrer and judgment was rendered against him. He seeks a reversal of that judgment.
The only question for consideration is whether the defendant in error (plaintiff below) has legal capacity to sue.
It is said that the suit should have been brought by the people of the state of Colorado, for the use of the board of county commissioners of the county of Garfield. Counsel cites section 8662, Compiled Laws, which provides that 'in all suits or proceedings, by or against a county, the name in which the county shall sue or be sued shall be, the board of county commissioners of the county of _____'; and also cites the case of Board of County Commissioners, etc., v Churning, 4 Colo. App. 321, 35 P. 918. But the present suit was not brought by or against a county. It was brought by the people of the state of Colorado, the obligee in the bond, the only proper plaintiff in the case. The statute provides that an action on an official bond shall lie in the name of the people, 'to the use of any party aggrieved.' C. L. § 7988. The aggrieved party in the present case is Garfield county. It is the owner of the funds that were withheld. McClure v. Board of County Commissioners, etc., 19 Colo. 122, 34 P. 763; Cooper v. People, 28 Colo. 87, 93, 63 P. 314, 317. It would have been proper, though it was not necessary to entitle the suit 'The People of the State of Colorado for the Use of the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Garfield.' The case of Cooper v. People, supra a suit on an official bond, was entitled 'The People,' etc., 'for the Use of the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Arapahoe.' It was contended that the suit should have been brought for the use of the treasurer of the county, as he was the person authorized to...
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