Board of Commissioners of Jackson County v. Nichols
| Citation | 40 N.E. 277,12 Ind.App. 315 |
| Decision Date | 10 April 1895 |
| Docket Number | 1,508 |
| Parties | THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF JACKSON COUNTY v. NICHOLS |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
From the Lawrence Circuit Court.
Affirmed.
D. A Kochenour, N. Crooke, B. H. Burrell and F. Branaman, for appellant.
A. N Munden, J. T. Arbuckle and J. A. Zaring, for appellee.
The wife of the appellee was injured by falling from a bridge while traveling on a public highway. He brought this action to recover damages for the loss of her services and companionship, and for expenses incurred on account of medical treatment and nursing.
It was alleged that the appellant was negligent in failing to keep the bridge safe and in proper repair.
Issue was joined and the cause tried by a jury, which returned a general verdict for the appellee in the sum of $ 3,000.
The first error assigned is the overruling of a demurrer to the amended complaint.
The complaint, in all of its essential averments, except as to the name of the plaintiff, and as to the loss of services and expenses incurred, is the same as that in the case of Board, etc., v. Nichols, 139 Ind. 611, 38 N.E. 526, and, within the rules there announced, is sufficient.
It is next insisted that the court erred in sustaining a demurrer to the second paragraph of appellant's answer.
This paragraph attempts to plead a former adjudication. It is alleged that prior to instituting this action the appellee filed his claim for the same cause of action before the Board of Commissioners of Jackson county, and that said board rejected and refused to allow the same, and rendered judgment that he take nothing on account thereof, and that said judgment is still in force and unappealed from.
The object of the present statutes in requiring a claim against a county to be first filed and presented to the board of commissioners for allowance before bringing suit thereon is to give it an opportunity to discharge its legal obligations without the expense of a lawsuit. Bass, etc., Works v. Board, etc., 115 Ind. 234, 17 N.E. 593. The board in hearing such claim acts merely in the capacity of an auditing committee. Its action is ministerial and not judicial. Any order made by it in allowing or in refusing to allow the claim does not rise to the dignity of a judicial determination or judgment.
The demurrer was properly sustained to this answer.
Under the assignment that the court erred in overruling...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bd. of Com'rs of Jackson Cnty. v. Nichols
... ... Appeal from circuit court, Lawrence county; R. W. Meris, Judge.Action by Willard Nichols against the board of commissioners of Jackson county ... ...