Green v. Bd. of Comr's of Lincoln Cnty.

• Decision Date: 26 July 1927
• Docket Number: Case Number: 18311
• Citation: 259 P. 635,1927 OK 217,126 Okla. 300
• Parties: GREEN et al. v. BOARD OF COMR'S OF LINCOLN COUNTY et al.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1927 OK 217

259 P. 635

126 Okla. 300

GREEN et al. v. BOARD OF COMR'S OF LINCOLN COUNTY et al.

Case Number: 18311

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: July 26, 1927

Syllabus

¶0 Statutes--Validity of County Highway Improvement Bonds Unaffected by Statute Changing Law Approved by Governor on Day of Bond Election. Where the board of county commissioners, by resolution and notice, cause an election to be called at which county bonds for road improvements are voted, and, by the required majority of the voters cf the county, such bonds are declared carried, and, on the afternoon of the day on which said election is held, after most of the votes on the question have been cast, the Governor approves a measure passed by the Legislature which amends or repeals the law under which the bonds are voted, the steps thus taken will be considered a "proceeding begun by virtue of such repealed statute" as contemplated in section 54, art. 5 of the Constitution of Oklahoma, and the issuance and sale of such bonds are governed by the law existing prior to such amendment or repeal.

W. L. Johnson, M. A. Cox, R. R. Rittenhouse, W. G. Wilson, Fred Brown, H. M. Jarrett, and Andrews & Andrews, for plaintiffs in error J. W. Green and Hugh Dean. Erwin & Erwin, Courtland M. Feuquay, W. L. Johnson, Ira E. Billingslea, W. E. Wells, and J. B. Dudley, for plaintiffs in error P. D. Erwin et al., interveners. Bierer & Bierer, for plaintiffs in error D. W. Norris et al., interveners.

Roscoe Cox, Co. Atty., for defendants in error.

E. A. Foster, James A. Embry, and Freeling & Box, for defendant in error M. E. Trapp, intervener.

PHELPS, J.

¶1 On the 29th day of March, 1927, pursuant to resolution and notice theretofore given by the board of county commissioners of Lincoln county, an election was held at which there were 7,748 votes cast in favor of, and 1,339 votes against the issuance of $ 1,200,000 negotiable coupon bonds bearing interest at the rate of 4 3/4 per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually and maturing in equal installments in 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years, respectively, such bonds being voted for the purpose of improving certain designated highways in Lincoln county. The bond issue having been declared carried the board of county commissioners, on April 4, entered into a contract with former Governor M. E. Trapp to sell said bonds to him for par, accrued interest and premium of $ 1,200: whereupon plaintiffs in error, resident taxpayers, filed their petition in the district court of Lincoln county praying for an injunction against the issuance and sale of such bonds.

¶2 Upon trial judgment was rendered denying the injunction, to reverse which this appeal is prosecuted. It appears that in the calling and conduct of the election and in contracting for the sale of the bonds in question the board of county commissioners, defendants in error here, proceeded under law in force prior to the convening of the eleventh session of the Legislature. The Eleventh Legislature, in what is termed "Senate Bill No. 87" (chap. 22, Session Laws 1927), passed an act which amended if not repealed, the law theretofore existing governing the manner of holding elections for the purpose of voting, issuing, and selling of bonds such as were voted at this election, and this act was approved by the Governor at 4:10 p. m. on March 29, 1927, the day the election was held to vote the bonds in question.

¶3 This act carried the "emergency clause," and it is the contention of plaintiffs in error that it became effective immediately upon its approval by the Governor, and that, while the election was conducted under and the bonds voted in pursuance of the provisions of the law existing before the passage of Senate Bill No. 87, since this measure went into effect on the day the election was held, the issuance and sale of the bonds must be governed by the provisions of said Senate Bill No. 87.

¶4 There is one group of interveners herein who make the same contention, while another group of interveners take the position that the bonds are invalid for the reason that neither the provisions of the old nor new law were complied with in the election and the issuance and sale of the bonds; while intervener M. E. Trapp, proposed purchaser of the bonds, contends that Senate Bill No. 87 is void and that the provisions thereof have no application whatever to either the election or issuance and sale of the bonds, but that he is entitled to enforce his contract for the purchase of the bonds under the provisions of the statute existing before the passage of Senate Bill No.87. The board of county commissioners, defendants in the court below and defendants in error here, contend that, inasmuch as the election was called and conducted under the provisions of the law existing before the passage of Senate Bill No. 87, the issuance and sale of the bonds must be governed by the law in force at the time the proceedings were commenced, and that the provisions of Senate Bill No. 87 apply neither to the election nor to the issuance and sale of the bonds.

¶5 The various parties to this action have presented herein many questions affecting this bond issue. They are represented by an unusual array of able counsel and have favored us with exhaustive briefs and arguments, many of which questions, however, and much of the argument presented being of a highly technical character, and will say, at the outset, hoping not to be understood as being unduly critical, that we see no merit in many of the propositions urged and contentions made and can see no good reason why we should use time and space in disposing of them.

¶6 A careful reading of section 26 of article 10 of the Constitution and sections 10087 and 10088, C. O. S. 1921, and chapter 48 of the Session Laws of 1924--and particularly section 23 thereof--together with Mayberry v. Gladdis, 88 Okla. 286, 213 P. 316, and Franklin v. Ryan, 125 Okla. 161, 256 P. 932, in our judgment, furnishes a sufficient answer to most of the questions here raised. As we view it, the sole question for us to determine is, whether the county commissioners were legally authorized, in the issuance and sale of the bonds in question, in following the law as it existed prior to the passage and approval of Senate Bill No. 87, or whether they are circumscribed in the issuance and sale of such bonds by the provisions of that act.

¶7 According to the provisions of Senate Bill No. 87, bonds such as were here voted by the citizens of Lincoln county shall mature in annual installments, beginning not less than three nor more than five years after their date. The act further provides that before the bonds are sold at least ten days, notice must be given of the time and place when and where bids will be received, and that each bidder for the bonds shall submit, with his bid, cash or its equivalent equal to two per cent. of his bid, and the bidder shall stipulate the lowest rate of interest which such bonds shall bear. It will be observed that there is a material difference between the provisions of Senate Bill No. 87 and the proposition on which the voters of Lincoln county voted. They voted on a bond issue which was to mature in five installments, five years apart, the first of which was to be five years from the date of issuance; whereas Senate Bill No. 87 provides that they shall mature in annual installments, such maturity beginning not less than three years from their date. Senate Bill No. 87 provides that the rate of interest to be borne by the bonds shall be determined by the bidder, while the rate of interest was fixed in the proposition here voted on at 4 3/4 per cent. It will thus be seen that it would be impossible for the board of county commissioners, in the issuance and sale of the bonds, to comply with the provisions of Senate Bill No. 87 and at the same time follow the direction given them by the voters who expressed their desires at the polls.

¶8 Section 54 of article 5 of the Constitution of Oklahoma provides that:

"The repeal of a statute shall not revive a statute previously repealed by such statute nor shall such repeal affect any accrued right, or penalty incurred, or proceeding begun by virtue of such repealed statute" --and it is contended by defendants in error, and their view seems to have been sustained by the district court of Lincoln county, that the issuance and sale of these bonds "proceeding" commenced before the repeal of the law within the contemplation of this section of the Constitution.

¶9 In re Application of State to Issue Bonds, 40 Okla. 145, 136 P. 1104, was a proceeding instituted in the district court of Oklahoma county by the Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer for the purpose of determining the existence, character, and amount of legal outstanding warrant indebtedness of the state with a view to issuing funding bonds. Protests against this proceeding were filed. It was claimed that the adoption on May 17, 1913, of the revised and annotated laws, commonly referred to as the Harris-Day Code, had the effect of repealing the statute under which the proceeding was commenced,...