Dufur v. Nampa & Meridian Irr. Dist.

• Decision Date: 08 March 1996
• Docket Number: Nos. 21377,22055,s. 21377
• Citation: 912 P.2d 687,128 Idaho 319
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals
• Parties: George C. DUFUR and Lorna G. Dufur, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants-Cross Respondents, v. NAMPA & MERIDIAN IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Defendant-Respondent-Cross Appellant, and Henry Weick and Daren R. Coon, in their capacities as President and Secretary, respectively, of Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District, and M.L. Bronson, an individual, Defendants. George C. DUFUR and Lorna G. Dufur, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. NAMPA & MERIDIAN IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellant, and M.L. Bronson, an individual, Defendant-Respondent, and Henry Weick and Daren R. Coon, in their capacities as President and Secretary, respectively, of Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District, Defendants.

Page 687

912 P.2d 687

128 Idaho 319

George C. DUFUR and Lorna G. Dufur, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants-Cross Respondents, v. NAMPA & MERIDIAN IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Defendant-Respondent-Cross Appellant and Henry Weick and Daren R. Coon, in their capacities as President and Secretary, respectively, of Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District, and M.L. Bronson, an individual, Defendants George C. DUFUR and Lorna G. Dufur, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. NAMPA & MERIDIAN IRRIGATION DISTRICT, Defendant-Appellant and M.L. Bronson, an individual, Defendant-Respondent and Henry Weick and Daren R. Coon, in their capacities as President and Secretary, respectively, of Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District, Defendants.

Nos. 21377, 22055.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

March 8, 1996.

Consolidated appeals from the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Ada County; Hon. Robert G. Newhouse, District Judge.

Summary judgment for plaintiffs in action to declare irrigation assessment collection procedures unconstitutional, and orders denying awards of attorney fees, affirmed.

Jim Jones & Associates, Boise, for appellants. John C. McCreedy argued.

Ringert & Clark, Chtd., Boise, for respondent. William F. Ringert argued.

WALTERS, Chief Judge.

Before this Court are two appeals originating from the same civil action. In the district court, George C. and Lorna G. Dufur, husband and wife, sought a declaration that the statutory procedures used by the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District (Irrigation District) to foreclose on the Dufurs' real property were unconstitutional. The Dufurs sought recovery of their real property, damages, costs and attorney fees. In case no. 21377, the Dufurs appeal from the district court's order denying their motion for attorney fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and the Private Attorney General Doctrine. The Irrigation District cross-appeals. In case no. 22055, the Irrigation District appeals from an order of the district court denying the Irrigation District's postjudgment motion under I.R.C.P. 60(b)(4) to set aside the court's determination that the statutory foreclosure procedures were unconstitutional. On that appeal, the Irrigation District contends that the court's decision was void for lack of jurisdiction. For the reasons set forth, we affirm the orders and judgment of the district court in both cases.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Dufurs owned real property located within the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District. During their ownership of the real property, the Dufurs never received irrigation water nor did they utilize water in any other form supplied by the district. However, the Irrigation District annually billed the Dufurs for a portion of the district's maintenance cost.

In 1988, the Dufurs failed to pay the Irrigation District's assessment in the sum of $21.87. They also failed to pay assessments levied against them in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The Irrigation District undertook statutory collection proceedings by publishing notice of the unpaid 1988 irrigation assessment, in the local newspaper circulated in the county, for three consecutive weeks in September of 1991. A copy of the published notice of delinquency was sent by registered mail to the Dufurs, at which time the Irrigation District also informed the Dufurs that they had until July 29, 1992, to pay the delinquent assessments in order to redeem the property. They were also informed by the Irrigation District that the property would be sold at a tax deed auction on August 18, 1992, if the assessments were not paid. The Dufurs failed to pay the assessments. A tax deed was executed and delivered to the Irrigation District by Daren R. Coon, an officer of the Irrigation District. Then, on August 18, 1992, the Irrigation District executed and delivered a deed to M.L. Bronson at a public auction, in exchange for $400.

The Dufurs filed a complaint on March 11, 1993, alleging that the statutory procedures used by the Irrigation District to foreclose on their property were unconstitutional because the procedures employed did not afford the Dufurs adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard before depriving them of their property interests. They asserted that, as a result, the tax deeds were void or voidable and subject to cancellation by the court. The Dufurs also requested costs and attorney fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, and damages against the respondents in specified amounts.

In June and again in July 1993, the Dufurs filed motions for partial summary judgment with regard to their due process allegations, asserting that I.C. §§ 43-712, 43-716, 43-717 and 43-724 were facially unconstitutional. On August 30, 1993, after a hearing, the district court held that all of the statutes, except I.C. § 43-712, were unconstitutional because they failed to provide minimum constitutional due process protection. ¹ The court did not decide the issues of title, damages, costs and attorney fees because those claims were not raised by the Dufurs in their summary judgment motions.

On September 8, 1993, the Dufurs filed another motion for partial summary judgment based upon the court's August 30, 1993 decision and order. This motion asserted that because the court had declared unconstitutional the foreclosure procedure established by the noted statutes, the court should also declare the tax deeds null and void, thereby quieting title in favor of the Dufurs. On November 19, 1993, the Dufurs filed a motion for an award of attorney fees, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, again based on the August 30, 1993 order. In an order and judgment filed on March 15, 1994, the court granted the Dufurs' motion for partial summary judgment, declared the tax deeds null and void and restored title to the property in the Dufurs. The court also denied any claim for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Later, in an order dated April 26, 1994, the court held that each party was to "bear their own costs and attorney's fees."

The Dufurs appealed from the April 26 order denying an award of attorney fees, and the Irrigation District cross-appealed. These claims are now before this Court as case no. 21377.

During the appellate briefing schedule process in case no. 21377, the Irrigation District filed a motion in the district court, pursuant to I.R.C.P. 60(b)(4), seeking to vacate in part the district court's March 15, 1994, order. The motion was directed at the court's declaration that the tax deeds were null and void, the revestment of title to the property in the Dufurs, and the award of damages to the Dufurs. The district court denied the motion following a hearing, and the Irrigation District appealed. This appeal was assigned case no. 22055. The appeals have been consolidated for review.

II. DISCUSSION

We deem it appropriate to begin our discussion with the issues raised in case no. 22055.

A. Irrigation District's Appeal, Case No. 22055

The Irrigation District argues that the district court abused its discretion in not setting aside the order and judgment filed on March 15, 1994, as void pursuant to I.R.C.P. 60(b)(4). ² The Irrigation District asserts that: (1) the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to consider the constitutionality of I.C. §§ 43-716, 43-717 and 43-724; (2) the Dufurs failed to allege their constitutional deprivation with particularity as required pursuant to I.R.C.P. 9(b); (3) the Dufurs had the right to present their objections to the Board of Directors of the Irrigation District, sitting as a board of correction under I.C. § 43-703 and, by failing to do so, did not preserve for consideration by the district court any issue as to the correctness of the assessment; (4) the Dufurs did not suffer any injury because they did not have any valid defenses to present at a hearing, if one had been required; and (5) the court exceeded its jurisdiction by ordering payments pursuant to I.C. § 43-726. ³ Finally the Irrigation District requests an award of attorney fees on appeal against the Dufurs.

1. I.R.C.P. 60(b)(4)

A motion to set aside an allegedly void judgment is addressed to the sound legal discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed unless an abuse of discretion clearly appears. Catledge v. Transport Tire Co., Inc., 107 Idaho 602, 607, 691 P.2d 1217, 1222 (1984). To hold that a judgment is void under I.R.C.P. 60(b)(4), there generally must be some jurisdictional defect in the court's authority to enter judgment, because the court lacks either personal jurisdiction or subject matter jurisdiction. Id.; Puphal v. Puphal, 105 Idaho 302, 306, 669 P.2d 191, 195 (1983); Kukuruza v. Kukuruza, 120 Idaho 630, 632, 818 P.2d 334, 336 (Ct.App.1991). The party seeking to set aside the judgment pursuant to I.R.C.P. 60(b) bears the burden of proving its right to relief. In the Matter of Adoption of A Male Child, 102 Idaho 225, 226-27, 628 P.2d 1059, 1060-61 (1981), citing Pullin v. City of Kimberly, 100 Idaho 34, 592 P.2d 849 (1979).

The record shows that the Irrigation District gave the Dufurs notice of the tax deed auction, but did not provide them with a hearing prior to taking possession of the Dufurs' real property interests. The right to enjoy property without unlawful deprivation is a "personal" right which has long been recognized. Lynch v. Household Finance Corp., 405 U.S. 538, 552, 92 S.Ct. 1113, 1121, 31 L.Ed.2d 424 (1972). Both notice and a hearing are required under the Fourteenth Amendment before such a deprivation of an individual's property takes place. Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 81-82, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 1994-95, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972). The purpose of these requirements is not only "to ensure abstract fair play to the individual" but to also protect the individual's use and possession of property from arbitrary encroachment. Id. at 81, 92 S.Ct. at 1994. Furthermore, the right to be heard does not depend upon an advance showing that one will prevail...