Dickson v. Board of Directors of Long Prairie Levee District

• Decision Date: 08 November 1920
• Docket Number: 223
• Citation: 225 S.W. 12,146 Ark. 14
• Parties: DICKSON v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF LONG PRAIRIE LEVEE DISTRICT
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

225 S.W. 12

146 Ark. 14

DICKSON v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF LONG PRAIRIE LEVEE DISTRICT

No. 223

Supreme Court of Arkansas

November 8, 1920

Appeal from Lafayette Chancery Court; J. M. Barker, Chancellor reversed.

Judgment reversed, and cause remanded.

J. M Carter, for appellant.

1. The demurrer to the complaint should have been sustained, as it shows no right in plaintiff to go upon and construct a levee across appellant's lands. Act 106, Acts 1905, p. 267. Act 339, Acts 1917, p. 1863, does not authorize the district to exercise the right of eminent domain, and the demurrer should have been sustained.

2. It was error to admit oral proof of the filing of the plans and specifications. 80 Ark. 80. See, also, 15 N.E. 601; 37 Id. 91; 3 Tex. Civ. App. 436; 48 A. 218; 10 N.E 657; 19 So. 239; 63 N.E. 118.

OPINION

MCCULLOCH, C. J.

Appellee is a levee district in Lafayette County, organized by special statute enacted by the General Assembly of 1905. Acts 1905, page 267. A levee was constructed to protect the lands in the district from inundation from the waters of Red River. The General Assembly of 1917 (Acts 1917, page 1683) enacted another special statute reciting the fact that a considerable portion of the levee built by said district had been washed away, and that it had become necessary to raise and strengthen the levee for the protection of the property in the district. The new statute provided, in substance, that the board of directors of said district should "raise and strengthen the levees of said district" and "change the location thereof where necessary so as to protect the lands of said district, or as much of said lands as practicable, from overflow by the waters of Red River," and that the board should employ an engineer to make plans for the relocation of the levees, and that "said plans with the accompanying specifications and a plat showing the location of all levees in the district together with an estimate of the probable cost" should be filed in the office of the county clerk. The statute further provided that the board of directors should appoint a board of assessors to assess the benefits to accrue from the additional improvement "and also all damages which may be sustained by any person or corporation by reason of the construction of the improvement;" that the assessment of benefits and damages so made should be filed with the president of the board of directors; that notice should be published and a hearing given to landowners who desired to make complaint, and that any person or corporation "aggrieved by the action of the board of assessors fixing the assessment list, as herein provided, shall have the right for twenty days from the date of adjournment of said board of assessors sitting as a board of equalization to apply to any court of competent jurisdiction to set aside said assessment list," etc.

Appellant owned certain lands in the district, and when the work of the improvement began, he refused to permit the work to be done on his land and interfered with the contractor. This action was instituted by the board of directors of said district to restrain appellant from interfering with the construction of the levee. On final hearing injunctive relief was granted as prayed for, and an appeal has been prosecuted to this court.

The first contention of appellant is that there was no...