Campbell v. Clinton County

• Decision Date: 15 June 1917
• Parties: CAMPBELL ET AL. v. CLINTON COUNTY ET AL.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

195 S.W. 787

176 Ky. 396

CAMPBELL ET AL. v. CLINTON COUNTY ET AL.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

June 15, 1917

Appeal from Circuit Court, Clinton County.

Proceeding by Blain Campbell and others against Clinton County and others. From a judgment sustaining a demurrer to the petition, and dismissing same, plaintiffs appeal. Affirmed.

S. G Smith and E. Bertram, both of Albany, for appellants.

L. G Campbell, of Whitley City, for appellees.

SAMPSON J.

The appellants Blain Campbell and two other citizens and taxpayers of Clinton county, on behalf of themselves and many others, instituted this action in the Clinton circuit court seeking a reformation of a contract for public road construction, and also to enjoin and restrain the fiscal court of that county from appropriating money derived from a sale of a road bond issue for the construction of graded roads in that county; and, further, seeking to enjoin and restrain that court from applying money thus raised to the construction of any road other than one from Maupin, Ky. on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, to Albany, thence along a certain line towards Jamestown, the county seat of Russell county, to the Russell-Clinton line, alleging that the bond issue was voted by the people of Clinton county for the express purpose of constructing this particular road, and that the voters would not have supported the issue but for this reason; and further, alleging that under our present law creating our system of public highways in Kentucky, money from a bond issue, such as this, cannot be appropriated to the building of anything except hard roads, as provided in section 4307, Kentucky Statutes, which is as follows:

"Provided, however, that all the money raised by the sale of bonds shall be used solely and alone for the building, construction, or reconstruction of roads of asphaltum, concrete, brick, stone block, macadam, gravel or other processes of equal merit."

Appellants also seek to enjoin the fiscal court from carrying out a contract with Harris and Myers for the construction of certain roads in that county, and pray certain other relief. A demurrer was interposed to the petition, but, before it was acted upon by the trial court, an amended petition was filed reiterating in large part the allegations of the petition especially with reference to the conduct of the campaign leading up to the bond issue, had immediately before the election upon the question...