Harrison County v. City of Gulfport
| Decision Date | 14 February 1990 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 89-IA-511,89-IA-546,s. 89-IA-511 |
| Citation | 557 So.2d 780 |
| Parties | 59 Ed. Law Rep. 247 In the Matter of the Enlargement of the Corporate Limits and Boundaries of the City of Gulfport, Mississippi. HARRISON COUNTY v. CITY OF GULFPORT, Mississippi. In the Matter of the Extension of the Boundaries of the City of Biloxi, Mississippi. HARRISON COUNTY, Mississippi; Harrison County School District v. CITY OF BILOXI, Mississippi; City of D'Iberville; David Sanders Stockholders; Woolmarket Citizens; City of Gulfport Committee for Improvements of Orange Grove; North Gulfport Civic Club, Mississippi Power Company; Harrison County Development Commission; Mississippi Association of Educators. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Boyce Holleman, Tim C. Holleman, Albert L. Necaise, Gulfport, Jerry R. Wallace, Montgomery Smith-Vaniz & McGraw, Canton, Larry L. Lenoir, Mize, Ingram, Matthews, Stroud & Lenoir, Gulfport, Charles Victor McTeer, McTeer & Bailey, Greenville, for appellant.
Hugh D. Keating, Dukes Dukes Keating & Faneca, Gulfport, Jerry L. Mills, Pyle Dreher Mills & Woods, Jackson, James K. Wetzel, Gulfport, Charles K. Pringle, Biloxi, for appellee.
En Banc.
I.
The cities of Gulfport and Biloxi have separately brought proceedings for judicial confirmation of annexation ordinances, and our questions are whether Harrison County, acting through its board of supervisors, and as well, the Harrison County Board of Education, can appear in opposition. In each case the Chancery Court dismissed Harrison County as a party, and in the Biloxi annexation case the Court dismissed the Harrison County Board of Education as a party. We granted this interlocutory appeal to settle the important questions of whether a county as a body politic, and, as well, a county school board, (a) have standing to appear and object to these cities' annexations and (b) if so, whether they have legal power to exercise that standing.
II.
On December 15, 1987, the City of Biloxi, Mississippi, filed in the Chancery Court for the Second Judicial District of Harrison County its Petition for Ratification, Approval and Confirmation of Ordinance No. 1509, Adopted by the City of Biloxi, Mississippi, on the day of November 20, 1987, extending and enlarging the corporate limits and boundaries of the City of Biloxi, Mississippi (hereinafter referred to as the "Biloxi Annexation"). Biloxi seeks to expand the land area within its corporate boundaries from its present 24.8 square miles to an area of 37.2 square miles, for an expansion of 12.4 square miles.
The City of Biloxi, Mississippi, lies in the Second Judicial District of Harrison County, Mississippi, and the entire area proposed for expansion is situated in Harrison County, Mississippi.
On February 1, 1988, the City of Gulfport, Mississippi, filed in the Chancery Court for the First Judicial District of Harrison County its Petition for Ratification, Approval and Confirmation of Ordinance No. 1792, Adopted by the City of Gulfport, Mississippi, on the 19th day of January, 1988, enlarging the Corporate Limits and Boundaries of the City of Gulfport, Mississippi (hereinafter referred to as the "Gulfport Annexation").
By virtue of the ordinance, the City of Gulfport seeks to enlarge its corporate limits from its present area of 29.36 square miles to a total area of 83.01 square miles, for an expansion of 53.65 square miles. Gulfport lies in the First Judicial District of Harrison County, Mississippi, and the entire area proposed for annexation is situated in Harrison County, Mississippi.
III.
The legal issues aside, the briefs and argument of counsel make clear that what is at stake is whether a county may finance the opposition to a municipal annexation. Harrison County notes language from our decision in Belhaven Improvement Association, Inc. v. City of Jackson, 507 So.2d 41, 46 (Miss.1987) to the point that, without access to the county treasury, the objectors will be at a substantial disadvantage against the Goliaths Biloxi and Gulfport. By the same token, the cities' appellate opposition is predicated quite apparently on its wish for tactical advantage at trial. Notwithstanding, we search only the available legal sources for answers to the questions presented.
We begin with our general rules on standing to sue. 1 Parties may sue or intervene where they assert a colorable interest in the subject matter of the litigation or experience an adverse effect from the conduct of the defendant, see Dye v. State ex rel. Hale, 507 So.2d 332, 338 (Miss.1987); Frazier v. State of Mississippi, 504 So.2d 675, 691-92 (Miss.1987); Belhaven Improvement Association, Inc. v. City of Jackson, 507 So.2d 41, 45-47 (Miss.1987), or as otherwise authorized by law, see, e.g., Canton Farm Equipment Co. v. Richardson, 501 So.2d 1098, 1105-09 (Miss.1987); City of Pascagoula v. Scheffler, 487 So.2d 196, 198 (Miss.1986). This view has been statutorily incorporated into our annexation confirmation procedure. Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 21-1-31 (1972) authorizes intervention by any party "interested in, affected by or aggrieved by" a proposed annexation. 2
Standing is like any other charge of a party's pleading. Harrison County's well pleaded allegations, where considered on their face, must be taken as true. Common Cause of Mississippi v. Smith, 548 So.2d 412, 415 (Miss.1989); McFadden v. State of Mississippi, 542 So.2d 871, 874 (Miss.1989); Wilkinson v. Mercantile National Bank, 529 So.2d 616, 618 (Miss.1988). The factual components of a claim of standing, however, may be challenged via Rule 56, Miss.R.Civ.P. For example, if a county geographically remote from Biloxi or Gulfport were to assert a right to intervene and object to these annexations, the cities may well be able to show beyond peradventure the absence of a colorable basis in fact for the intervening county's claim of interest or effect and, if so, the court would have power to dismiss that county as a party for lack of standing under Section 21-1-31. On appeal, we would apply the same standards as the court below, viz., if there is no genuine issue of material fact on the questions of interest or effect such that we may say with confidence the objecting county lacks a colorable claim, the court should order dismissal of the objector. Huff v. Hobgood, 549 So.2d 951, 953 (Miss.1989); Short v. Columbus Rubber and Gasket Co., 535 So.2d 61, 63 (Miss.1988). On the other hand, to resist dismissal for lack of standing the objector is hardly required to prove it may prevail on the merits. The motion should be denied unless on the materials eligible for consideration under Rule 56, see Magee, Adm'x., etc. v. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp., 551 So.2d 182, 186 (Miss.1989), it may be said the objector has no colorable basis for a claim of interest or effect from the annexation.
The Board of Supervisors of Harrison County, Mississippi, on January 25 1988, adopted a resolution finding the proposed annexations by the Cities of Gulfport and Biloxi "inimical to the best interests and general welfare of the people of Harrison County"; that said annexations would adversely affect the areas proposed to be annexed, and that such would seriously affect the operation of the Harrison County School System in these areas; that Harrison County's tax base and its school system would suffer irreparable damage due to loss of taxpayers and students, etc. These findings suggest standing. Moreover, the interest of the county is derived from the interest of the citizens of the county living in or owning property in the areas tabbed for annexation. The board of supervisors is the governmental authority closest to those people and is surely charged to protect their welfare. From these thoughts it is a short step to Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 21-1-31 (1972), which describes those who may appear and object to an annexation as "all parties interested in, affected by or being aggrieved by said proposed enlargement." 3
Rules regarding standing, statutory or otherwise, import objective standards. Still, common sense suggests the party asserting standing would be more sensitive to whether its interests will be affected by an annexation--than would the annexing municipality or even the trial court. Cf. Hentz v. State, 489 So.2d 1386, 1388 (Miss.1986). A party's assertion of an interest or effect goes a long way toward establishing that it has an interest in or will likely be affected by an annexation.
The cities would have us try the merits of the County's "findings" just to decide the standing question. In this context, In the Matter of Enlargement of Corporate Boundaries of the City of Pascagoula, 346 So.2d 904 (Miss.1977) is instructive when it reminds us
[w]hat proof the objectors may or may not have been prepared to offer at the hearing bearing upon the question of the reasonableness of the proposed expansion is of course, impossible for us to know or foresee with any degree of accuracy.
Id. at 905. The Pascagoula Court goes on to point out the different parties affected by the city annexation:
Under the circumstances of the proposed expansion, affecting, as it must, the interest of a great many persons and corporations as well as functions and activities of Jackson County and other governmental entities within the area proposed to be annexed, it is impossible to predict at this stage of the proceedings what facts or circumstances may be developed in evidence having a bearing upon the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the proposed expansion. Obviously, the nature of the question is such that many factors may bear upon it and disadvantages as well as advantages will be relevant and properly considered as the expansion hardly could be considered reasonable if it should develop that the former outweigh the latter.
Id. (Interlocutory appeal from chancellor's order overruling city's motion to strike written objections to city's petition for annexation). Rule 56's...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Smith v. Dorsey
...made by the Claiborne County Board of Education. For questions of law, our standard of review is de novo. Harrison County v. City of Gulfport, 557 So.2d 780, 784 (Miss.1990); Cole v. National Life Ins. Co., 549 So.2d 1301, 1303 (Miss.1989); Busching v. Griffin, 542 So.2d 860, 863 (Miss.1989......
-
State ex rel. Moore v. Molpus
...from the conduct of the defendant, [citations omitted], or as otherwise authorized by law [citations omitted]. Harrison County v. City of Gulfport, 557 So.2d 780, 782 (Miss.1990). Standing is like any other charge of a party's pleading. It is subject to the rule just noted that we take as t......
-
UNIV. OF MISS. MED. CENTER v. Hughes
...of a chancellor's decision. Consolidated Pipe & Supply Co. v. Colter, 735 So.2d 958, 961 (Miss.1999) (citing Harrison County v. City of Gulfport, 557 So.2d 780, 784 (Miss.1990); Cole v. National Life Ins. Co., 549 So.2d 1301, 1303 (Miss.1989)). The dispute at hand arises in an academic cont......
-
McNeil v. Hester, No. 97-CA-00048-SCT
...of review is de novo. Consolidated Pipe & Supply Co. v. Colter, 735 So.2d 958, 961 (Miss.1999) (citing Harrison County v. City of Gulfport, 557 So.2d 780, 784 (Miss.1990); Cole v. National Life Ins. Co., 549 So.2d 1301, 1303 DISCUSSION OF LAW I. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CHANCELLOR WAS CONTRARY T......