King v. Peagler, 26114
| Decision Date | 03 December 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 26114,26114 |
| Citation | 227 Ga. 29,178 S.E.2d 897 |
| Parties | E. D. KING v. G. M. PEAGLER et al. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The Constitutional Amendment proposed by Georgia Laws 1964, pp. 986-989 was ratified by the voters of Chatham County and the City of Savannah. The vote of the City of Savannah was properly counted in determining the vote of Chatham County.
2. The enabling Act (Ga.L.1965, pp. 3354-3361) is in accord with the provisions of the Constitutional Amendment (Ga.L.1964, pp. 986-989) and is not invalid as contended by appellant.
3. The trial court properly held that the offices of Tax Commissioner and Chief Tax Assessor of Chatham County were legally created.
4. The trial court properly held that some of the requests for answers to legal questions and declarations as to various questions are not within the purview of the Declaratory Judgments Act.
5. Other rulings of the trial court complained of were not erroneous for any reason assigned.
Aaron Kravitch, John W. Hendrix, Savannah, for appellant.
Solms, Gannam, Head & Buchsbaum, Anton F. Solms, Jr., Pierce, Ranitz, Lee, Berry & Mahoney, Thomas J. Mahoney, Jr., Savannah, for appellees.
E. D. King, alleging himself a resident and taxpayer of Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, brought his petition seeking a declaratory jdugment, naming Chatham County, the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah, and G. M. Peagler, Chief Tax Assessor, as defendants. He alleges that at the 1964 session of the General Assembly (Ga.L.1964, pp. 986-989) a resolution was adopted to amend the Constitution, abolishing the duties of tax receiver as a part of the duties of the Tax Commissioner of Chatham County, and creating the office of Chief Tax Assessor of Chatham County; that the Amendment was not ratified by the voters of Chatham County and City of Savannah; that despite this, the General Assembly (Ga.L.1965, pp. 3354-3361) adopted an Act providing that the Chief Tax Assessor shall have all the duties of the County Tax Assessor given in Code Ch. 92-69; that the defendant Peagler has been named chief tax assessor and is performing the duties of the office; and that, because of the failure of ratification of the Constitutional Amendment, he is holding the office illegally. These allegations make the primary issues for determination by this court.
The trial court decided the case on the pleadings, entering judgment in favor of the defendants.
King appeals from that judgment and enumerates as error numerous rulings of the trial court.
1. The first question the court considered is whether the Constitutional Amendment (Ga.L.1964, pp. 986-989) was ratified. The Secretary of State first certified that it had failed to receive a majority vote and the Governor issued his proclamation that the Amendment was not ratified and did not become a part of the Constitution. The Secretary of State later certified a corrected report of the vote, showing that the Amendment had passed. The Governor accordingly issued his proclamation that it had passed and was a part of the Constitution.
Whether an amendment to the Constitution has been ratified or adopted is a judicial question, that is, a question of law, and regardless of the proclamation of the Governor, the court may decide the issue. Hammond v. Clark, 136 Ga. 313(1, 2), 71 S.E. 479; Towns v. Suttles, 208 Ga. 838, 840, 69 S.E.2d 742. It is the duty of this court to decide the question here.
The corrected proclamation of the Governor showed that the vote in Chatham County, which included the Savannah vote, was 10,999 for and 7,943 against, and the City of Savannah vote was 7,589 for and 4,385 against. The Chatham County vote outside the City, not including the city vote, was more against than for the Amendment. The question presented is whether the Chatham County vote should include the vote of the City of Savannah, as the Governor proclaimed. We think so. Chatham County includes the City of Savannah. The city is a part of the county, and an elector in the City of Savannah is an elector of the county and is entitled to have his vote counted both as a resident and citizen of the county and of the city. Otherwise he is disfranchised as a citizen of Chatham County. See Smith v. State of Georgia, 217 Ga. 94, 121 S.E.2d 113; and McCullers v. Williamson, 221 Ga. 358(2), 114 S.E.2d 911, where this court pointed out that the Amendment should be submitted to the voters directly affected by it. All of Chatham County is affected by the Amendment.
The Amendment was properly ratified.
2. The next contention is that the enabling Act (Ga.L.1965, pp. 3354-3361), to carry into effect the provisions of the Constitutional Amendment proposed by Ga.L.1964, pp. 986-989, is invalid.
We have carefully compared the Constitutional Amendment (Ga.L.1964, pp. 986-989) and the enabling Act (Ga.L.1965, pp. 3354-3361) and find...
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Fulton Cnty. v. City of Atlanta, S16A0689
...even in a declaratory judgment action is the court permitted to render an advisory opinion.” (Citation omitted)); King v. Peagler, 227 Ga. 29, 32, 178 S.E.2d 897 (1970) (“The Declaratory Judgments Act makes no provision for a declaratory judgment which is merely advisory.” (Citations omitte......
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Baker v. City of Marietta
...an advisory opinion, and the Declaratory Judgment Act makes no provision for a judgment that would be "advisory." King v. Peagler, 227 Ga. 29(4), 178 S.E.2d 897 (1970). Where the rights of the parties have already accrued and the party seeking the declaratory judgment does not risk taking f......
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Lomax v. Lee
...enacted 1952 Statute. 5. The trial court also decided that the 1952 Amendment was not properly ratified, relying on King v. Peagler, 227 Ga. 29, 178 S.E.2d 897 (1970), for the proposition that the vote must be calculated separately for the city and the county affected. We conclude that King......
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Richmond County v. Richmond County Business Ass'n
...of the electors of Richmond County voting thereon and not also each militia district as contended by the appellees. King v. Peagler, 227 Ga. 29, 30, 178 S.E.2d 897; McCullers v. Williamson, 221 Ga. 358(2), 144 S.E.2d Judgment reversed in part; affirmed in part on the main appeal. Judgment a......