Smith v. Board of Com'rs of Garvin County

• Decision Date: 02 January 1917
• Docket Number: 7818.
• Citation: 162 P. 463,62 Okla. 120,1917 OK 18
• Parties: SMITH ET AL. v. BOARD OF COM'RS OF GARVIN COUNTY.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

162 P. 463

62 Okla. 120, 1917 OK 18

SMITH ET AL. v. BOARD OF COM'RS OF GARVIN COUNTY.

No. 7818.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

January 2, 1917

Syllabus by the Court.

That portion of section 14, c. 152, S. L. 1910-11, providing "that if any * * * taxes, so erroneously assessed shall have been paid, the same shall be a valid charge against the county and shall be refunded by the board of county commissioners and the amount of such refunded taxes, which have been paid over to any municipality, or to the state shall be deducted from the tax money due the state or such municipality at the next settlement," being in conflict with section 57, art. 5, of the Constitution, conferred no power upon a board of county commissioners to remit taxes, or refund moneys received in payment thereof.

"Upon an appeal from the board of county commissioners, the district court takes appellate jurisdiction only; same being confined to the jurisdiction the board had, and none other to an inquiring, de novo, as to the very matter upon which the board was called upon to act. Such appeal cannot be converted into an action in equity so as to enlarge the jurisdiction beyond that of the inferior tribunal."

Commissioners' Opinion, Division No. 3. Error from District Court, Garvin County; F. B. Swank, Judge.

Action by Dixie Smith and others against the Board of County Commissioners of Garvin County, Okl. Judgment for defendants and plaintiffs bring error. Affirmed.

Albert Rennie, of Pauls Valley, and John A. McClure, of Sulphur, for plaintiffs in error.

R. E. Bowling, Co. Atty., and L. H. Hampton, Asst. Co. Atty., both of Pauls Valley, for defendants in error.

BLEAKMORE C.

Plaintiffs in error on December 28, 1914, presented to the board of county commissioners of Garvin county their application, in writing, for the cancellation, remission and refunding of taxes levied and collected in previous years upon lands allotted to them as Choctaw Freedmen, alleging that such taxes were wrongfully levied for the reason that such allotted lands were exempt from taxation by virtue of the provisions of the treaties between the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes of Indians, and certain congressional enactments. The board of county commissioners refused to cancel or remit said taxes, or to refund the sums received in payment thereof, from which decision the applicants appealed to the district court of Garvin county, where the cause was tried upon an agreed statement of facts, and judgment rendered against applicants, who have brought the cause here for review.

It would seem that the only authority attempted to be given to boards of county commissioners to hear and determine matters of alleged erroneous assessments and refund taxes is found in an act of the Legislature of ...