Grand County v. Emery County

• Decision Date: 25 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. 20010044.,20010044.
• Citation: 2002 UT 57,52 P.3d 1148
• Parties: GRAND COUNTY, Plaintiff, Appellee, and Cross-Appellant, v. EMERY COUNTY and the City of Green River, Defendants, Appellants, and Cross-Appellees.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

52 P.3d 1148

2002 UT 57

GRAND COUNTY, Plaintiff, Appellee, and Cross-Appellant, v. EMERY COUNTY and the City of Green River, Defendants, Appellants, and Cross-Appellees.

No. 20010044.

Supreme Court of Utah.

June 25, 2002.

W. Scott Barrett, Logan, for Grand County.

David A. Blackwell, Castle Dale, for Emery County, Gerald H. Kinghorn, David J. Burns, Salt Lake City, for Green River.

RUSSON, Justice:

¶ 1 Emery County and the City of Green River ("Green River") appeal the trial court's declaratory judgment in favor of Grand County declaring that section 17-2-6(2) of the Utah Code is unconstitutional under article XI, section 3 of the Utah Constitution, and appeal the trial court's failure to certify the election results approving Emery County's annexation of that portion of Green River located within Grand County ("Green River portion of Grand County") pursuant to their petition for election review. Grand County cross-appeals the trial court's grant of Emery County and Green River's petition for election review and the trial court's attendant interpretation of section 17-2-8 of the Utah Code.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 This appeal arises out of a long-standing controversy between neighboring Grand County and Emery County and Green River, which straddles those counties' common border. The Green River portion of Grand County, with the consent and encouragement of Emery County, petitioned the relevant county legislative bodies to be annexed by Emery County, the desired result being that all of Green River would be located in Emery County instead of spread across two counties. These same parties were before this court in 1998 in connection with the same underlying controversy. In that case, Grand County v. Emery County, 969 P.2d 421 (Utah 1998), Grand County successfully challenged a previous version of section 17-2-6, the statute at issue in this appeal, in an attempt to thwart Emery County's annexation of the Green River portion of Grand County. While the underlying controversy between the counties remains the same, the statutory framework within which the battle rages has been changed by the Utah Legislature through the subsequent enactment of House Bill 49 ("H.B.49"), H.B. 49, 53d Leg., Gen. Sess., 2000 Utah Laws 115, during the 2000 general session. The constitutionality of the amended statutory scheme is the central subject of this appeal.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3 On August 3, 2000, Grand County filed an action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Emery County and Green River related to Emery County's attempt to annex the Green River portion of Grand County. On September 1, 2000, Grand County moved for a preliminary injunction in an effort to prevent Emery County and Green River's annexation proposal from being submitted to the voters of Emery County and the voters of the Green River portion of Grand County. The trial court denied Grand County's motion for injunctive relief but directed any party wishing to challenge the results of the election to petition for election review at the appropriate time after the election. The annexation proposal was submitted to the relevant voters in the 2000 general election.

¶ 4 After the election, Grand County refused to certify the election with regard to the annexation proposal. Emery County and Green River petitioned for election review on December 1, 2000, to compel certification of the voters' approval of the annexation proposal. The trial court consolidated Grand County's original action for declaratory judgment with the petition for election review.

¶ 5 On December 14, 2000, the trial court granted Emery County and Green River's petition for election review and determined that the relevant annexation statute, sections 17-2-6 and -8 of the Utah Code, requires approval of an annexation proposal by a majority of the voters in the area of the city or town to be annexed and the annexing county, and that in the 2000 general election, a majority of the voters in Emery County and the Green River portion of Grand County had approved the proposal. Despite this determination, the trial court refused to certify the election results because it simultaneously held section 17-2-6(2) of the Utah Code, the statute pursuant to which the election was held, unconstitutional, and consequently, granted Grand County its requested declaratory relief. The trial court ruled that section 17-2-6(2) of the Utah Code was unconstitutional because it violated the "general law" provision of article XI, section 3 of the Utah Constitution. The parties timely appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6 The issue of "[w]hether a statute is constitutional is a question of law, which we review for correctness, giving no deference to the trial court." State v. Daniels, 2002 UT 2, ¶ 30, 40 P.3d 611; see also State v. Kell, 2002 UT 19, ¶ 50, ___ P.3d ___; Grand County v. Emery County, 969 P.2d 421, 422 (Utah 1998). Furthermore, to the extent we are making a determination of a statute's constitutionality, the "`statute is presumed constitutional, and we resolve any reasonable doubts in favor of constitutionality.'" Utah Sch. Bds. Ass'n v. State Bd. of Educ., 2001 UT 2, ¶ 9, 17 P.3d 1125 (quotation and citation omitted); see also Daniels, 2002 UT 2 at ¶ 30, 40 P.3d 611. Additionally, because interpreting the Utah Constitution presents a question of law, we review the trial court's determination for correctness and give no deference to its legal conclusions. State v. Casey, 2002 UT 29, ¶ 19, 44 P.3d 756; Cache County v. Prop. Div. of State Tax Comm'n, 922 P.2d 758, 766 (Utah 1996).

ANALYSIS

I. CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE ANNEXATION STATUTE

¶ 7 On appeal, Emery County and Green River first argue that the trial court erred in granting Grand County declaratory judgment that section 17-2-6(2) is unconstitutional. In ruling that section 17-2-6(2) is unconstitutional, the trial court concluded that section 17-2-6(2)'s requirement—that a county wishing to annex a portion of the territory from an adjoining county must first acquire a concurrent resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of the legislature approving the annexation proposal and then the governor's signature approval on such a resolution—violated the "general law" provision of article XI, section 3 of the Utah Constitution, which establishes the general procedure and voting requirement regarding county annexations and the legislature's power to delineate the conditions of the annexation process. See Utah Const. art. XI, § 3.

¶ 8 Emery County and Green River maintain that section 17-2-6(2), H.B. 49, which amended section 17-2-6, and House Concurrent Resolution 6, H. Con. Res. 6, 53d Leg., Gen. Sess., 2000 Utah Laws 1660-61—the resolution passed by the legislature approving the annexation proposal—either are not "special laws," or in the case of the concurrent resolution, is not a "law" at all, and therefore, they do not violate article XI, section 3.

¶ 9 Article XI, section 3 of the Utah Constitution provides:

No territory shall be stricken from any county unless a majority of the voters living in such territory, as well as of the county to which it is to be annexed, shall vote therefor, and then only under such conditions as may be prescribed by general law.

Utah Const. art. XI, § 3.

¶ 10 This provision sets forth the basic requirements and framework for annexation and delegates to the legislature the authority to dictate the conditions under which annexation may occur. However, the legislature's power to set those conditions is limited by the provision in that the legislature may prescribe such conditions only "by general law." Id.

¶ 11 Pursuant to this constitutional provision, the legislature enacted title 17, chapter 2 of the Utah Code. Specifically, section 17-2-6 prescribes the conditions under which one county can annex a portion of the territory of an adjoining county. This section of the statute sets forth two different annexation methods.

¶ 12 The first annexation method (the "traditional method") allows for a majority of the voters in an area of a county to petition their county legislative body to allow the area in which they live to be annexed by an adjoining county. Utah Code Ann. § 17-2-6(1)(a). The county legislative body, upon receiving such a petition in accordance with the provisions of the statute, must submit the annexation proposal to the voters of the county from which territory is to be annexed and to the voters of the county to which the territory is to be annexed. Id. § 17-2-6(1)(b). Under this annexation method, an annexation proposal is approved if "a majority of those voting in each county have voted in favor of [the] annexation." Id. § 17-2-8(2)(a) (Supp. 2001).

¶ 13 The second or alternative annexation method (the "amended alternative method"), which is at issue in this case, was amended by the passage of H.B. 49 during the 2000 general session of the legislature. The amended alternative method provides for a similar petition process but goes further and sets forth a modified and supplemental procedure applicable where the area seeking to be annexed shares a common boundary with the annexing county and where the area proposed to be annexed (1) "is located within a city or town whose boundaries extend into the proposed annexing county," (2) "is contiguous to the portion of the city or town that is located within the proposed annexing county," and (3) "includes all of the city or town that is within the county from which the area is proposed to be taken." Utah Code Ann. § 17-2-6(2)(a)(i)(A)-(C). Under these circumstances, one county can annex a portion of an adjoining county if "by a two-thirds vote of each house, the Legislature passes a concurrent resolution" approving the annexation proposal, id. § 17-2-6(2)(a)(ii), the governor signs the concurrent resolution, id. § 17-2-6(2)(a)(iii), and an economic analysis of the annexation proposal is conducted and the analysis demonstrates that the cost and...