Hill v. Thompson

Decision Date11 October 1989
Docket NumberNo. 07-58509,07-58509
Citation564 So.2d 1
Parties61 Ed. Law Rep. 1458 Richard C. HILL, Superintendent of Education; Fred Bagley, President of Forest Municipal Separate School District Board; and Burt Atkinson, Eddie Lee Johnson, Roland Harris, and Mrs. George Taylor, Jr., Members of the Forest Municipal Separate School District Board v. William C. THOMPSON.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Mack Cameron, Jackson, for appellant.

Evan L. Thompson, Forest, for appellee.

Edwin Lloyd Pittman, Atty. Gen., Mike C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Helen Wetherbee, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., James O. Nelson, II, Kenneth A. Rutherford, Irene C. Howard, Thomas Price Firm, Jackson, for amicus curiae.

En Banc.

PRATHER, Justice, for the Court:

This appeal challenges a Sixteenth Section School Lands Trust lease under the Mississippi Constitution which prohibits the donation of state lands to private individuals. The case concerns a commercial property in downtown Forest, Mississippi, that for years and until recently was used as a gasoline and motor vehicle service station. The lot was leased for a one-time payment of $7.50 for a ninety-nine year term and the assertion is made that this consideration is so grossly inadequate that it violates the donation clause of Article 4, Section 95, Mississippi Constitution. Additionally, issues relating to the applicability of 1978 Reform Act retrospectively, statutory requirements of appraisals of trust lands, and trial procedures are also presented for resolution.

The case began by William C. Thompson (Thompson) filing a complaint in the Chancery Court of Scott County for confirmation of his title to a leasehold interest of Sixteenth Section School Trust land. The suit named as defendants the State of Mississippi, a body politic, whose agent for process in this cause was: the Superintendent and the members of the Board of Trustees of the Forest Municipal Separate School District, the president and members of the Board of Supervisors of Scott County, and the Scott County Board of Education, all in their official capacities. 1 The Chancery Court confirmed title of the lease in the complainant Thompson and imposed On this appeal, briefs were filed by Edwin Lloyd Pittman, then-Attorney General, on behalf of Dick Molpus, Secretary of State, and by Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company, as Amici Curiae.

a sanction for recovery of attorney's fees in Thompson's favor against the Forest Municipal Separate School District for Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500.00) and court costs. From this judgment, the School Board and Richard C. Hill, its Superintendent, appeal and present twelve assignments of error, not all of which need to be addressed, for reasons that will presently appear.

I.

The real estate involved in this lawsuit is described as Lot 6, Block 7 of Section 16, Township 6 North, Range 8 East, Scott County, Mississippi (hereinafter referred to as Lot 6). It measures forty (40) feet north and south and eighty-five (85) feet east and west and lies within the city limits of Forest, Mississippi and within the Forest Municipal Separate School District. By use and zoning, the lot has long been classified commercial.

The record of this case shows a partial history of the lot at issue. On May 9, 1859, the Board of Police of Scott County, Mississippi leased the northeast quarter and east half of the northwest quarter of Section 16, Township 6, Range 8, Scott County, consisting of 240 acres, at a consideration of $88.00 for a period of 99 years. Per acre, per year, the consideration was about $0.0037037. Lot 6 is a part of that 1859 lease. The various subsequent lease transfers before 1943 are unimportant to the deposition of this case.

In January, 1943, in the case of Davenport Et al. v. All Persons, Etc., Cause No. 5,076, the Chancery Court of Scott County confirmed the unexpired 1859 leasehold interest in Lot 6 in Standard Oil Company against all persons claiming any legal or equitable title.

On March 21, 1955, with a little over four years remaining on the original 99 year lease, Standard Oil conveyed its interest in Lot 6 to H.L. Lackey, reserving all service station equipment to itself with removal rights to the same. Shortly thereafter on May 2, 1955, Lackey obtained a new Sixteenth Section Lease to the property from the Scott County Board of Supervisors, acting under the purported authority of 1948 Mississippi Laws, Chapter 497, again for 99 years. The consideration for this new lease was a one time payment of $7.50. On July 5, 1960, the transaction was repeated as another 99 year lease was issued to Lackey, again for a gross sum rental of $7.50, under the authority of the 1956 Mississippi Laws, Chapter 290. After H.L. Lackey's death his heirs conveyed his leasehold interest to Kenneth Haden, et ux., the purchase price of which was secured by a deed of trust in favor of Lackey's heirs. Apparently Haden defaulted, as the deed of trust was foreclosed by the trustee on January 25, 1985, and the leasehold interest was purchased by William C. Thompson, the plaintiff, for a consideration of $7,000.00. The Trustee's deed conveyed "Lot 6" and did not mention the leasehold interest nor the reservation of the service station equipment, except by reference to the Deed of Trust which is not a part of the record.

II.

Procedurally, this case comes to this Court in the following manner. On March 17, 1986, William C. Thompson filed his complaint for confirmation of his sixteenth section school trust lease for a 99 year period to run from July 5, 1960, the date of the last lease to H.L. Lackey.

The defendant School Board filed its answer denying that Thompson had good title. The basis for its position was that, because both the 1955 and 1960 leases were issued for a one-time payment of $7.50 for a ninety-nine (99) year period, the consideration was so grossly inadequate as to constitute a donation of public land in violation of the Mississippi Constitution and applicable statutes. The Board's counterclaim sought voiding of both 1955 and 1960 leases and confirmation of title, free of any lease, in the State of Mississippi in trust for the public schools.

On May 8, 1987 the Chancery Court entered final judgment which confirmed title in William C. Thompson to an unexpired ninety-nine (99) year Sixteenth Section Leasehold title in Lot 6 to terminate at midnight July 4, 2059. Further, the Chancery Court assessed sanctions in the form of attorney's fees against the Forest Municipal Separate School District, its Superintendent, Board of Trustees and their successors in office in the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) with legal interest, on grounds that the School Board had filed a frivolous defense and counterclaim. Rule 11(b), M.R.C.P. The counterclaim of the defendant Board, which sought to confirm leasehold title in the State of Mississippi in trust for the public schools, was dismissed with prejudice.

III.

As this is another case involving Sixteenth Section School Trust lands, a reiteration of the historical facts will be helpful before analyzing their legal significance. Such a concise history can be found in the recent case of Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 106 S.Ct. 2932, 92 L.Ed.2d 209 (1986), which arises from a Mississippi controversy.

The history of public school lands in the United States stretches back over 200 years. Even before the ratification of the Constitution, the Congress of the Confederation initiated a practice with regard to the Northwest Territory which was followed with most other public lands that eventually became States and were admitted to the Union. In particular, the Land Ordinance of 1785, which provided for the survey and sale of the Northwest Territory, "reserved the lot No. 16, of every township, for the maintenance of public schools within the said township...." 1 Laws of the United States 565 (1815). In 1802, when the eastern portion of the Northwest Territory became what is now the State of Ohio, Congress granted Ohio the lands that had been previously reserved under the 1785 Ordinance for the use of public schools in the State. 2 Stat 175.

Following the Ohio example of reserving lands for the maintenance of public schools, " 'grants were made for common school purposes to each of the public land States admitted to the Union. Between the years of 1802 and 1846 the grants were of every section sixteen, and, thereafter, of sections sixteen and thirty-six. In some instances, additional sections have been granted.' " Andrus v. Utah, 446 U.S. 500, 506-507, n 7, 64 L.Ed.2d 458, 100 S.Ct. 1803 [1806-07] (1980) (quoting United States v. Morrison, 240 U.S. 192, 198, 60 L.Ed. 599, 36 S.Ct. 326 (1916) (footnotes omitted)). Thus, the basic Ohio example has been followed with respect to all but a few of the States admitted since then. 446 U.S. at 522-523, n 4, 64 L.Ed.2d 458, 100 S.Ct. 1803 [1814-15] (Powell, J., dissenting). In addition to the school lands designated in this manner, Congress made provision for townships in which the pertinent section or sections were not available for one reason or another. Thus, Congress generally indemnified States for the missing designated sections, allowing the States to select lands in an amount equal to and in lieu of the designated but unavailable lands. See, e.g., Ch. 83, 4 Stat. 179 (1826). See generally Andrus v. Utah, supra, at 507-508, 64 L.Ed.2d 458, 100 S.Ct. 1803 [1807]; Morrison, supra, [240 U.S.] at 200-202, 60 L.Ed. 599, 36 S.Ct. 326 .

Although the basic pattern of school lands grants was generally consistent from State to State in terms of the reservation and grant of the lands, the specific provisions of the grants varied by State and over time. See generally B. Hibbard, A History of the Public Land Policies 314-318 (1939). For example, in Indiana and Alabama, the school lands were expressly granted to the inhabitants of the townships directly. See 3 Stat. 290...

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