Caufield v. Cravens

• Decision Date: 15 November 1915
• Docket Number: 21657
• Citation: 70 So. 226,138 La. 283
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
• Parties: CAUFIELD v. CRAVENS, Registrar (KELLER et al., Interveners)

70 So. 226

138 La. 283

CAUFIELD v. CRAVENS, Registrar (KELLER et al., Interveners)

No. 21657

Supreme Court of Louisiana

November 15, 1915

SYLLABUS

(Syllabus by the Court.)

The words 'bona fide,' as used in the present Constitution, appear to have been added to the word 'actual,' as used in the Constitution of 1879 merely, as they themselves indicate, to emphasize the importance of good faith as a factor in the determination of the question of residence, and, by the application of that test, to prevent a person who has one or more residences from calling the one or the other his legal residence, as it may suit his interest or convenience, but to the prejudice of the rights of others.

The term 'actual, bona fide resident,' as used in article 197 of the Constitution 1913 cannot reasonably be interpreted to mean that, in order to acquire, and still less to retain, such status, one must remain continuously in the town, or upon the premises, of the residence, and the status, described, is not, therefore, affected by temporary absences, occasioned by considerations of duty, business, health, or pleasure, unless, being voluntary, they extend beyond prescribed periods, or, are accompanied by the acquisition of residence elsewhere.

One does not lose his status as an actual bona fide resident of a place, either because he finds it necessary to establish his family elsewhere, or does not, in the absence of his family, maintain a domestic establishment in such place. The question is largely one of intention, and the intention of a person, in that respect, is determined by his expressions thereof, at times not suspicious, and his testimony, when called on considered in connection with his conduct and the circumstances of his life.

H. H. Kilbourne, of Clinton, for interveners and appellants.

Lawrason & Kilbourne, of St. Francisville, for appellee.

OPINION

MONROE, C. J.

Defendant prosecutes this appeal from a judgment commanding him to reinscribe plaintiff's name on the roll of registered voters of the 'Wilson' precinct, in the Fourth ward of the parish of East Feliciana, from which he had stricken it on the ground that plaintiff had ceased to be an actual, bona fide, resident of that precinct, ward, and parish, within the meaning of article 197 of the Constitution. The registrar made no appearance in the district court, and issue was joined, between plaintiff, on the one side, and George G. Kelly and Frank M. Norsworthy, intervening as citizens and voters, on the other side. The facts disclosed by the record are as follows:

Plaintiff came to Louisiana, from Mississippi, in 1889, being then 16 years old, and established himself in Baton Rouge, where he was employed in the office of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company, and in 1896, while so established and employed, he was married to a young lady whose parents then lived, and now live, in Wilson. In 1897 he was transferred to the freight department of the railroad company, the headquarters of which were, and are, at Wilson, and he removed with his family to that place with the intention of making it their permanent home, and remained there, keeping house, until 1911, during which period the family was increased by the addition of six children. He then, in order that the children should profit by the better educational advantages which are afforded at Baton Rouge, established them there, with their mother, in a house rented for their accommodation, always with the fixed intention that the family should return to Wilson when the purpose of their sojourn in Baton Rouge shall have been accomplished, and with no intention of abandoning his own residence and citizenship in Wilson. Plaintiff was employed, during the first two years of his residence in Wilson, as flagman, and thereafter as conductor, and his duties required him to be away from his place of residence a great, and perhaps the greater, part of his time; but it is conceded that he became an actual, bona fide, resident of Wilson, and the contention of the interveners is that he lost that status by reason of the removal of his family to Baton Rouge and the change in his habits of life which followed their removal. One does not, however, lose his status, as an actual, bona fide, resident of a place, either because he finds it necessary to establish his...