Griffin v. Board of Sup'rs of Prince Edward County

• Decision Date: 05 March 1962
• Docket Number: No. 5390,5390
• Citation: 203 Va. 321,124 S.E.2d 227
• Parties: LESLIE FRANCIS GRIFFIN, JR., AN INFANT, SUING BY L. F. GRIFFIN, SR., HIS FATHER AND NEXT FRIEND, AND L. F. GRIFFIN, SR. v. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY. Record
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

Page 227

124 S.E.2d 227

203 Va. 321

LESLIE FRANCIS GRIFFIN, JR., AN INFANT, SUING BY L. F. GRIFFIN, SR., HIS FATHER AND NEXT FRIEND, AND L. F. GRIFFIN, SR. v. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY.

Record No. 5390.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia

March 5, 1962.

S. W. Tucker (Henry L. Marsh, III, on brief), for the petitioners.

J. Segar Gravatt (Frank N. Watkins, Commonwealth's Attorney; Collins Denny, Jr., on brief), for the respondent.

Frederick T. Gray, Attorney General (Kenneth C. Patty, Assistant Attorney General; R. D. McIlwaine, III, Assistant Attorney General, on brief), for the Commonwealth, amici curiae.

JUDGE: EGGLESTON

EGGLESTON, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an original petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Leslie Francis Griffin, Jr., an infant, suing by L. F. Griffin, Sr., his father and next friend, and by L. F. Griffin, Sr., in his own right, hereinafter referred to as the petitioners, to compel the Board of Supervisors of Prince Edward county, sometimes hereinafter referred to as the respondent, to appropriate and make available to the School Board of that county sufficient funds for the operation and maintenance for the 1961-1962 school term, and subsequent terms, of such public free schools as in the judgment of the School Board the public welfare requires. The matter is before us on the petition, the answer and a stipulation, from which these facts appear:

Both petitioners are citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, residing in Prince Edward county. The infant petitioner is within the age limits of eligibility to attend public schools and possesses the qualifications necessary for admission thereto. His father, the adult petitioner, is a taxpayer of the Commonwealth and of Prince Edward county.

Beginning with the fiscal year 1959-1960, and thereafter for each succeeding fiscal year, the School Board has prepared and submitted to the Board of Supervisors an estimate of the amount of money deemed necessary for the maintenance and operation of public schools in the county. For each of these fiscal years the Board of Supervisors has failed and refused to appropriate any money for such purpose. However, for the fiscal year 1961-1962 it appropriated the sum of $285,000 for 'Educational Purposes in furtherance of the elementary and secondary education of children residing in Prince Edward county in private nonsectarian schools to be expended as may be provided by Ordinance and pursuant to Section 141 of the Constitution of Virginia,' as amended.

The petition alleges that the respondent's failure and refusal to appropriate funds for the maintenance and operation of public free schools in the county was occasioned by the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, on May 5, 1959, that white and colored children should be enrolled and taught together. Allen v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, 4 Cir., 266 F.2d 507. However, in the petitioners' brief it is 'conceded' that the motives which prompted the inaction on the part of the Board of Supervisors are immaterial to the issues involved in the present litigation.

The petitioners further point out in their brief that 'there are no Federal questions [involved] in this proceeding,' and we perceive none.

The petition further alleges that 'by reason of Article IX of the Constitution of Virginia, and particularly Sections 129 and 136 thereof, and the several statutes which have been enacted pursuant to said article, it is the duty of the respondent board of supervisors to appropriate money to be used by the County School Board of Prince Edward County for the maintenance and operation of such public free schools as in the judgment of said school board the public welfare may require.'

The respondent denies that these or any other provisions of the Constitution of Virginia, or of any statute enacted by the General Assembly, 'impose a duty upon the said Board of Supervisors to appropriate any revenue under its control for the operation of schools.' It alleges that its failure to levy taxes and make appropriations for the maintenance and support of such schools are matters which 'are wholly within the legislative discretion vested in said Board of Supervisors under the Constitution and laws of Virginia and are not subject to control by the judicial process by writ of mandamus as prayed for in the petition.'

Thus the pleadings present to us these questions: (1) What is the duty imposed by law on the Board of Supervisors of Prince Edward county with respect to appropriations for the maintenance and operation of public free schools? (2) Will a writ of mandamus lie to compel that Board to perform such duties as are imposed on it by law with respect to such appropriations?

The argument on behalf of the petitioners runs thus: Section 136 of the Constitution imposes on the Board of Supervisors the mandatory duty of levying and collecting local school taxes for establishing and maintaining such schools as in the judgment of the local school authorities the public welfare may require; the Board of Supervisors is a mere administrative agency with respect to such duties and is vested with no legislative discretion therein; hence, mandamus will lie to require it to perform its duties in this respect.

The substance of the argument of the Board of Supervisors is that it is the legislative department of the county; that in levying taxes and appropriating local funds it exercises a legislative function and is vested with a discretionary power as to what taxes, if any, will be levied and appropriated, and that such discretion is not subject to judicial control.

Section 136 of the Constitution reads thus:

'Each county, city or town, if the same be a separate school district, and school district is authorized to raise additional sums by a tax on property, subject to local taxation, not to exceed in the aggregate in any one year a rate of levy to be fixed by law, to be apportioned and expended by the local school authorities of said counties, cities, towns and districts in establishing and maintaining such schools as in their judgment the public welfare may require; provided that such primary schools as may be established in any school year shall be maintained at least four months of that school year, before any part of the fund assessed and collected may be devoted to the establishment of schools of higher grade. The boards of supervisors of the several counties, and the councils of the several cities and towns, if the same be separate school districts, shall provide for the levy and collection of such local school taxes.' (Emphasis added.)

Article IX of the Constitution, embracing the subjects of 'Education and Public Instruction,' contemplates that moneys for the establishment and maintenance of public free schools will be appropriated partly by the General Assembly and partly by the local governing units. Section 136 provides for the raising by local taxation of 'additional sums,' that is, sums in addition to those which the General Assembly may appropriate pursuant to the preceding sections of the Constitution.

The provisions of Section 136 are implemented in Code, §§ 22-126 [203 Va. 325] and 22-127, as amended. Section 22-126, as amended, reads as follows:

'Each county, city, and town if the twon be a separate school district, is authorized to raise sums of money by a tax on all property, subject to local taxation, at such rate as may be deemed sufficient, but in no event more than three dollars on the one hundred dollars of the assessed value of the property in any one year to be expended by the local school authorities in establishing, maintaining and operating such schools as in their judgment the public welfare requires and in payment of scholarships for the furtherance of elementary or secondary education and transportation costs as required or authorized by law; * * *.' (Emphasis added.)

Section 22-127, as amended, reads:

'The governing body of any county, city, or town if the town be a separate school district, may, in its discretion, make a cash appropriation, either annually, semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly, from the funds derived from the general county, city, or town levy and from any other funds available, of such sums as in its judgment may be necessary or expedient for the establishment, maintenance and operation of public schools, and/or for educational purposes.' (Emphasis added.)

We find in neither Section 136 of the Constitution nor in the statutes implementing it, any support for the petitioners' contention that the Board of Supervisors is under the mandatory duty to levy local taxes and appropriate moneys for the support of public free schools in the county.

By the first sentence of the constitutional provision the local political unit 'is authorized' to raise additional sums, to be apportioned and expended by the local school authorities. It will be noted that such political unit 'is authorized,' not 'required,' to raise the additional sums. The words 'is authorized' denote a grant of power and discretion to act, but not a command or requirement to act. According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, 'authorized' means 'endowed with authority,' 'sanctioned by authority.' As we said in Superior Steel Corp. v. Commonwealth, 147 Va. 202, 205, 136 S.E. 666, 667, 'one is 'authorized' when he possesses the authority to act.'

Nor do we agree with the contention on behalf of the petitioners that the closing sentence of the constitutional provision, 'The boards of supervisors of the several counties, and the councils of the several cities and towns, if the same be separate school districts, shall provide for the levy and collection of such local school taxes,' imposes a mandatory duty on the Board of Supervisors to levy and appropriate these moneys. This sentence merely designates the governing bodies of the respective...