Fisher v. Dallas County, 31
| Decision Date | 19 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | D,No. 84-680,No. 31,31,84-680 |
| Citation | 369 N.W.2d 426 |
| Parties | Rick and Diane FISHER, Appellants, v. DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa, Drainage Districtallas County, Iowa and the Board of Supervisors of Dallas County, Iowa, Acting on Behalf of Said Drainage District, Appellees. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
George H. Capps of Comito & Capps, Des Moines, for appellants.
Lee H. Gaudineer and Jon K. Swanson of Austin & Gaudineer, Des Moines, for appellees.
Considered by UHLENHOPP, P.J., and HARRIS, McGIVERIN, LARSON and SCHULTZ, JJ.
Plaintiffs Rick and Diane Fisher appeal from the judgment of the district court after trial dismissing their petition against defendants Dallas County, Dallas County Drainage District No. 31, and the Dallas County Board of Supervisors acting on behalf of the drainage district. We affirm.
The issues we need consider on this appeal are (1) whether the trial court erred in ruling that a drainage district cannot be sued in tort for money damages, and (2) whether the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiffs' petition against defendants Dallas County and its board of supervisors.
In 1976 plaintiffs bought an undeveloped five-acre tract in Dallas County. The acreage adjoined a county gravel road. Located in the ditch between the road and plaintiffs' property were two signs reading, "County Intakes." The intakes led into a drainage tile line running beneath plaintiffs' property, although plaintiffs did not know this at the time they purchased the land. Plaintiffs' land was a part of defendant Drainage District 31 in Dallas County. See Iowa Code ch. 455. Before the purchase, plaintiffs inspected the acreage several times and did not observe any standing water on it or in the county ditch.
Plaintiffs proceeded to build a house on this land approximately two hundred feet from the county ditch. In June 1977, they and their children moved into the house.
In 1979 or 1980, plaintiffs first noticed that after heavy rains or spring thaws standing water would accumulate in the ditch and take a day or two to drain away. By the spring of 1981, this water, when it accumulated, began to encroach upon plaintiffs' property. They sought the advice of the county engineer, who recommended that they connect their basement sump pump to the drainage district's tile line. Plaintiffs followed this advice, but the water problem only worsened.
In January 1982, a thaw combined with precipitation resulted in the flooding of plaintiffs' basement and most of the 200-foot space between their house and the county road. This water did not drain away. Plaintiffs talked with a county supervisor about the flooding, but no action was taken by the county.
On July 12, 1982, plaintiffs filed the present action, seeking abatement of the water on their property as a nuisance and damages for the flooding on theories of failure to properly maintain the drainage tile line, negligent inspection and maintenance of it, and negligent issuance of a permit for the building of plaintiffs' house.
In December 1982, a county work force excavated on and around plaintiffs' property to locate the drainage tile line suspected of causing the problem. After locating and opening the line near plaintiffs' house, the county crew removed some tree roots and debris and told plaintiffs the problem was solved. However, the water on their land did not recede and their basement continued to flood intermittently.
In early 1983, plaintiffs hired a private drainage contractor, who inspected the drainage tile line and opined that it was blocked. He proceeded to excavate the line in April 1983 and arranged for a local Roto-Rooter service to use a rooting machine on the line. The machine cleared tree roots from a 300-foot section of the line. Upon completion of the rooting operation, the water on plaintiffs' property drained away overnight and had not returned as of the time the case went to trial in March 1984. In view of this, plaintiffs dropped their claim seeking abatement of a nuisance and proceeded to trial only on the negligence and damage issues. Defendant district paid the expense of the private engineer and rooting operation.
After trial to the court, the district court entered findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment. Iowa R.Civ.P. 179(a). The court concluded as a matter of law that under the facts in the present case neither the drainage district nor the board of supervisors acting on its behalf could be sued for money damages. The court also concluded that Dallas County owed no legal duty to plaintiffs to prevent the injuries they had sustained from the flooding. Accordingly, the court dismissed plaintiffs' petition. This appeal by plaintiffs followed.
I. Liability of the Drainage District to Plaintiffs.
A. Nature of a drainage district. Article I, section 18 of the Constitution of Iowa empowers the legislature to
provide for the organization of drainage districts, vest the proper authorities with power to construct and maintain levees, drains, and ditches and to keep in repair all drains, ditches, and levees heretofore constructed under the laws of the state, by special assessments upon the property benefited thereby.
(Emphasis added.) The legislative provisions for the creation and maintenance of drainage districts are contained in Iowa Code chapter 455.
A drainage district is an area of land, set out by legal proceedings, which is subject to assessment for drainage improvements within the area. State v. Olson, 249 Iowa 536, 548, 86 N.W.2d 214, 221 (1958). Its affairs are managed by the county board of supervisors in a representative capacity. Id.; Iowa Code § 455.135(1). Once the district's original construction has been completed and paid for, the district may be placed under the management of a board of trustees. Iowa Code § 462.1.
A drainage district may be formed on the petition of two or more owners of land within the proposed district. Iowa Code § 455.7. The board of supervisors has the authority to establish a drainage district if it finds that establishment of the district would benefit the public welfare. Iowa Code § 455.28.
The board of supervisors has the power to buy, lease, or condemn land on behalf of the drainage district. Iowa Code § 455.29. The board awards contracts for construction of drainage improvements to be made within the district. Iowa Code §§ 455.40-.44. Drainage improvements include such things as ditches, drains, levees, and settling basins. Iowa Code § 455.18(2).
The cost of establishing a drainage district and constructing and maintaining its drainage lines and other improvements is defrayed by assessing the landowners within the district in proportion to the benefit that accrues to each owner's land from the establishment and maintenance of the district. Art. I, § 18 Iowa Const.; Iowa Code *429s § 455.45-.47. The board of supervisors on behalf of the district may also issue bonds, payable only out of money raised by future assessments, for the purpose of meeting the expenses of establishing or maintaining a drainage district. Iowa Code §§ 455.81, .82. The board, however, has no power to impose a general tax for the benefit of a drainage district.
B. Legal status of drainage districts. Our cases concerning the legal status of drainage districts have consistently noted the limited nature of their existence. They have only such powers as the statutes provide. See Reed v. Muscatine-Louisa Drainage District No. 13, 263 N.W.2d 548, 551 (Iowa 1978). This principle has circumscribed the cases in which we have allowed drainage districts to exist as juristic entities. Each such case has been based on a statutory provision concerning the powers or duties of a drainage district.
Thus, we have allowed suits in mandamus against a county board of supervisors, acting for the drainage district, to compel proper maintenance of a drainage district's drainage system. See, e.g., Wise v. Board of Supervisors, 242 Iowa 870, 48 N.W.2d 247 (1951). The duty of the board of supervisors to maintain drainage systems on behalf of the district is established by Iowa Code section 455.135(1).
We have allowed a suit to challenge the validity of a drainage district's assessments imposed on land within the district for repairs of the drainage line. See Voogd v. Joint Drainage District No. 3-11, Kossuth & Winnebago Counties, 188 N.W.2d 387 (Iowa 1971). The power to levy such assessments is granted by Iowa Code section 455.45.
An owner of realty within the drainage district may appeal to the district court from any final action of the board of supervisors with respect to the drainage district. Iowa Code § 455.92. Such appeal is made exclusive of all other remedies by section 455.106. We do not suggest that the Dallas County board of supervisors took any "final action" in the present case, but we believe that sections 455.92 and .106 are further indicative of the legislature's intent to sharply restrict the circumstances in which the affairs of a drainage district are subject to judicial action.
The limited nature of a drainage district's purposes and powers are, therefore, reflected in the limited circumstances in which a drainage district is subject to suit. Those circumstances have never been held to include demands for money damages on a tort theory for injury to land within the district. Suits have been allowed only to compel, complete, or correct the performance of a duty or the exercise of a power by those acting on behalf of a drainage district. Our cases have consistently held that a drainage district is not susceptible to suit for money damages. It has no corporate existence for that purpose. See Board of Supervisors v. District Court, 209 Iowa 1030, 1033, 229 N.W. 711, 712 (1930); Maben v. Olson, 187 Iowa 1060, 1070, 175 N.W. 512, 516 (1919); Gish v. Castner-Williams and Askland Drainage District, 136 Iowa 155, 157, 113 N.W. 757 (1907). Cf. Holler v. Board of Supervisors, 304 N.W.2d 441, 442 (Iowa...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Bd. of Water Works Trs. of Des Moines v. Sac Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors
...1: As a matter of Iowa law, does the doctrine of implied immunity of drainage districts as applied in cases such as Fisher v. Dallas County , 369 N.W.2d 426 (Iowa 1985), grant drainage districts unqualified immunity from all of the damage claims set forth in the complaint (docket no. 2)?Ans......
-
Alcala v. Marriott Int'l, Inc.
...to directed verdict on negligence claims based on insufficient evidence of the standard of care or its breach); Fisher v. Dallas County, 369 N.W.2d 426, 431 (Iowa 1985) (affirming dismissal because the “record contains no evidence regarding that standard of care” or its breach).Marriott arg......
-
Bd. of Water Works Trs. of Des Moines v. Sac Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors of Drainage Districts 32, 42, 65, 79, 81, 83, 86
...1: As a matter of Iowa law, does the doctrine of implied immunity of drainage districts as applied in cases such as Fisher v. Dallas County, 369 N.W.2d 426 (Iowa 1985), grant drainage districts unqualified immunity from all of the damage claims set forth in the complaint (docket no. 2)?Answ......
-
National Properties Corp. v. Polk County
...of chapter 613A of the Iowa Code were not met. Defendants assert the case is controlled by our recent opinion in Fisher v. Dallas County, 369 N.W.2d 426 (Iowa 1985). We agree with defendants. In Fisher we explained the "limited nature of a drainage district's purposes and powers" and the "l......