Reorganized School Dist. No. R IV of Carroll County v. Williams, 22395
| Decision Date | 02 April 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 22395,22395 |
| Citation | 289 S.W.2d 126 |
| Parties | REORGANIZED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. R IV OF CARROLL COUNTY, Missouri, Appellant, v. Don WILLIAMS, County Clerk of Carroll County, Missouri, and Bedford Knipschild, Weking Beckemier, Orville Hawkins, Thomas White, William Lyon, William Wegeng, Directors of Norborne Public School R VIII of Carroll County, Missouri, Respondents. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Dudley Thomas, Carrollton, Nolan M. Chapman, Don Chapman, Nolan M. Chapman, Jr., Chillicothe, for appellant.
W. A. Franken, John Franken and Ernest Troutman, Carrollton, for respondents.
This action was brought by the plaintiff (otherwise known as the Bogard School District No. R IV of Carroll County, Missouri) to declare void an election to change its boundary lines by detaching a part of its territory and attaching the same to the Norborne Public School District R VIII of which the defendants are directors, and to enjoin the defendant directors from any of the acts related to such change of boundaries. The court, upon a trial of the cause, found the election valid, the subsequent proceedings proper, and denied the plaintiff's prayer for an injunction. Thereupon the plaintiff took this appeal.
For convenience, the appellant district will at times be referred to herein as the Bogard District, and the district of the respondents as the Norborne District.
The gist of the appellant's petition is that the election on the matter of the proposed boundary changes, at which a majority of the voters of the two districts voted in favor of the proposed changes, was invalid because of a failure to give proper notice of such desired change of boundaries to the voters, that the Board of Arbitrators did not find the change to be necessary, and that their decision and the proceedings show that the property is desired for the mere acquisition of territory. The joint answer of the defendant directors, in effect, denied the charge of failure to give the proper notice of the proposed change and other allegations of noncompliance with the statutes concerned, pleaded the various steps taken as in compliance with the statutory requirements and charged laches on appellant's part. The reply denied generally the new matter alleged in the answer.
At the trial the parties stipulated as to certain facts, and the court, in its findings, stated the substance of such stipulation, which statement we adopt and set forth as follows:
'(1) That both districts were legally reorganized school districts.
'(2) That defendant Don Williams is the legally qualified County Clerk of Carroll County, Missouri.
'(3) That J. A. Burnside, now deceased, was at all times involved herein, the legally qualified and acting County Superintendent of Schools, Carroll County, Missouri.
'(4) (a) That a Petition for change of boundaries (taking a part of Bogard District and transferring it to Norborne District) was filed with the Clerk of both districts.
'(b) That a Notice of Election was duly posted in five public places in the Norborne District 15 days prior to the date of election. That said notice was also duly and timely published in the Norborne Democrat Leader, a newspaper published at Norborne and in the Norborne District; that the Norborne Democrat Leader is the only newspaper published in the Norborne District, and that no newspaper is printed or published within the Bogard District.
'(c) That at the election held April 6, 1954, the following votes were cast:
Total : 276 " " 201 " "
'(d) That within five days after said election an appeal to the County Superintendent of Schools, Carroll County, was duly filed by the Norborne District requesting appointment of a Board of Arbitrators.
'(e) That said Superintendent appointed such a Board, consisting of Alvin Reimer, Alvin Kaiser, William Thate, and Charles Thomas.
'(f) That said Board by its decision in writing and delivered to Plaintiff-District before the last of April, 1954, approved the change of boundaries.
'(g) That the transferred area was adjacent to the adjoined the Norborne District'.
It should be added that the parties further stipulated that the written decision of the Board of Arbitration was 'as pleaded'. That decision, as pleaded in the answer of the respondents, was as follows:
'We, the Board of Arbitration, find, after considering the issues connected with the proposed change of boundaries of the Norborne Public School District R VIII of Carroll County, Missouri, and Reorganized School District R IV of Carroll County, Missouri, that such changes in boundaries of the respective districts be made by detaching from Reorganized School District R IV of Carroll County, Missouri, and adding to Norborne Public School District R VIII of Carroll County, Missouri, the following lands located in Carroll County, Missouri.
'The East one-half (E 1/2) of Sections Twenty-four (24), Twenty-five (25) and Thirty-six (36), all in Township Fifty-four (54), of Range Twenty-five (25), Carroll County, Missouri.
Alvin Kaiser
William Thate
Charles Thomas'.
The fact is not controverted that the 'Notice of Election' posted in the Norborne District and published in the newspaper in the Norborne District made special mention of the proposed change in boundaries as among the particular matters to be proposed and considered at its annual election, and that a copy of the petition for such change was attached to each notice of the annual election posted in that district.
According to the testimony of Herman Daugherty, secretary of the appellant district, he signed five copies of an annual school election notice for his district, of which the following, Appellant's Exhibit 4, was one copy which had been posted:
'Annual School Election Notice
(Six-Director Districts)
'(This blank prepared in accordance with Section 160.090, RSMo 1949 [V.A.M.S.])
___ days notice must be given: (Reporter's note--number of days torn off) (1) To increase tax rates as provided in Section 165.080 RSMo 1949 [V.A.M.S.]. (2) To vote for free textbooks, Section 170.200 RSMo 1949 [V.A.M.S.]. (3) To vote a loan for building purposes, Section 165.040 RSMo 1949 [V.A.M.S.]. (4) To change school district boundary lines, Section 165.170 RSMo 1949 [V.A.M.S.].
'In compliance with Section 165.330, Re-enacted Laws 1951, S.B. 92, [V.A.M.S.] notice is hereby given to the qualified voters of Bogard School District No. R-4, County of Carroll, State of Missouri, that the Annual School Election of said District will be held at Bogard School on Tuesday, the 6th day of April, 1954, commencing at six o'clock a. m. and closing at seven o'clock p. m. and among other things specified by the law, the following will be proposed and considered:
'1. To elect two board members to serve a term of three years.
'2. To vote on a levy of 30cents for incidental purposes.
'This 17th day of March, 1954.
Secretary Board of Education'.
Mr. Daugherty further testified that his signature had been attached to the foregoing exhibit, but had been obliterated by exposure to the elements. He also testified that he had received, together with the election notices above described, petitions to change school district boundaries (Respondents' Exh. 7) as follows:
'Petition To Change School District Boundaries
'To the District Clerk, Herman Daughterty:
'We, the undersigned, qualified voters of Norborne Public School District R-VIII, County of Carroll, State of Missouri, desire the following changes in district boundary lines as follows: That the boundaries of the Reorganized School District RIV of Carroll County, Missouri, and of Norborne Public School District RVIII of Carroll County, Missouri, be altered by detaching from Reorganized School District RIV and by adding to Norborne Public School District RVIII the following described lands located along the Western side of the said Reorganized School District RIV:
(Real Estate described)
and hereby petition you to post a notice of said desired change in at least Five (5) public places in each district interested in or affected by such change Fifteen (15) days prior to the annual meeting.
'The purpose of this proposed change is to:
The above contained twenty signatures.
According to the appellant's evidence five copies of the notice of its annual election (Ex. 4), prepared by Mr. Sugg, its Superintendent of Schools, were posted in five public places in its district fifteen days before the date of the annual election. Several members of appellant's board of directors testified and accounted for the posting of but three or four printed copies of the petition for change of boundaries (Ex. 7). However, the testimony of appellant's witness Daugherty, its secretary or clerk, on that point, was as follows:
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