Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization, In re

• Decision Date: 19 January 1999
• Docket Number: No. 92135,92135
• Citation: 976 P.2d 1035
• Parties: In the Matter of the Application of the OKLAHOMA BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION ORGANIZATION for Approval of $5 Million Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization Assessment Note, Series 1998.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Page 1035

976 P.2d 1035

1999 OK 1

In the Matter of the Application of the OKLAHOMA BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION ORGANIZATION for Approval of $5 Million Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization Assessment Note Series 1998.

No. 92135.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Jan. 19, 1999.

Proceeding to Approve Boll Weevil Eradication Organization Assessment Note, Series 1998 Entertained in the Exercise of the Court's Statutorily Mandated Original Jurisdiction. ¹

¶0 The Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization brings a proceeding for validation and approval of a proposed $5 Million Assessment Note to The Oklahoma Development Finance Authority for the purpose of financing all or a portion of the costs of a boll weevil eradication program in the State of Oklahoma.

BONDS APPROVED.

Gary M. Bush, Fagin, Brown, Bush, Tinney & Kiser, Oklahoma City, for Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization.

PER CURIAM.

¶1 The "Boll Weevil Eradication Act" ² [Act] became effective September 1, 1993. The Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization [Organization] is a state governmental agency created by the Act and authorized to exercise the rights, privileges, and functions specified by that enactment. In this proceeding, entertained in the exercise of the court's statutorily mandated original jurisdiction, Organization seeks approval of the Boll Weevil Eradication Organization Assessment Note, Series 1998 [Note]. ³

I HEARING

¶2 Statutorily mandated notice ⁴ of the hearing on the application of that organization (set for November 18, 1998 at 9:00 a.m.) was given by publication, one time, in each of the following newspapers:

The Daily Oklahoman, November 4, 1998;

Tulsa World, November 5, 1998;

The Lawton Constitution, November 5, 1998.

The notice informed all persons interested they could (a) file protests against the validation and of approval of the note, (b) be present at the hearing and (c) contest the bond's approval. These published notices are found to fulfill the statutory notice requirement. ⁵

¶3 hearing was held as provided in the published notice. No person or organization appeared in opposition to the application. No protest was filed against the validation or approval of the note, the subject of the application. No person or organization was present at the hearing to contest the application presented by the applicant, Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization.

¶4 We hold there was compliance with the statutory prerequisites for notice and hearing on the organization's application for the bond's approval.

II AUTHORIZATION

¶5 The terms of 2 O.S.Supp.1997 § 3-50.7(B)(19) authorize the organization to issue and sell bonds, or otherwise borrow money, in such amounts as shall be needed from time to time for the purpose set forth in the Act. ⁶ Subdivision (d) ⁷ expressly provides that bonds ⁸ issued pursuant to the Act shall not be an indebtedness of the State of Oklahoma but shall be special obligations payable solely from the assessments.

III STATUTORY COMPLIANCE AS TO MATURITY AND PAYMENT

¶6 The note is to be paid over a period of years. The period does not exceed the statutorily allowed time for maturity of not more than 20 years. ⁹

¶7 The note is a special obligation payable solely from assessments.

IV APPROVAL

¶8 The note has been found valid by the Attorney General qua Ex-Officio Bond Commissioner of the State of Oklahoma. The Attorney General and the State Auditor and Inspector have found that the note is (a) issued pursuant to law and (b) within the debt limit provided by law. ¹⁰

V ASSESSMENT REFERENDUM

¶9 As required by the Act, a referendum was held among Oklahoma cotton growers. ¹¹ Applicant Organization advises that public hearings were conducted at some 25 locations around the State for informational and educational purposes prior to the referendum. Notice of the election was published in some 50 local newspapers and in the Daily Oklahoman, Tulsa World, and Lawton Constitution. The election was also advertised on television stations serving the cotton area as well as on several radio stations.

¶10 The statutory requirements to be included in the ballot were met: (1) the maximum assessment to be paid by cotton growers in the district, (2) the period of time for which the assessment will be levied, and (3) the method and manner of assessment. ¹²

¶11 The maximum assessment was established at $7.50 per acre of cotton ground plus 1 cent per pound of actual production of lint. The assessment is to be in effect for not more than 10 years and collected at the cotton gin.

¶12 The election was conducted during the period of October 1 to October 15, 1997 by direct mailing of ballots to the compiled list of Oklahoma cotton growers. The assessment was approved by vote of 1768 in favor and 244 against. This exceeds the minimum requirement of at least 60% of those voting to be in favor of the assessment. ¹³

¶13 A transcript of the election was approved by the Attorney General as statutorily required. ¹⁴

VI EQUALITY OF ASSESSMENT

¶14 The assessment is made to apply equally to all Oklahoma cotton growers. This is a reasonable and lawful classification of citizens considering the project involved. Olustee Co.-op Assn. v. Oklahoma Wheat U.R. & M.D.C. ¹⁵ is not controlling as to this assessment referendum. In that opinion, an act providing for the imposition of a promotional fee on the sale of wheat was constitutionally infirm because it did not apply to wheat grown in counties having 10,000 or more allotted wheat acres.

VII SUMMARY

¶15 There has been compliance with the "Boll Weevil Eradication Act." The application of Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization is granted. The Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization Assessment Note, Series 1998, is determined to be valid upon issuing and is approved.

Rule-governed rehearing time ¹⁶ is shortened from 20 to 10 days. ¹⁷

¶16 BONDS APPROVED.

¶17 HARGRAVE, V.C.J., HODGES, LAVENDER, SIMMS and WATT, JJ., concur.

¶18 KAUGER, J., concurs in result.

¶19 ALMA WILSON, J., concurs in part and dissents in part.

¶20 OPALA, J., dissents.

¶21 SUMMERS, C.J., not participating.

OPALA, J., dissenting.

¶1 Acting in the exercise of its cognizance mandated by the Boll Weevil Eradication Act ¹ [Act], the court approves today the proposed $5 Million Assessment Note, Series 1998 [Note] that represents bonded indebtedness to be issued by the Oklahoma Boll Weevil Eradication Organization [OBWEO or applicant]. The courts endorsement rests solely on the applicants compliance with statutory requirements for the issuance of bonds whose proceeds will provide funds for the boll weevil eradication program.

¶2 I must recede from placing imprimatur upon the proposed bond issue. This is so because, when our cognizance of the subject matter is gauged by the standards of Mullane, ² Schroeder ³ and Mennonite, ⁴ the court is patently without in personam jurisdiction over the issues in the case. Moreover, anterior to passing on the constitutional sufficiency of notice--given here solely by publication--I would call upon the applicant to brief another equally critical issue of whether the "assessment referendum" that gave birth to the bond issue now before us is constitutionally infirm because it was conducted in a manner offensive to the teachings of Kramer ⁵ and Cipriano. ⁶

I NOTICE TO COTTON GROWERS MUST PASS DUE PROCESS MUSTER

¶3 Oklahoma cotton producers approved, at a 1997 "election", ⁷ a boll weevil eradication program to be funded solely from assessments to be made against them. Only the members of that class of electors received personal notice and were permitted to vote in the referendum. ⁸ In furtherance of the eradication program, OBWEO approved a $5 million note, to be repaid solely from assessment-derived revenue. It now seeks this courts validation of the bond issue. In conformity with the Acts provisions, notice ⁹ of this legislatively mandated original proceeding was given solely by publication informing the public that interested persons may file protests against the Notes issuance as well as present themselves to contest its legality.

¶4 For the decision that is to be made in this proceeding the Mullane/ Schroeder/Mennonite trilogy ¹⁰ requires more than service solely by publication. Notice conformable to the standards of due process is a sine qua non element of judicial cognizance. ¹¹ Jurisdiction must rest on notice that under all the circumstances is reasonably calculated to apprise interested parties of the pendency of a proceeding and to afford them an opportunity to present their objections. ¹² As the Constitution inexorably commands, no one's rights may be adversely affected in the absence of due and timely notice that affords a full and fair opportunity to defend. Actual notice is constitutionally due to all those persons whose interest in the litigation to be prosecuted is "known or very easily ascertainable". ¹³

¶5 Once a person has been identified as one to whom notice is due, diligence must be exercised in ascertaining that persons last whereabouts for giving personal notice of the pendency of proceedings at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. ¹⁴ This states own jurisprudence, ¹⁵ implemented by Rule 16, Rules for the District Courts, ¹⁶ clearly articulates this very notion. In every case of statutorily mandated original jurisdiction, such as the present, this court should always insist on the very same notice standards as those that constitutionally govern like proceedings conducted in the district courts.

¶6 While the Act provides that eligible voters shall be allowed--by future assessment referenda--periodically to decide whether the assessments are to continue, ¹⁷ the borrowing program (and the pledged assessments to repay) cannot be terminated until all outstanding OBWEO indebtedness has been retired. ¹⁸ The cotton growers who were eligible to vote in the 1997 "referendum" (and were notified by mail of that election) are...