State ex rel. Goodell v. Davis

• Court: Kansas Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: HARVEY, Justice.
• Citation: State ex rel. Goodell v. Davis, 144 Kan. 708, 62 P.2d 893 (Kan. 1936)
• Decision Date: 12 December 1936
• Docket Number: 33031.
• Parties: STATE ex rel. GOODELL, Co. Atty., v. DAVIS et al.

62 P.2d 893

144 Kan. 708

STATE ex rel. GOODELL, Co. Atty., v. DAVIS et al.

No. 33031.

Supreme Court of Kansas

December 12, 1936

Syllabus by the Court.

Order of State Tax Commission that certain property be taken from assessment roll as exempt held reviewable in action brought by state on relation of county attorney to enjoin county treasurer and county clerk from complying with order (Rev.St.1923, 79--1702).

Statute pertaining to authority of State Tax Commission held not to require that commission be made party to action to enjoin county officers from complying with order exempting property from taxation (Rev.St.Supp. 1933, 74-2401a).

An order of the State Tax Commission, that certain property be taken from the assessment roll as exempt, may be reviewed in an action brought by the state on the relation of the county attorney.

Appeal from District Court, Shawnee County, Second Division; Paul H Heinz, Judge.

Action by the State, on the relation of Lester M. Goodell, County Attorney of Shawnee County, against J. Glen Davis and others. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal.

A. W Fulton, of Chicago, Ill., and George R. Allen, Richard F Allen, John L. Hunt, Margaret McGurnaghan, John H. Hunt, and George M. Brewster, all of Topeka, for appellants Security Benefit Ass'n and Security Benefit Home & Hospital Ass'n.

Hugh T Fisher, Lester M. Goodell, and Irwin Snattinger, all of Topeka, for appellee.

HARVEY Justice.

This was an action by the state on the relation of the county attorney of Shawnee county to enjoin the county treasurer and county clerk of that county from complying with a certain order of the State Tax Commission respecting the assessment for taxation of the property of the Security Benefit Home & Hospital Association. That association and the Security Benefit Association were made party defendants. Their demurrer to plaintiff's second amended petition was overruled, and they have appealed.

The pertinent allegations of the attacked petition may be summarized as follows: That the Security Benefit Home &amp Hospital Association, a corporation, was the owner of a large amount of real and personal property situated in the county, all of which was duly assessed for the purposes of taxation for the year 1934 by the county assessor; that later the association applied to the board of county commissioners, sitting as a board of equalization, for the removal of its property from the tax rolls, which application was denied; that later an application for the same relief was made to the State Tax Commission, which, after a hearing, found that a substantial portion of the property was used entirely for charitable and benevolent purposes, and is therefore exempt from taxation, and issued an order to the county clerk and county treasurer of Shawnee county ordering and directing them to correct their records in harmony with its findings and conclusions. The petition further alleges that the Security Benefit Association is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of this state as a fraternal insurance association, with its principal offices at Topeka; that it and the Security Benefit Home & Hospital Association are, to all intents and purposes, the same as one organization, having different names solely for the purpose of operation; that the officers and trustees are the same; that the officers of the Security Benefit Association organized the Security Benefit Home & Hospital Association, and by by-laws provided that the officers and trustees of the Security Benefit Association should perpetually be the officers and trustees of the Security Benefit Home & Hospital Association, and that the latter association should be managed, controlled, and directed by the officers and trustees of the Security Benefit Association; that the officers and trustees of the Security Benefit Association, by reason of the authority vested in them, have used, and are using, the real and personal property of the Security Benefit Home & Hospital Association for the sole benefit of the Security Benefit Association for the purpose of securing members and otherwise...