Johnston v. Kirkville Indep. Sch. Dist.

Citation39 N.W.2d 287,240 Iowa 1328
Decision Date18 October 1949
Docket NumberNo. 47488.,47488.
PartiesJOHNSTON et al. v. KIRKVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. et al.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Iowa

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Suit by Ernest Johnston and others, taxpayers of the Kirkville Independent School District, against the District and its officers to enjoin the expenditure of more than $23 per pupil per year for the transportation of pupils to a high school outside the district.

The Wapello District Court, Taylor, J., granted an injunction and the defendants appealed. While the appeal was pending, I.C.A. § 285.5, which purported to limit the cost of such transportation to $23 per pupil per year, was repealed and replaced by a statute which contained no such restriction.

The Supreme Court, Garfield, J., dismissed the appeal on the ground that upon repeal of the statute, the question involved became moot.

Equity suit by taxpayers in defendant school district to enjoin the expenditure of more than $23 per pupil per year for transportation of pupils to a high school outside the district. Decree as prayed. Defendants have appealed. While the appeal was pending, section 285.5, Code 1946, I.C.A., on which relief was based, was repealed.

Appeal dismissed.

Bailey C. Webber, of Ottumwa, for appellants.

Life & Davis, of Oskaloosa, for appellees.

GARFIELD, Justice.

In August, 1948, plaintiffs, taxpayers in defendant school district, brought this suit to enjoin the district from paying more than $23 per pupil per year for transporting pupils in the district to the Ottumwa high school. The facts are not in dispute Plaintiffs' motion for judgment on the pleadings was sustained and decree of injunction entered (in February, 1949) as prayed. The district and its officers have appealed.

Plaintiffs' right to injunction, as claimed and decreed, was based upon the provision of section 285.5, Code 1946, I.C.A. purporting to limit the cost of such transportation to $23 per pupil per year. Defendants contended this section provided only a limitation upon the amount the state may reimburse the district for such transportation expense and not upon the amount to be expended by the district therefor. The sole question presented to the trial court and to us, in the briefs, is the construction of this statute.

During the pendency of the appeal section 285.5 was repealed and a substitute enacted therefor by section 4, chapter 116, Acts 53d General Assembly, which contains no such restriction as found in 285.5 upon the amount to be expended for transportation. It was conceded in argument that defendants obeyed the injunction until the law passed by the 53d General Assembly took effect. It seems further to be conceded that this change in the law has in effect worked a dissolution of the injunctionor in any event that defendants are no longer bound thereby.

Under these circumstances we feel this case, involving the construction of the repealed section 285.5, presents nothing but a moot or academic question. It is unnecessary for us to construe this statute. If we were to do so in accord with defendants' contention it would not benefit them. The 53d General Assembly has in effect done as much for defendants as we could do by a reversal, except for the allowance of costs.

We have repeatedly refused to decide a case merely to settle who shall pay the costs. Manning v. Heath, 206 Iowa 952, 955, 956, 221 N.W. 560, and citations; Welton v. Iowa State Highway Commission, 208 Iowa 1401, 1404, 227 N.W. 332;Fish v. Sioux City, 210 Iowa 862, 232 N.W. 118. See also 4 C.J.S., Appeal and Error, § 1354a, page 1950.

These authorities in addition to those just cited, at least on principle, tend to support...

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2 cases
  • Wilkinson v. State ex rel. Morgan
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • March 27, 1981
    ...364 U.S. at 648, 81 S.Ct. at 371. An Iowa case considers a situation similar to the case at bar. Johnston v. Kirkville Independent School Dist., 240 Iowa 1328, 39 N.W.2d 287 (1949). There, taxpayers successfully enjoined the local school district from exceeding the expenditure limits for st......
  • Cenarrusa v. Peterson
    • United States
    • Idaho Supreme Court
    • May 16, 1973
    ...v. Baker, 94 Idaho 222, 485 P.2d 964 (1971). See also, Mills v. Green, supra; State v. Bath, supra; Johnston v. Kirkville Independent School Dist., 240 Iowa 1328, 39 N.W.2d 287 (1949). No costs DONALDSON, C. J., and SHEPARD, McQUADE and BAKES, JJ., concur. ...

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