Sanders v. Sioux Falls Ind. Sch. Dist.
| Decision Date | 11 January 1915 |
| Docket Number | 3620 |
| Citation | 150 N.W. 473,35 S.D. 48 |
| Parties | EDMUND SANDERS, Plaintiff and appellant, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS et al., Defendant and respondents. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Minnehaha County, SD
#3620--Affirmed
Bailey & Voorhees
Attorneys for Appellant.
Attorneys for Respondents.
Opinion filed January 11, 1915
Appellant assigns as error an order sustaining a demurrer to the amended complaint. Plaintiff brings the action as a taxpayer of the city of Sioux Falls, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated who may join in the proceedings and contribute to the expenses thereof. The action is against the Independent School District of Sioux Falls, continuing as an independent school district under chapter 119, Laws of 1913, and is to test the validity of an election held on the 10th day of February, 1914, to vote upon the issuance of school bonds aggregating $182,000. A majority of the electors voted in favor of the issuance of the bonds. The proceedings of the board of education are set forth in full in the amended complaint. The irregularity relied upon by appellant is that the published notice of election provided that the polls be open from 2 o'clock until 6 o'clock in the afternoon of the election day, and that the polls were in fact kept open between those hours and no longer. The contention is that this is a violation of statute law in bond elections, and invalidates the election.
Appellant's brief contains an interesting review of legislation amending the Educational Code of 1907, at each legislative session, from 1907 to 1913. The final conclusion and contention is that there are now three statutes governing the holding of elections in independent school districts, in cities under commission.
Article 9 of the Educational Code of 1907 (chapter 135, Laws 1907) contains provisions exclusively governing bond elections for school purposes in cities of the first class. That article requires that at such elections the polls be kept open from 2 o'clock p.m. until 6 o'clock p.m. (Section 164.) It is appellant's contention that chapter 133, Laws of 1911, is a general act governing the holding of bond elections in all independent school districts, and repeals section 164 of article 9. Chapter 133 requires that the polls be kept open from 12 m. to 5 p. m., and if held to apply, the polls at the bond election should have been kept open from 12 m. until 5 p.m. Sioux Falls was a city of the first class, and is now a city under commission, having more than 10,000 population. By chapter 185, Laws 1913, chapter 139, Laws 1911, which amended section 161, article 9, Educational Code, the board of education of Sioux Falls is directly brought within the provisions of article 9 of that Code. Under article 9, as amended, proceedings for the issuance of bonds by boards of education in cities under commission having more than 10,000 population are thus made exclusive and independent of all other election proceedings. Article 11 of the Educational Code is an enactment containing general provisions relating to school districts, including districts referred to in article 9, and including provisions as to bond elections; but article 9 is a special act relating to the issuance of bonds in districts comprising only two classes. of cities, and is therefore controlling as to bond issues in such districts. While chapter 133, Laws of 1911, clearly amends article 11, it seems plain that it was not the legislative intention by that act to amend article 9, which relates only to the two classes of cities named therein. If the Legislature had intended to amend article 9 by chapter 133, Laws of 1911, it does not seem reasonable to suppose that the same Legislature would have enacted chapter 139, directly amending certain sections of article 9. We think it clear, therefore, that chapter 133 was not intended to amend, and does not amend, article 9.
Appellant further contends that section 164, article 9, of the Educational Code is repealed by chapter 119, Laws of 1913, which provides for the incorporation of cities under commission. Section 124.
This act contains no provisions relating to the calling of elections for or the issuing of bonds in independent districts of either class, and does not directly or by implication repeal any existing law on that subject.
Appellant's counsel call attention to chapter 139, Laws of 1911, sections 161, 162, article 9 (chapter 135, Laws 19437), which provides that:
"Boards of education of independent school districts in all cities of the first class and in all cities under commission having a population of 10,000 or over by the last preceding federal or state census are hereby authorized and empowered to issue negotiable bonds in the manner hereinafter provided, for the following purposes," etc.
--and suggest that this enactment violates section 1, art. 10, of the Constitution, which reads:
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