Bryan v. Bd. of Educ. of Perry
| Decision Date | 30 July 1898 |
| Citation | 7 Okla. 160,54 P. 409,1898 OK 35 |
| Parties | G. T. BRYAN, County Treasurer v. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF PERRY |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
¶0 1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--Insurance of School Property. Chapter 17, Sess. Laws 1897, providing that a portion of the territorial school fund shall be appropriated for the insurance of public school property in the Territory, is not legislation for private purposes, in any such manner as to make it unconstitutional.
2. TERRITORIAL SCHOOL FUND--Insurance of School Property Paid From. The insurance of school property out of the territorial school fund is a proper exercise by the legislature of the power to appropriate money for school purposes.
3. SAME--Act Not Invalid. The fact that the whole territorial apportionment for school purposes for any one school district of a county may, for the years 1897 and 1898, be exhausted by the assessment under the chapter above mentioned, does not make the act invalid.
4. CITIES OF THE FIRST CLASS--Not Exempt from Provisions of the Act. The fact that the defendant in error is a city of the first class does not exempt it from the provisions of the act, nor does the fact that the method of insurance provided by the legislature may be extravagant, and provide a much larger and heavier rate of insurance than that provided by established insurance companies, make the act invalid.
5. The act is not rendered invalid by the fact that it apparently presses relatively harder on some districts than others.
Action by the board of education of the city of Perry, Territory of Oklahoma, against G. T. Bryan, county treasurer of Noble county. Decree for plaintiff. Defendant brings error. Reversed.
Injunction to restrain the county treasurer from retaining an amount for insurance fund, made under ch. 17, Session Laws, 1897. This case was finally heard upon the amended petition of the defendant in error. the board of education of the city of Perry, the plaintiff below, which averred that Bryan was the county treasurer of Noble county, and that the school district, under the control and supervision of the board of education of the city of Perry, was known and designated as "School District No. 52," of the county of Noble, and was composed of the City of Perry; that the county superintendent of Noble county had, in the month of , 1897, caused the school houses, furniture, and fixtures belonging to the public schools in the city of Perry, and under the control of plaintiff, to be appraised as provided in section 1, ch. 17, Session Laws, 1897; that on the 16th day of February, 1898, the county superintendent of Noble county apportioned the territorial school fund among the several school districts in the county of Noble, and on said date ordered the defendant, as treasurer of Noble county, to retain out of the territorial school fund of 1897 the sum of $ 489.32, and to return the same to the territorial treasurer, to be kept and used by the territorial treasurer as an insurance fund, to pay for losses of school property by fire or tornado, during the years 1897 and 1898, and that the said sum of $ 489.32 was equal to 2 1/2 per cent. of the appraised value of the school houses, etc., of school district No. 52, under the care of plaintiff; and that it was the purpose of the county superintendent and the territorial superintendent to order the defendant to retain and return out of the apportionment fund of 1897, and the second apportionment of the territorial school fund for the year 1897, should another be made, an additional amount, equal to 2 1/2 per cent. of the total appraised value of said school property, thereupon making the total amount retained and returned from the territorial apportionment fund for 1897, due to the plaintiff, a sum equal to 5 per cent. of the total appraised value of the school property, and a sum in excess of the entire apportionment fund coming to the plaintiff for the year 1897; and that, if this were done, it would deprive the plaintiff of the total amount of the territorial apportionment fund for the years 1897 and 1898, and, so far as the purposes of insurance were concerned, would create a rate of insurance several times greater than if the property were insured by the plaintiff in one of the old and well-established and reliable insurance companies; and that since the territorial apportionment fund was derived from leasing, letting, and sale of lands set aside by act of congress for school purposes, and known as sections 16 and 36, in the Territory of Oklahoma, the proceeds derived therefrom could be used only as a school fund for public purposes, and ch. 17 of the Session Laws of 1897 does not apply to school districts under the control and management of boards of education in cities of the first class, and is illegal and void, inasmuch as...
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