Lawrence County v. Meade County

• Decision Date: 05 October 1897
• Citation: 10 S.D. 175,72 N.W. 405
• Parties: LAWRENCE COUNTY, Plaintiff and appellant, v. MEADE COUNTY, Defendant and respondent.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

10 S.D. 175

72 N.W. 405

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Plaintiff and appellant, v. MEADE COUNTY,

Defendant and respondent.

South Dakota Supreme Court

Appeal from Circuit Court, Lawrence County, SD

Hon. A. J. Plowman, Judge

Reversed

B. C. Hayes, State’s Attorney,

W. R. Steele, G. C. Moody,

Attorneys for appellant.

M. McMahon, State’s Attorney

McLaughlin & McLaughlin

Attorneys for respondent.

Opinion filed Oct. 5, 1897

HANEY, J.

This action was brought to recover the proportion of the so-called floating indebtedness of the plaintiff, which it is alleged the county of Meade was under obligation to assume and pay by virtue of the provisions of the act creating the defendant county. What are now the counties of Meade and Lawrence constituted one county prior to the act of the territorial legislature which took effect in February, 1889. The action was tried by the court. No objection is raised to its findings of fact, and the only question presented by this appeal is whether its conclusions of law and judgment conform to the facts found.

The court finds that it was mutually agreed between plaintiff and defendant that when defendant was created the portion of the floating indebtedness of Lawrence county, to be assumed and paid by defendant, was $24,200.10; that no part of this sum has been paid by it; that by a mutual mistake of law the contracting parties agreed upon the sum stated, supposing that all the floating indebtedness of Lawrence county was legal, whereas a large portion of it was illegal, having been incurred in violation of the act of congress approved July 30, 1886; and that defendant’s proportion of the legal floating indebtedness was $1,729.87, instead of $24,200.10, as agreed upon by the parties, for which amount plaintiff has judgment. The act of congress approved July 30, 1886, provides as follows: “No political or municipal corporation, county, or other subdivision in any of the territories of the United States shall ever become indebted in any manner or for any purpose to any amount in the aggregate, including existing indebtedness, exceeding four per centum on the value of the taxable property within such corporation, county, or subdivision, to be ascertained by the last assessment for territorial and county taxes previous to the incurring of such indebtedness; and all bonds or obligations in excess of such amount given by such corporation shall be void. That nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to affect the...