Bolivar Tp. Board of Finance of Benton County v. Hawkins
| Decision Date | 28 June 1934 |
| Docket Number | 26327 |
| Citation | 191 N.E. 158,207 Ind. 171 |
| Parties | BOLIVAR TP. BOARD OF FINANCE OF BENTON COUNTY v. HAWKINS et al |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
[Rehearing denied October 8, 1934.]
1. STATUTES---Title of Act---Matters Properly Connected with Subject---Liability of Surety on Public Depository Bonds.---Title of 1933 act "concerning liability of sureties on public depository bonds given to secure deposits of public funds, granting relief in certain cases from liability on such bonds, upon judgments obtained thereon, and upon any evidence of indebtedness given in lieu of such liability, to certain sureties and their heirs, legatees devisees and personal representatives, providing for the application of payments made or which may be made on such bonds, deposits or judgments, providing for the application and disposition of certain payments and the issuance and acceptance of warrants therefor, saving rights of contribution and subro- gation in certain cases and declaring an emergency," held to embrace but one subject and matters properly connected therewith. p. 177.
2. STATUTES---Title of Act---Matters Properly Connected with Subject.---All matters connected with or germane to the subject of an act need not be embraced in the title, it being sufficient if but one subject is expressed in such manner as to fairly apprise the legislators and public in general of the subject matter, or indicate some particular branch of legislation as a head under which the particular provisions of the act may reasonably be looked for. p. 178.
3. STATUTES---Special Privileges and Immunities---Township Not "Citizen."---Statute to release liability of sureties on bonds of public depositories of township funds raised by taxation held not to abridge privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, since the township is a mere state agency with no privileges or immunities under the Federal Constitution. p. 179.
4. STATUTES---Special Privileges and Immunities---Class Legislation.---Statute to release gratuitous sureties on public depository bonds, held not violative of 23, Art. 1 Indiana Constitution, as granting privileges or immunities to a class of citizens which upon the same terms do not belong to all citizens alike. p. 180.
5. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Class Legislation---Reasonableness of Classification.---Legislatures have power to make reasonable classification of persons and things for the purpose of legislation and, in determining the legality of the classification, the subject to be regulated, the character extent, and purpose of the regulation, and the particular classification and regulation adopted by the statute, should be considered. p. 181.
6. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Class Legislation---Uniformity of Application.---Legislation, limited in its application, is not considered class legislation or repugnant to the Constitutional inhibition if, within the sphere of its operation, it affects alike all persons similarly situated and the classification is reasonable and natural and not artificial. p. 181.
7. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Legislative Powers---Classification for Legislative Purposes.---Classification of persons and things for purposes of legislation is primarily for the legislature and is subject to judicial interference only when the classification is so clearly unreasonable as to require with equal force its extension to others whom it leaves untouched. p. 183.
8. STATUTES---Classification---Validity---Presumptions.---All reasonable doubts as to the constitutionality of a legislative classification must be resolved in favor of its validity. p. 184.
9. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Class Legislation---Distinction Between Gratuitous and Paid Sureties.---Statute releasing liability of gratuitous sureties on public depository bonds held not unconsti- tutional because not applying to sureties who receive compensation. p. 185.
10. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Class Legislation---Limitation as to Time.---Statute releasing gratuitous sureties from liability on public depository bonds executed after given date held not unconstitutional because not applying to similar sureties' on bonds executed prior to such date. p. 186.
11. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Class Legislation---Limitation as to Time.---The legislature may limit the application of legislation as to time and it will not be invalid unless it can be said that the limitation is arbitrary, unjust, and unreasonable. p. 186.
12. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Class Legislation---Reasonableness of Classification---Judicial Review.---In determining the constitutionality of a legislative classification, if any state of facts can reasonably be conceived that would sustain the classification, courts must assume the existence of that state of facts at the time the law was enacted. p. 1, 87.
13. EVIDENCE---Judicial Notice---General Financial Depression.---In determining the validity of a remedial statute the Supreme Court takes judicial notice of a general financial depression requiring emergency legislation to save government and its people from ruin. p. 187.
14. EVIDENCE---Judicial Notice---Exigencies of General Financial Depression.---In determining the validity of statute releasing gratuitous sureties from liability on public depository bonds, the Supreme Court knows as a matter of common knowledge that at the time the law was enacted surety companies were refusing to sign bonds required by the Public Depository Act and that individuals were becoming gratuitous sureties thereon from a sense of duty in order to prevent breakdown of local governments. p. 188.
15. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Obligation of Contracts---Impairment---Contract of Township.---A township being a political subdivision and agent of the state, legislation abrogating its contract is not an impairment of the obligation of contracts as prohibited by the Federal and State Constitutions, p. 189.
16. STATUTES---Local Laws---Release of Sureties on Public Depository Bonds.---Statute releasing gratuitous sureties from liability on public depository bonds held not violative of the Constitution as being a local law or a special law regulating township business. p. 196.
17. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Due Process---Release of Sureties on Public Depository Bonds.---Statute releasing gratuitous sureties from liability on public depository bonds held not unconstitutional as taking property of township without due process of law, the township having no vested right in the funds involved. p. 196.
18. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Legislative Powers---Restrictions.---Legislature's power to enact laws has no restrictions save those imposed by the Federal and State Constitutions. p. 197.
19. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Legislative Powers---Constitutionality of Enactments.---Legislative enactments are presumed to be valid and must be upheld unless they clearly contravene some constitutional provision. p. 197.
20. STATUTES---Construction---Validity Favored.---A statute admitting two interpretations, one valid and one invalid, will receive the interpretation sustaining its validity. p. 197.
21. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW---Legislative Powers---Policy of Legislative Enactments.---Whether the enactment of a statute is wise or unwise as a matter of public policy is a question solely for the legislature to determine and not to be encroached upon by the judiciary. p. 197.
Action by Bolivar township, Board of Finance of Benton county, against Avery Hawkins and others on a public depository bond. From a judgment for defendants, plaintiff appealed. Affirmed.
Berry & Nolin, of Fowler, for appellant.
Stuart & Stuart, of Lafayette, Fraser & Isham, of Fowler, Randolph & Randolph, of Lafayette, Ernest Merrick Hawkins, of Fowler, Dix & Dix, of Terre Haute, and Walker & Walker, of Evansville, for appellees.
This is an action brought by the appellant to recover the sum of $ 28,977.24, together with interest and attorney fees from the appellees as sureties on a depository bond given to secure the public money on deposit in the State Bank of Otterbein, Otterbein, Ind., belonging to Bolivar civil township and Bolivar school township, Benton county, Ind., at the time of the failure and closing of said bank, which bond was given in compliance with the provisions of the Public Depository Act of the state of Indiana, being chapter 222 of the Acts of 1907, as amended. And the particular questions involved being whether appellees, uncompensated individual sureties upon the depository bond of the State Bank of funds belonging given to secure the deposit of funds belonging to Bolivar civil township, are relieved from liability by the terms and provisions of chapter 78, Acts 1933, p. 488, the depository bond having been given subsequent to January 1, 1927, to wit, January 6, 1931.
The complaint averred, among other things, that on the 6th day of January, 1931, the board of finance of Bolivar township met in regular session for the purpose of selecting a depository for the funds of said township and said school township; that the State Bank of Otterbein filed its proposal to receive deposits of the public funds of Bolivar township and Bolivar school township in a sum not to to exceed $ 60,000 at any time; that said bank at said time tendered and delivered to the board of finance, security for such deposits, a personal bond in the sum of $ 35,000, the said bank being principal and said defendants sureties thereon; that said board of finance accepted the proposal of said bank, and funds were deposited in said bank; that on June 6, 1931, the bank was closed and placed in the control of the state banking department, and a receiver was appointed therefor; that on June 6, 1931, the said township had on deposit in said bank the sum of $ 30,477.24; that said bank was indebted to said township...
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