State v. Kerns
| Decision Date | 11 April 1922 |
| Docket Number | 17209 |
| Citation | 104 Ohio St. 550,136 N.E. 217 |
| Parties | The State, Ex Rel. Leaverton Et Al., v. Kerns, County Auditor,Et Al. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Agricultural societies - Entitled to aid from public funds, when - Section 98304, General Code - Constitutional law - Leaving public credit to private enterprise - Sections 4 and 6, Article VIII, Constitution - Aiding institutions for public instruction, advancement of learning and agriculture.
1. Section 9880-1, General Code, which provides for furnishing aid to independent agricultural societies, makes no requirement as to the form and manner of incorporating such societies. if organized by the required number of qualified persons. and exhibitions are held, and the laws of Ohio and the rules of the state board of agriculture have been complied with and properly certified by the state hoard as required by that section, the right of the Independent society to such aid is complete.
2. The aid provided by Section 9880-1, General Code, is not for the purpose of furnishing financial assistance to a private enterprise, nor for lending the credit of the state thereto but, on the contrary, is in aid of a public institution designed for public instruction, the advancement of learning and the cause of agriculture, and is not in violation of Sections 4 and 6, Article viii of the Ohio Constitution.
The facts are stated in the opinion.
Mr Russell Knepper and Messrs. Newby & Smith, for plaintiffs in error.
Mr Robert B. McMullen, prosecuting attorney, for defendants in error.
This is an error proceeding from the court of appeals of Highland county, in which court it was tried as an original suit in mandamus to compel the county auditor of Highland county to issue to relators a warrant in the sum of $574.22, which amount was claimed as due to the Leesburg-Highland Agricultural Company, under the provisions of Section 9880-1, General Code. It was claimed that the company is an independent agricultural society, having more than thirty members, formed for the purpose of holding annual agricultural fairs, and that the society did in fact hold an annual fair in the year 1914, and annually thereafter. A fair was held in the month of August, 1918, and the state hoard of agriculture issued an order on the auditor and treasurer of Highland county for the financial aid due at the rate of two cents for each inhabitant of the county, as provided by Sections 9880 and 9880-1, General Code, as amended May 5 1915. It is not denied that the fairs were held and that all formal requirements were complied with, but liability is denied on the ground that the company is not an independent agricultural society within the meaning of those sections, for the reason that it was originally organized as a corporation for profit under Ohio laws. The record discloses that the company was so organized through mistake and inadvertence and that when the mistake was discovered it was sought to be corrected, and that no profits have ever been distributed to the members. The rules and regulations prescribed by the state board of agriculture covering independent societies have been complied with.
Upon hearing in the court of appeals that court denied the writ, but the order which was entered on the journal of that court discloses no findings of fact, nor is this court advised of the grounds upon which the court reached its conclusions.
Section 9880-1, General Code (106 O. L., 273) omitting non-pertinent portions, is as follows: "When thirty or more persons, residents of a county * * * are organized into an independent agricultural society that has held annual fairs for agricultural advancement previous to January first, 1915, in a county wherein is located a county agricultural society, and when such independent society has held an annual exhibition in accordance with the three following sections, and made proper report to the state board, then, upon presentation to the county auditor of a certificate from the president of the state board attested by the secretary thereof, that the laws of Ohio and the rules of the board have been complied with, the county auditor of the county * * * shall draw an order on the...
To continue reading
Request your trial