Castle v. Bannock County

• Decision Date: 10 December 1901
• Citation: 8 Idaho 124,67 P. 35
• Parties: CASTLE v. BANNOCK COUNTY
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

67 P. 35

8 Idaho 124

CASTLE v. BANNOCK COUNTY

Supreme Court of Idaho

December 10, 1901

EMPLOYMENT OF PHYSICIAN BY COUNTY-INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF BOARD NOT AUTHORIZED.-An individual member of the board of county commissioners cannot employ a physician to care for smallpox patients at expense of the county.

(Syllabus by the court.)

APPEAL from District Court, Bannock County.

Judgment reversed, with costs to appellant.

Attorney General Frank Martin, for Appellant.

Boards of county commissioners are entireties and can only act collectively and as empowered by law. (Rankin v Jauman, 4 Idaho 394, 39 P. 1111; Conger v Commissioners, 5 Idaho 347, 48 P. 1064.)

W. T Reeves and Hawley & Puckett, for Respondent.

Our claim is that this bill of respondent was created under the provisions of section 1150 to 1153 inclusive, and that being a part of the expense of the board of health as a majority of the officers who under the law constitute the board, the same became and is a charge against Bannock county, and should be paid as provided under section 1154 of the Revised Statutes of Idaho. (Elliott v. Kalkaska Supervisors, 58 Mich. 452, 55 Am. Rep. 707 et seq.; Labrie v. Manchester, 59 N.H. 120, 47 Am. Rep. 179 et seq.; Commissioners of Tippecanoe Co. v. Mitchell, 131 Ind. 370, 30 N.E. 409; Evans v. City, 24 N.J.L. 764; Detroit v. Redfield, 19 Mich. 376; McBride v. Grand Rapids, 47 Mich. 236, 10 N.W. 353; United States v. Brindle, 110 U.S. 688, 4 S.Ct. 180; State v. Hauset, 63 Ind. 155; Vanardsdall v. State, 65 Ind. 176; Crow v. Board, 118 Ind. 51, 20 N.E. 642; Board v. Bunting, 111 Ind. 144, 12 N.E. 151; Shannon v. O'Boyle, 51 Ind. 565; Board v. Saunders, 17 Ind. 437; State v. Clark, 4 Ind. 315; Hoffman v. Board, 96 Ind. 84; Garrett v. Board, 92 Ind. 518; Boggs v. Caldwell, 28 Mo. 586.)

STOCKSLAGER, J. Quarles, C. J., and Sullivan, J., concur.

OPINION

STOCKSLAGER, J.

On the eleventh day of January, 1901, respondent presented his bill to the board of county commissioners of Bannock county for the sum of $ 330.60. On the twenty-sixth day of January, 1901, the board of county commissioners passed upon said bill, allowing respondent sixty dollars and sixty cents, and disallowing the balance in the sum of $ 270. Respondent appealed to the district court of said county. On the fifteenth day of March, 1901, findings of fact and conclusions of law were filed, and on the same day judgment was entered reversing the action of the board of county commissioners of said county. From this judgment appellant appeals to this court, and assigns errors: 1. In finding, as a matter of fact, that Frank M. Watson was, in April, 1900, purchasing agent of Bannock county, under the order of the board of county commissioners made and entered January 14, 1898; 2. Error in holding that the claim disallowed by the board of county commissioners was a legal and proper charge against Bannock county; 3. In reversing the action of the board of county commissioners and ordering judgment for respondent. The record discloses the following facts: On the eighteenth day of January, 1897, the board of county commissioners of Bannock county entered into a contract with respondent, to wit:

"This agreement, made and entered into this eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven, between Bannock county, of the state of Idaho the party of the first part, and Hubert A. Castle, M.D., of the city of Pocatello, of the county of Bannock, of the state of Idaho the party of the second part, witnesseth: That in consideration of the agreements and covenants of the party of the second part, as hereinafter specially set out, the party of the first part hereby covenants and agrees to and with the party of the second part to pay him the full sum of four hundred dollars ($ 400.00) per year for the term of two years from the eighteenth day of January, A. D. 1897, payable at the end of each and every quarter, and to furnish him or to allow him the actual expenses of transportation to all points in Bannock county more than one mile outside of Pocatello City, for his services and total compensation in giving surgical and medical attendance and doing and performing all things necessary in the cases of indigents and paupers whomsoever that may or shall become a charge upon said county during the years of grace 1897 and 1898. And in consideration of the undertaking and agreements hereinbefore expressed, on the part of the party of the first part, the said party of the second part hereby specifically covenants and agrees to and with the said party of the first part as follows, to wit: That he, as a duly licensed and practicing physician and surgeon, will, during and for the years 1897 and 1898, attend promptly to all cases of sickness, accident, and injury happening indigents, paupers, and all persons whomsoever that may or shall become a charge upon said Bannock county, when notified of such cases, either by any member of the board of county commissioners, or the clerk of the board, or the keeper, or superintendent of the poor farm, or the probate judge, or any duly acting justice of the peace, or other authorized person, and that he will furnish at his own proper cost and expense all the medicine and medicines, bandages, medical dressings, drugs, lotions, and all things whatsoever that may or shall become necessary in the treatment of any and all cases under his contract; and the said party of the second part hereby agrees that his full compensation for all such services shall be the sum of four hundred dollars per annum for each of said years 1897 and 1898, and transportation, or actual cost thereof, as heretofore stated. In witness whereof, the parties above named have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.

"BANNOCK COUNTY OF THE STATE OF IDAHO,

"By FRANK M. WATSON,

"Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Said County.

"[Seal] H. A. CASTLE.

"Witness: THEO. TURNER."

No other contract appears in the record, and the trial court finds that it is the only written contract ever entered into between the county commissioners and respondent. On January 11, 1898, the board of county commissioners caused to be entered in their minutes the following entry: "In the matter of contracting for medical attendance, etc., of indigent persons: The said matter coming on to be considered by the board, and the same being duly considered, it is ordered that H. A. Castle, M. D., be, and he is hereby, employed and authorized to furnish all indigent persons who are properly and legally county charges, and to the inmates of the county jail, all necessary medical attendance, medicines, medical and surgical dressings, etc., for which he shall receive as compensation in full the sum of four hundred dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly, by a warrant drawn upon the current expense fund of Bannock county. It is further ordered that the term of such employment be one year from and after this day. It is further ordered that the chairman of the board, Frank M. Watson, Esq., for and on behalf of the county, enter into a contract in writing with the said H. A. Castle, M. D., which said contract shall set forth in detail the terms, time, and all the conditions of such employment." The record does not disclose that any such contract was ever entered into, and the trial court finds that no such contract was ever made. By the record it is shown that Dr. H. A. Castle, respondent, continued to perform the duties of county physician for Bannock county from the time he entered into the contract to the close of and including the year 1890, presenting his bills to the county, as provided for in the contract, and the county, through its legally authorized agents, the board of county commissioners, paying them as provided for in said contract. On the fourteenth day of January, 1898, the board of county commissioners made and caused to be entered the following order in their minutes: "In the matter of appointing a purchasing agent for the county: It appearing to the board that in the interim between the regular sessions of the board certain contingent expenses must be incurred, and certain supplies purchased for the use of the county, it is hereby ordered that the chairman of the board, Frank M. Watson, Esq., be, and he is hereby, appointed purchasing agent for the county during such interim between sessions for the year 1898, and until the further order of the board, and whenever anything is purchased or ordered the said chairman, as such purchasing agent, shall make an order in writing for the same, and in all cases said order shall be attached to the bill or claim for such supplies so ordered, and be returned to the board when the bill or claim shall be presented for allowance." Prior to the month of February, 1900, smallpox broke out in said county, there being cases in Pocatello and elsewhere in the county. The board of county commissioners met in regular sessions in April, July, and October, but no attempt was made to organize a board of health, and none was organized in the year 1890.

The court finds that in the month of April, 1900. Frank M Watson, who was chairman of the board of county commissioners and purchasing agent for the county, instructed Dr. Castle to look after smallpox patients, and told him that the county would pay him for such services. The ninth finding is that some time in April, 1900, Frank M. Watson, who was at the time chairman of the board of county commissioners and purchasing agent under the order of the board, mentioned in finding 6, instructed H. A. Castle to look after smallpox patients in the county, and that the board would pay for the services, and some time in the month of November Frank...