Township of Casco v. Secretary of State
| Decision Date | 14 June 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 126369., No. 126120 |
| Citation | 701 N.W.2d 102,472 Mich. 566 |
| Parties | TOWNSHIP OF CASCO, Township of Columbus, Patricia Iseler, and James P. Holk, Plaintiffs/Counter-Defendants-Appellants, v. SECRETARY OF STATE, Director of the Bureau of Elections, and City of Richmond, and Walter K. Winkle and Patricia A. Winkle, Intervening Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs-Appellees. Fillmore Township, Shirley Greving, Andrea Stam, Larry Sybesma, Jody Tenbrink, and James Rietveld, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Secretary of State and Bureau of Elections Director, and City of Holland, Intervenor-Appellee. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, P.C. (by William K. Fahey, Stephen J. Rhodes, Eric E. Doster, and Ronald D. Richards, Jr.), and James V. Dubay for Casco Township, Columbus Township, Patricia Iseler, James P. Holk, Fillmore Township, Shirley Greving, Andrea Stam, Larry Sybesma, Jody Tenbrink, and James Rietveld, and Patrick J. O'Brien and Heather S. Meingast, Lansing, MI, Assistant Attorneys General, for the Secretary of State and the Director of the Bureau of Elections.
Eric D. Williams and Rex A. Burgess, Big Rapids, MI, for the city of Richmond.
Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC (by Robert J. Pineau), Detroit, MI, for Walter K. and Patricia A. Winkle.
Cunningham Dalman, P.C. (by Andrew J. Mulder, P. Haans Mulder, and Vincent L. Duckworth), Holland, MI, for the city of Holland.
Bauckham, Sparks, Rolfe, Lohrstorfer & Thall, P.C. (by John H. Bauckham), Kalamazoo, MI, for Michigan Townships Association.
Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. (by William B. Beach), Detroit, MI, for Michigan Municipal League.
Before the Entire Bench.
These consolidated appeals present two issues. First, we must address whether a single detachment petition and a single vote on that petition, pursuant to the terms of the Home Rule City Act, MCL 117.1 et seq., may encompass territory to be detached from one city and added to more than one township.1 Second, if a single detachment petition and a single vote may encompass territory to be added to more than one township, we must determine whether a writ of mandamus compels the Secretary of State to issue a notice directing an election on the change of boundaries sought by plaintiffs in each case. Because we conclude that the Home Rule City Act does not allow a single detachment petition and a single vote on detachment for adding territory to multiple townships, mandamus is not proper in these cases. Accordingly, the decisions of the Court of Appeals are affirmed.
Plaintiffs in this case are two adjacent townships-Casco Township and Columbus Township-and residents of those townships who seek to detach territory from defendant city of Richmond. The territory sought to be detached is territory that was previously annexed to the city of Richmond.
Plaintiffs seek to present the ballot issue covering both townships in a single petition. This would result in a single vote about whether to detach territory from the city of Richmond and add the territory to Casco Township and Columbus Township. The residents of one township would be voting on the return of property to their township, as well as the return of property to a township in which they do not reside. The Secretary of State refused to approve an election on plaintiffs' petition because an election on the petition would allow residents of one township to vote on, and possibly determine, a change in the boundaries of another township in which they do not reside.
Plaintiffs filed a complaint for mandamus and declaratory relief. The circuit court dismissed plaintiffs' complaint for mandamus to compel the Secretary of State to act because it was not clear that a single petition seeking detachment from a city and addition of the territory to two townships was permitted by the Home Rule City Act. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the circuit court. Casco Twp. v. Secretary of State, 261 Mich.App. 386, 682 N.W.2d 546 (2004). We granted plaintiffs' application for leave to appeal and ordered that the case be argued and submitted with Fillmore Twp. v. Secretary of State, 471 Mich. 890, 688 N.W.2d 281 (2004).
Plaintiffs are Fillmore Township and electors from four townships-Fillmore Township, Holland Charter Township, Park Township, and Laketown Township-and the city of Holland who want to detach territory from the city of Holland and add the territory to the four townships. Plaintiffs filed a joint detachment petition with the Secretary of State, asking that the petition be certified and that a single election be held regarding the territory that was proposed to be detached from the city of Holland. The Secretary of State refused to certify the petition because the petition involved an effort to detach territory for addition to more than one township.
Plaintiffs filed a complaint for mandamus in the Court of Appeals, and the complaint was held in abeyance pending the decision in the Casco Twp. case. Unpublished order, entered May 19, 2003 (Docket No. 245640). Plaintiffs' complaint was subsequently denied by the Court of Appeals on the basis of the Casco Twp. decision. Unpublished order, 2004 WL 2374737, entered May 6, 2004 (Docket No. 245640). We granted plaintiffs' application for leave to appeal and ordered that the case be argued and submitted with the Casco Twp. case. 471 Mich. 890, 688 N.W.2d 281 (2004).2
The proper interpretation of a statutory provision is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. Lincoln v. Gen. Motors Corp., 461 Mich. 483, 489-490, 607 N.W.2d 73 (2000). A trial court's decision regarding a writ of mandamus is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. In re MCI Telecom. Complaint, 460 Mich. 396, 443, 596 N.W.2d 164 (1999).
These cases involve an issue of statutory interpretation. The primary goal of statutory interpretation is to give effect to the intent of the Legislature. Id. at 411, 596 N.W.2d 164. The first step is to review the language of the statute. If the statutory language is unambiguous, the Legislature is presumed to have intended the meaning expressed in the statute and judicial construction is not permissible.
The Home Rule City Act, MCL 117.1 et seq., addresses four processes-incorporation, consolidation, annexation, and detachment.3 The issue before this Court pertains only to the process of detachment. Detachment means that territory is taken from an existing city and added to an existing township.
Section 6 of the Home Rule City Act, MCL 117.6, provides that a detachment be initiated by "proceedings originating by petition therefor signed by qualified electors who are freeholders residing within the cities, villages, or townships to be affected thereby ...." (Emphasis added.) Notably, MCL 117.8 and MCL 117.11 delineate the procedure for submitting a petition for a change of boundaries. MCL 117.8(1) provides in relevant part that "the board shall, by resolution, provide that the question of making the proposed incorporation, consolidation, or change of boundaries be submitted to the qualified electors of the district to be affected at the next general election or at a special election before the next general election." (Emphasis added.) Likewise, MCL 117.11(2) provides that "the question of making the incorporation, consolidation, or change of boundaries petitioned for shall be submitted to the electors of the district to be affected." (Emphasis added.) Michigan election law defines a qualified elector as "any person who possesses the qualifications of an elector as prescribed in section 1 of article 2 of the state constitution and who has resided in the city or township 30 days."4 MCL 168.10. Because Casco Township voters do not reside in Columbus Township, they are not "qualified electors" of Columbus Township who can sign a petition and vote on the detachment of territory from the city of Richmond for addition of the territory to Columbus Township. Likewise, because Columbus Township voters do not reside in Casco Township, they are not "qualified electors" of Casco Township who can sign a petition and vote on the detachment of territory from the city of Richmond for addition of the territory to Casco Township. Therefore, a single petition and a single vote on multiple detachments violate the statutory language of the Home Rule City Act.
Additional support for this position is found in the statutory language used in other parts of the Home Rule City Act. MCL 117.9(1) defines the "district to be affected" as the following: "The district to be affected by every such proposed incorporation, consolidation, or change of boundaries shall be deemed to include the whole of each city, village, or township from which territory is to be taken or to which territory is to be annexed." (Emphasis added.)
A change of boundaries for the district to be affected encompasses only one city and one township because a township's voters can be qualified electors only in relation to their own township's proposed change of boundaries and are affected only by their own township's proposed change of boundaries. Therefore, it is only plausible that the "district to be affected" encompasses one city and one township. Accordingly, a single detachment petition and a single vote may only encompass territory to be added to one township.5
Language in MCL 117.13, which sets forth the procedure following an election, further supports the principle that each township is considered a separate entity and there must be separate votes with respect to the territory to be detached from one city and added to each township. MCL 117.13 states, "Territory detached from any city shall thereupon become a part of the township or village from which it was originally taken...." This indicates that the "district...
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