Oregon Short Line Railroad Co. v. Public Utilities Commission of State

• Citation: 276 P. 970,47 Idaho 482
• Decision Date: 17 April 1929
• Docket Number: 5101
• Parties: OREGON SHORT LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, a Corporation, Appellant, v. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF IDAHO, Respondent
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Idaho

276 P. 970

47 Idaho 482

OREGON SHORT LINE RAILROAD COMPANY, a Corporation, Appellant, v. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF IDAHO, Respondent

No. 5101

Supreme Court of Idaho

April 17, 1929

RAILROAD-DISCONTINUANCE OF STATION-PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION-REVIEW OF ORDER THEREOF.

1. Public Utilities Commission improperly failed to allow discontinuance of railroad station agent during months of year not included in shipping season, where an agent was not required except during such season, and order denying application should be set aside under Laws 1921, chap. 72 sec. 3.

2. Order of Public Utilities Commission, based on finding made without evidence or on finding made on evidence which does not support it, is an arbitrary act, against which courts afford relief.

APPEAL from order of Public Utilities Commission. Order set aside.

Geo. H Smith, H. B. Thompson and J. H. McEvers, for Appellant.

An order of the Commission must be based upon the record made upon the hearing and cannot be based upon proof outside of the record, nor ignore the proof entitling the petitioner to relief. (Ohio Utilities Commission v. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 267 U.S. 359, 45 S.Ct. 259, 69 L.Ed 656; Baltimore & O. R. Co. v. United States, 264 U.S. 258, 44 S.Ct. 317, 68 L.Ed. 667; Northern Pacific R. Co v. Department of Public Works, 268 U.S. 39, 45 S.Ct. 412, 69 L.Ed. 837.)

An order based upon a finding made without evidence or upon a finding made upon evidence which clearly does not support it, is an arbitrary act against which courts afford relief, and such error constitutes denial of due process of law. (Northern Pacific R. Co. v. Department of Public Works, supra.)

BUDGE, C. J. Givens, Wm. E. Lee and Varian, JJ., and Adair, D. J., concur.

OPINION

BUDGE, C. J.

The Oregon Short Line Railroad Company filed a petition with the Public Utilities Commission for leave to discontinue an agent at its station at Heyburn. Protests were filed on behalf of the citizens of Heyburn, and the matter came on for hearing before a member of the Commission at Heyburn. The application was denied, as well as a petition for rehearing, and the Railroad Company has appealed to this court. It is contended that the proof adduced at the hearing clearly supported the petition and the right of the carrier to discontinue the agency, and that the findings of the commission constituted an arbitrary denial of the right to a decision supported by evidence.

Heyburn is situated between the county seats of Rupert and Burley being 6.1 and 2.2 miles from each, respectively. It formerly had a larger population and more business than at present, having been outgrown considerably in both by the near-by towns mentioned. It now maintains but two stores, and an estimated population of 200. Much of the smaller lots of freight and merchandise are hauled to and from Heyburn by automobile. There is no other place on the system of the Oregon Short Line where two stations are so close together as at Heyburn and Burley, and numerous other small towns on the line having more railroad business than Heyburn are nonagency stations. The Railroad Company proposed that, if the agency were discontinued at Heyburn, the station would be kept open for the convenience of passengers, and during the winter-time and in inclement weather the waiting-room would be kept heated. Less than carload lots of freight consigned to Heyburn would be protected by being locked in the freight room of the station, with a key thereto being left with one of the responsible citizens of the town who would permit it to be used by the consignee for the...