Colle Towing Co. v. Harrison County
| Decision Date | 25 February 1952 |
| Docket Number | No. 38258,38258 |
| Citation | 57 So.2d 171,213 Miss. 442 |
| Parties | COLLE TOWING CO., Inc. v. HARRISON COUNTY. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Morse & Morse, Gulfport, for appellant.
Jo Drake Arrington, Gulfport, for appellee.
The question presented for decision in this case is whether a county is liable in quantum meruit for rent on personal property when there is no valid contract with the board of supervisors for such rental.
The case was tried before the circuit judge without a jury upon an agreed statement of facts which discloses the following:
Harrison County is the owner of the d'Iberville Bridge across the Back Bay of Biloxi, a navigable body of water, which bridge is of steel and concrete construction and contains a draw span for the passage of navigation. On or about June 23, 1939, the piling supporting this draw span sank about eighteen inches, and on the named date the president of the board of supervisors, fearing that the draw span was in danger of falling into the bay, and assuming to act for the board of supervisors, rented two barges from appellant which were placed under and used as temporary supports for the draw span. One was a wooden barge for which there was an agreed rental of $12 per day plus towing charges, and the other was a steel barge for which there was an agreed rental of $15 per day plus towing charges. Subsequently, on August 11, 1939, it was decided that the wooden barge was inadequate, and, on request of the president of the board, appellant substituted a steel barge at an agreed rental of $15 per day plus towing charges. These barges remained under and supported the draw span until about September 11, 1940, when they were released to appellant.
On October 23, 1939, at a special meeting of the board of supervisors, the board undertook by an order entered upon its minutes to ratify the foregoing oral contract. It is conceded that this order is void and that no valid contract was ever made with appellant. From time to time the county made payments to appellant under the oral contract which aggregated approximately $12,250, and, if the county is liable, the balance due is $1,535 which is the amount sued for. In October 1939 and at various other times thereafter appellant orally requested release of the barges but these requests were refused.
On April 7, 1942, appellant brought suit for the said sum of $1,535 and based its right of recovery on the above mentioned minutes of the board of supervisors. For various reasons this suit was continued from term to term until the death of appellant's attorneys. Appellant then engaged the services of another attorney who on January 17, 1951, filed an amended declaration consisting only of a second count which adopted all the allegations of the original declaration, averred that the rental claimed was reasonable, and that the county was liable for the reasonable rental value of the barges in the amount originally claimed. Upon the hearing the trial judge found against appellant and dismissed the suit.
Appellant relies primarily upon the case of Crump v. Board of Supervisors of Colfax County, 52 Miss. 107, and particularly upon the following sentence in the opinion therein: 'But since the county enjoyed the use of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
MAYOR & BD. OF ALDERMEN v. Welch, No. 2003-CC-02103-SCT.
...Columbus, 333 F.Supp. 1012 (N.D.Miss.1971); Reliance Mfg. Co. v. Barr, 245 Miss. 86, 146 So.2d 569 (1962); Colle Towing Co. v. Harrison County, 213 Miss. 442, 57 So.2d 171 (1952); Am. Oil Co. v. Marion County, 187 Miss. 148, 192 So. 296 ¶ 79. The circuit court found, contrary to the decisio......
-
Urban Developers LLC v. City of Jackson, Miss.
...injustice." Butler v. Bd. of Supervisors for Hinds County, 659 So.2d 578, 579 (Miss.1995) (quoting Colle Towing Co. v. Harrison County, 213 Miss. 442, 57 So.2d 171, 172 (1952)). Indeed, "the policy of protecting the public's funds for use by and for the public is paramount to other individu......
-
Lefoldt v. Horne, L.L.P., 16-60245
...of supervisors."80 Mississippi has enforced the minutes requirement strictly, even when "apparent injustice" results.81 In Colle Towing Co. v. Harrison County , the parties conceded that an attempt by the board to ratify a prior oral contract was "void and that no valid contract was ever ma......
-
Reliance Mfg. Co. v. Barr
...164 Miss. 442, 144 So. 562, 86 A.L.R. 63; American Oil Company v. Marion County, 187 Miss. 148, 192 So. 296; Colle Towing Company v. Harrison County, 213 Miss. 442, 57 So.2d 171; Brown v. City of Gulfport, 213 Miss. 457, 57 So.2d The authorities hold generally, however, that the defense of ......