Town of Freeport v. Sellers, A-567.
| Decision Date | 21 November 1945 |
| Docket Number | No. A-567.,A-567. |
| Citation | 190 S.W.2d 813 |
| Parties | TOWN OF FREEPORT v. SELLERS, Attorney General. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
John D. McCall, Clarence E. Crowe, and Millard Parkhurst, all of Dallas, and Carlos B. Masterson, of Angleton, for relator.
Grover Sellers, Atty. Gen., and C. F. Gibson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
This is an original mandamus proceeding filed in this court for the purpose of requiring the Attorney General of Texas to approve certain bonds which have been voted by the people of the Town of Freeport, Texas.
In February, 1944, a majority of the people of the town voted in favor of the issuance of bonds in the amount of $50,000. Pursuant to the result of the vote of the people, the Board of Commissioners of the town authorized by ordinance dated on the 18th day of April, 1944, the issuance of the bonds.
The bonds were voted and issued for the purpose of:
"Construction of permanent drainage improvements within the Town of Freeport, Texas, by the excavation, cleaning, deepening and widening of drains and ditches and the purchase of pumps, pipes, motors and other equipment, apparatus and facilities for the drainage of the surface and flood waters from the Town of Freeport, Texas."
The bonds were dated on the first day of April, 1944, and were in the sum of $50,000, bearing interest at the rate of 2¼ per centum per annum on bonds numbers 1 to 14, inclusive, and at the rate of 2½ per centum per annum on bonds numbers 15 to 50, inclusive; the interest payable semiannually April 1 and October 1 of each year; were numbered consecutively from 1 to 50, inclusive, of the denomination of $1,000 each, maturing serially on October 1 of each of the years 1945 to 1963, inclusive.
The authority under which the bonds were voted and issued is in virtue of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, Article 823.
The bonds and the record of the bond proceeding were submitted prior to the 14th day of November, 1944, to the Attorney General for approval, as required by Articles 709-715, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas.
The Attorney General refused to approve the bonds, principally upon the ground that Article 823 does not authorize the issuance of bonds for the purpose for which these bonds have been voted and issued. Article 823 reads in part:
"Any city or town may issue its coupon bonds for such sum as it may deem expedient for the purpose of the construction or purchase of public buildings, water works, sewers, and other permanent improvements within the city limits * * *."
The relator contends that the bonds are authorized in virtue of Article 823, above quoted. It urges several reasons in support of the contention. The bonds are valid if either theory can be properly sustained.
The word "sewer" as used in the statute may be defined...
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City of Granite Shoals v. Winder
...bad faith or abuse of discretion. State ex rel. Rose v. City of La Porte, 386 S.W.2d 782, 785 (Tex.1965) (citing Town of Freeport v. Sellers, 144 Tex. 389, 190 S.W.2d 813 (1945); Williams v. Castleman, 112 Tex. 193, 247 S.W. 263 (1922)) (emphasis added). Thus, while a municipality's adminis......
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City of La Porte v. State ex rel. Rose
...v. Castleman was later quoted with approval in Trapp et al v. Shell Oil Co., 145 Tex. 323, 198 S.W.2d 424. In Town of Freeport v. Sellers, 144 Tex. 389, 190 S.W.2d 813, the Supreme Court again held that the findings of the Commissioners of Freeport that the town of Freeport had more than 50......
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State ex rel. Rose v. City of La Porte
...The case of Williams v. Castleman, 112 Tex. 193, 247 S.W. 263 (1922), cited with approval in the later case of Town of Freeport v. Sellers, 144 Tex. 389, 190 S.W.2d 813 (1945), a case which dealt directly with a constitutional requirement, although concerned with a different constitutional ......
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Tarrant County Water Control and Imp. Dist. No. One v. Wilson
...of the corporate character of the district. Indebtedness is not created until bonds are issued and sold, Town of Freeport v. Sellers, 144 Tex. 389, 190 S.W.2d 813; City of Austin v. Valle, Tex.Civ.App., 71 S.W. 414, writ refused, but the Board of Directors of the corporate entity was empowe......