Dixon v. Caudill

• Decision Date: 12 May 1911
• Citation: 136 S.W. 1043,143 Ky. 623
• Parties: DIXON v. CAUDILL.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

136 S.W. 1043

143 Ky. 623

DIXON v. CAUDILL.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

May 12, 1911

Appeal from Circuit Court, Letcher County.

David Hays, S. B. Dishman, and Ira Fields, for appellant.

Wm. H Holt, Greene & Van Winkle, and D. D. Fields & Son, for appellee.

W. B O'Connell, guardian ad litem.

MILLER J.

The question presented by this record for decision is, Did the appellant, Dixon, or the appellee, Elijah Caudill, have the right to teach the public school in district 52, of Letcher county, for the school year beginning July 1, 1907? Both taught the full school term of six months. Dixon taught in the district schoolhouse, under a contract made with trustee W. T. Campbell and John Campbell, who claimed to be a trustee; while Caudill taught in a shanty nearby, for a like period, under a contract made with trustee J. D. Caudill and George Fields, who claimed to be a trustee. Each had a daily attendance of from 20 to 30 pupils; Dixon's attendance being, perhaps, the larger.

The case arises out of a controversy as to who constituted the three trustees for the school district. It is admitted that W. T. Campbell and J. D. Caudill were school trustees at the time the respective contracts were made with Dixon and Caudill. The case turns upon the question as to whether Fields or John Campbell was the third trustee, when each of them acted with one of the admitted trustees and attempted to employ a teacher. If John Campbell was a trustee, the contract of W. T. Campbell and John Campbell with appellant Dixon, was a valid contract, and he is entitled to the compensation allowed by law for the service; while, on the other hand, if Fields was a trustee when he and J. D. Caudill made the contract with appellee, Elijah Caudill, the latter is entitled to the compensation. Fields had been elected in October, 1903, for a term of three years beginning July 1 1904. At an election held in October, 1906, for the purpose of choosing a successor to Fields for the term beginning July 1, 1907, John Campbell and Spencer Banks were rival candidates. About half an hour before the time fixed for the closing of the polls, the election officers (the appellee, Elijah Caudill, being one of them) left the polling booth for a few minutes to witness a disturbance that had suddenly arisen outside, and, when they returned some 10 or 15 minutes later, the poll sheet had disappeared and was never recovered. The officers of election closed the polls, and, after having unsuccessfully endeavored to recover the lost poll sheet, they declined to declare either candidate elected. No certificate of election was ever made out by the officers of election to either candidate, and no proceedings have ever been taken by either of them for the purpose of compelling the election officers to issue a certificate, or to determine the result of the election. The judge and clerk of the election, however, made a joint written statement of the foregoing facts to Pendleton, the county school superintendent, assigning them as the reason for their having refused to issue a certificate of election. Neither candidate qualified as trustee.

Subsequently, on April 20, 1907, Pendleton, the county superintendent of schools, made the following written appointment: "Office of Superintendent Common Schools. Whitesburg, Letcher Co., Ky. April 20, 1907. It appearing to me that there is some contention among the people in school district No. 52 as to who will be the legal trustee to begin the regular term, beginning July the first, 1907: Now, therefore, by virtue of authority vested in me by section 74, common school law, I recognize and appoint John Campbell as trustee in and for said district, to begin his office July the 1, 1907, and to act until the controversy is settled or until his successor in office shall have been elected or appointed and qualified. Given under my hand date above written. Jas. S. Pendleton, Supt. Qualified before me this April 20, 1907."

John Campbell qualified as trustee, and while so acting, in conjunction with W. T. Campbell, one of the undisputed trustees, employed Dixon to teach the district school. On the other hand, Fields and Caudill, claiming that there was no vacancy, by reason of the failure of the election, and that Fields held over as trustee, employed appellee, Caudill, to teach the school. Pendleton recognized John Campbell as the trustee and Dixon as the regularly employed teacher. The students of the district had notice of the teaching by each of the teachers, and had free access to each of said schools; and Caudill, while he was teaching, knew that Pendleton was recognizing John Campbell as trustee.

Upon the trial the chancellor held there was no vacancy in the office of trustee, and that the appointment of John Campbell on April 20, 1907, was void for that reason; that Fields held over as trustee, because no successor had been elected, appointed, or qualified to succeed him, and that appellee's employment by Fields and Caudill was legal and binding. He therefore directed the county superintendent to pay Caudill the full amount of money due from the state to said district for school purposes for the year ending June 30, 1908, and from that judgment Dixon appeals.

The decision necessarily turns upon the interpretation to be given section 4436 of the Kentucky Statutes (section 5712 Russell's St.), which reads as follows: "If, from a failure to qualify according to law, or from any other cause, there be a vacancy in the office of trustee, the county superintendent of the county shall, within ten days, or as soon thereafter as practicable, supply the same by his appointment, in writing, and the trustee so appointed shall hold...