Board of Commissioners of Sweetwater County v. Board of Commissioners of Carbon Co.

• Decision Date: 03 March 1896
• Parties: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF SWEETWATER COUNTY v. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF CARBON CO
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

44 P. 66

6 Wyo. 254

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF SWEETWATER COUNTY v. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF CARBON CO

Supreme Court of Wyoming

March 3, 1896

Commenced in District Court, March 21, 1894.

ERROR to the District Court for Sweetwater County, HON. JESSE KNIGHT, Judge.

This was an action brought by the Board of the County Commissioners of Carbon County against the Board of the County Commissioners of Sweetwater County, to recover certain expenses incurred in the care of one Ben Zimmer who, it was claimed, was a pauper and chargeable to Sweetwater County. The facts are sufficiently set out in the opinion. The District court rendered judgment for the plaintiff. The defendant prosecuted error.

Reversed.

E. E Enterline, for plaintiff in error.

To bring the case within the provisions of Sec. 1956, Zimmer must have resided in Sweetwater County for ninety days, and notice must have been given to that county by the clerk of Carbon County. He must have been recognized as a pauper by Sweetwater County. He was not a pauper as contemplated by the provisions of Sec. 1956. He was rather a person coming under the provisions of Sec. 1955. (Rev. Stat., Secs. 1953-1955; Collins v. King Co., 1 Wash. Ty., 416; King Co v. Collins, id., 469; Lee Co. v. Lackie, 30 Ark. 764; Supt. of Poor, Davis Co. v. Supt. of Poor, etc., 38 Wis. 499; Youngs v. Overseers of Hardiston, 14 N.J.L. 517; Clark Co. v. Huie, 4 S.W. 452; 18 A. & E. Ency. L., 776; Lander Co. v. Humboldt Co., 21 Nev. 415.) Notice was necessary. (Pouchick Co. v. Cass Co., 63 Iowa 244; Cerro Gordo Co. v. Wright Co., 50 Iowa 439; Camden v. Lincolnville, 16 Me. 384; Bangor v. Fairfield, 46 Me. 558; East Machias v. Bradley, 67 Me. 533; Westfield v. Southwick, 17 Pick. 68; Walpole v. Hopkinton, 4 id., 357; Palmer v. Dana, 9 Metc., 587; Gilford v. Newmarket, 7 N.H. 251; Mitchell v. Cornville, 12 Mass. 332; Kent v. Chapin, 6 Conn. 72; Attleborough v. Mansfield, 15 Pick. 19; Cooper v. Alexandria, 33 Me. 453.) The duty of a county to take care of its poor is statutory. There are none of the elements of an implied contract in such cases. (Board v. Plant, 42 Ill. 325; County v. City, etc., 99 id., 479; Mussel v. Tama Co., 73 Iowa 101; Hamlin Co. v. Clark Co., 1 S. D., 131; Supt., etc., v. Sauk Co., 38 Wis. 499; Mappes v. Board, 47 id., 31; Bangor v. Fairfield, Palmer v. Dana, Mitchell v. Cornville, Lander v. Humboldt Co., supra; Coolidge v. Mahaska, 24 Iowa 211; Miller v. Somerset, 14 Mass. 396.)

F. Chatterton, for defendant in error.

The commissioners of each county are vested with entire supervision and obligated with the cost of the poor. R. S., Sec. 1953. Paupers needing assistance are not to be left to the uncertain charities of individuals, and if the county does not care for them, an individual may, and then look to the county for reimbursement. (County v. City, 99 Ill. 479.) The right being created by statute, the law implies a promise, and an action can be sustained. (Seagraves v. Alton, 13 Ill. 366.) Sec. 1955 alone is sufficient to give defendant in error a right of action upon the facts in the case. (Tomlinson v. Bentall, 5 Bail Court, 738; 8 Dow. & Ry. K. B., 493; Simmons v. Wilmet, 3 Esp., 91 Eldon, Newby v. Wiltshire, 2 Esp., 739; 4 Doug. K. B., 284; Wennall v. Adney, 3 Bos. & Puller, 247; Taylor Tp. v. Shenango Tp., Pa., 5 Cent., 267; Stone v. Glover, 60 Vt. 651; Charleston v. Luneberg, 23 Vt. 525; Gordell v. Mt. Holly, 51 Vt. 423; Board v. Tipton Co., 89 Ind. 48.) The right exists under Sec. 1957 without notice.

GROESBECK, CHIEF JUSTICE. CONAWAY and POTTER, JJ., concur.

OPINION

GROESBECK, CHIEF JUSTICE.

The petition in this action was amended during the trial, and alleges substantially the following facts: On or about July 26, 1891, one Ben Zimmer, pauper, was wrongfully removed and transported from Sweetwater County to Carbon County, while helpless and suffering from severe bodily injuries, and by reason of said wrongful removal and his helpless and destitute condition, he wrongfully became a charge as a pauper upon Carbon County, and his physical condition was such that he could not be removed from that county. Carbon County expended for and on behalf of Sweetwater County in the care and maintenance of said pauper, between July 26, 1891, and the 9th day of September, 1891, the sum of $ 478.10, and demanded judgment for said sum with interest thereon running thirty days after the last item of the account.

A demurrer to the petition was filed by the defendant below, which was overruled by the court, and a general denial was then filed as an answer to said petition. A trial was had, and the court, a jury being waived, made special findings of fact and conclusions of law, and gave judgment for the plaintiff, and it is to reverse this judgment that proceedings in error are instituted. The findings of fact briefly stated are that said Zimmer was a pauper on the date named at Wamsutter, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, maimed and wounded, demanding immediate medical and surgical attention, and that owing to the distance from said place to Green River, the county seat of Sweetwater County, and the conditions as to the means of transportation, it was impossible to convey said Zimmer to Green River and save his life; that his removal was without authority from the representatives of Sweetwater County, but by reason of such removal the life of the pauper was saved; that owing to the maimed and wounded condition of the pauper, he could not have been removed during the time he was cared for and maintained by Carbon County, and that owing to his condition and the impossibility of his removal, no notice was necessary to bind Sweetwater County, from whence he was removed; that without proof as to the former residence of the pauper prior to the day of his injury, the court found that Sweetwater County was liable to Carbon County for the amount expended, and gave judgment for such amount with interest thereon in the sum of $ 612.95, and costs taxed to $ 280.70. Objections were made to most of the findings of fact, and under them, it was assigned as ground in the motion for a new trial, that the decisions and findings of the court should have been for the defendant, Sweetwater County. It is also assigned as error that under the evidence and the law governing the case the decision should have been for the defendant. Other assignments of error are set forth, in the action of the trial court in overruling the demurrer to the petition, the motion for judgment on the pleadings, and to the introduction of evidence on behalf of the plaintiff, objected to by defendant, but it will not be necessary to consider any of these matters, as the case will be disposed of on its merits.

The evidence discloses that Zimmer, who was a young man between seventeen and nineteen years of age, was picked up by those in charge of a freight train running east at Wamsutter, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, on the date named. His arm was broken and his leg crushed. Owing to the means of transportation then available and his serious condition, Zimmer was conveyed to Rawlins in Carbon County, where he received prompt surgical treatment, which resulted in the amputation of an arm and leg. This treatment was necessary to save the life of the patient, and such treatment and necessary care during his convalescence were furnished by the authorities of Carbon County, and paid for by the county board of that county. It does not appear in the record that Zimmer was a resident of Sweetwater County, at the time of his injury, or that he had ever resided in such county. He was without means and in a destitute condition when found by the employees of the railway company.

The statutes governing the matter, found in Secs. 1953 to 1957 of the Revised Statutes, vests the board of the county commissioners of each county with the entire and exclusive superintendence of the poor in their respective counties (Sec. 1953); any poor person, being a "resident" of the State, may receive such relief as the case may require out of the county treasury, and the county board is empowered to make either a contract for the necessary maintenance of the poor, or appoint agent or agents to oversee and provide for the same (Sec. 1954); when any non-resident of the county, or any person not coming within the definition of a pauper, shall "fall sick" in any county, not having money or property to pay his board, nursing, or medical attendance, the county commissioners "upon notice thereof" shall provide such assistance "as they may deem necessary," and shall make such reasonable allowance for board, nursing, and medical attendance as they may deem just and equitable, and may, in their discretion, contract with some suitable person or persons for such services, in case of all sick persons coming within the provisions of the section (Sec. 1955); when any application is made by the pauper to the county board for relief, the board must require of such applicant satisfactory evidence that he has been a resident of said county for ninety days immediately preceding the date of the application for relief, and if such evidence is satisfactory, the county board may, in their discretion, provide the relief specified, but if the contrary appears, they may provide for the transportation of such pauper from the State, or may provide for his relief (Sec. 1956). If any person shall become chargeable in any county in which he did not reside at the commencement of the ninety days aforesaid, he shall be cared for by the county commissioners of the county where he may be found; and the county clerk of said county is required to send notice by mail to the county clerk of the county in which such person has his "permanent residence," that said person has become chargeable as a...