Mayor v. Board of County Commissioners
| Decision Date | 20 April 1948 |
| Docket Number | 2386 |
| Parties | CHARLEY MAYOR, Appellant, Appellant, v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND JOHNSON COUNTY WOOL GROWERS ASSOCIATION, Appellees, Respondents |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied 64 Wyo. 409 at 430.
APPEAL from District Court, Johnson County; JAMES H. BURGESS, Judge.
Proceeding on the opposing application of Charley Mayor and of Johnson County Wool Growers Association to the Board of Land Commissioners for lease of certain state school lands for grazing and the watering of livestock. From a judgment dismissing his appeal from an adverse decision of the board Charley Mayor Appeals.
Affirmed.
For appellant the cause was submitted on the brief and oral argument of Mr. Jack Wolfe of Sheridan, Wyoming.
POINTS OF COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT
It is a fundamental principle of our system of government that the rights of men are to be determined by the law itself, and not by the let or leave of administrative officers or bureaus. This principle ought not to be surrendered for convenience or in effect nullified for the sake of expediency. Sec. 45 Public Administrative Law, 42 A. J. p. 342-343.
In general, the powers and duties of officers are prescribed by the Constitution or by statute, or both, and they are measured by the terms and necessary implication of the grant, and must be executed in the manner directed and by the officer specified. If broader powers are desirable, they must be conferred by the proper authority. They cannot be merely assumed by administrative officers; nor can they be created by the courts in the proper exercise of their judicial functions. No consideration of public policy can properly induce a court to reject the statutory definition of the powers of an officer. Sec. 249, Public Officers, 43 Am. Jur., p. 68-69.
The discretion of the Board of Land Commissioners may be controlled by the courts in case of illegal exercise of the Board's discretion or in case of fraud or grave abuse of such discretion. Banzhaf & Banzhaf v. Swan Co., 60 Wyo. 201.
It is entirely clear that the Federal Government granted Sections 16 and 36 of each township to the State of Wyoming for the support of common schools. Said lands may either be sold or leased to accomplish the express purpose of the grant, and the State of Wyoming accepted said lands subject to the provisions of the grant. Thus, it is the solemn duty of the Board of Land Commissioners to either sell or lease all school lands for the support of common schools.
The Board's action in refusing to lease the southern portion of the school section in question not only deprived our common school fund of the revenue to which it was entitled, but also rendered it impossible for anyone to make use of this land without being subject to a penalty for trespass.
There is herein disclosed a situation where the Board of Land Commissioners has clearly abused its discretion in regard to the leasing of the southern portion of the school section in question. The Act of Admission, the Constitution of Wyoming and legislative acts require that all school lands either be sold or leased for the benefit of public schools. Having offered to lease the school land in question, the Board was clearly under a legal duty to lease same to Appellant, who was the only qualified applicant under the provisions of the leasing statute. The action of the Board in refusing to lease the southern portion and leaving same open for the use of the Johnson County Wool Growers Association is in effect a donation to individuals, which is prohibited by the Constitution of Wyoming.
For appellees the cause was submitted on the brief and oral argument of Mr. William C. Holland of Buffalo, Wyoming.
POINTS OF COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE, WOOL GROWERS' ASSOCIATION
Under the provisions of Section 24-113, Wyoming Compiled Statutes 1945 preeminence is given to the general benefit of the state rather than to individual preferences, this language being as follows: --"All state lands leased by the State Board of Land Commissioners for grazing purposes shall be leased in such manner and to such parties as shall inure to the greatest benefit to the state". Following, and necessarily subject to, the above provision are certain other preferences. It is significant that the Legislature in amending this law in 1943 (Chapter 60, Session Laws of Wyoming, 1943) eliminated the words "and secure the greatest revenue", thereby indicating the matter of revenue was not intended to be a controlling factor but that foremost significance was attached to securing the greatest benefit to the state.
The question of a preferential right to a lease of state lands has been before the court several times. It was held that the preferential right granted by statute is not, and could not, be absolute, but is qualified. In the face of the statute the right of renewal therein given is not absolute but conditional. It is given only over all others. The state is not compelled to lease the land at least if it acts in good faith. It may sell it at any time. Section 91-501. And it could no doubt withhold a renewal if it desires to use the land itself. Kerrigan v. Miller, Gov., et al., 53 Wyo. 441.
The district court of Johnson County dismissed an appeal brought to it by Charley Mayor wherein he questioned the propriety of a decision of the Board of Land Commissioners rendered by said Board on the fifth day of September, 1946 in a controversy involving conflicting applications for a lease on certain state land described as Section 16, Township 43 N., Range 80 West of the Sixth P. M. in Johnson County Wyoming, by Mayor as one applicant and the Johnson County Wool Growers Association as the other applicant. The record is here by direct appeal, brought by Mayor as appellant against the Board and Association mentioned above as respondents. For convenience and brevity Charley Mayor will usually be designated as the "appellant" or by his surname, the Board of Land Commissioners as the "Board" and the Johnson County Wool Growers Association as the "Association", the two last named parties being at times collectively referred to as the "respondents". The facts to be considered in this matter are not seriously, if at all, in dispute and are substantially these:
The Esponda Company on February 1, 1936 obtained a lease for grazing and agricultural purposes from the Board aforesaid upon the lands heretofore described for the term of five years, which period was thereafter subsequently renewed for another following similar period of time so that the instrument with which appellant is connected expired February 1, 1946. That connection arose through an assignment of said lease by the Esponda Company to appellant under date of October 22, 1945, he having theretofore purchased the properties of that corporation, part of which adjoin the land in question on the easterly side thereof. He owns, as he states in his application, about two hundred ninety-four head of live stock consisting of horses, cattle and hogs, the cattle being beef animals and two hundred in number. It appears that the land aforesaid has been entirely in use as grazing land only. Mayor made application for a renewal lease on this land on January 18, 1946 as the holder of the expiring lease, being such holder through procuring the assignment thereof mentioned above. He is a bona fide citizen of the State of Wyoming and duly qualified to hold the applied for lease.
The Association aforesaid also made application for this said land under date of January 28, 1946. It would appear to derive its existence and powers under and from the provisions of Section 44-1017 W. C. S., 1945 which reads:
Through its application and statements made in connection therewith it develops that the Association has a membership of 97 persons who are engaged in the sheep industry owning some 144,000 sheep and represent the major portion of the sheep industry in Johnson County. The Association desired a lease on the land aforesaid for a stock rest and water gap having used the section for these purposes under arrangements with previous lease holders for over ten years. The attention of the land officials was called to the asserted fact that this section of land has been of particular value for such uses to the sheep owners in said county and it was very important that this available use be continued; that the Association's application was made in order to assure that use in the future, the Esponda Company with which it heretofore dealt having disposed of its (the Esponda Company's) properties; that the land is more valuable to the public generally for these uses than a use by any individual could be; that the land which is a so-called "school section" is traversed by a state highway...
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