Turner, County Judge v. Hagins

• Decision Date: 20 June 1933
• Citation: 250 Ky. 17
• Parties: Turner, County Judge, et al. v. Hagins.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

250 Ky. 17

Turner, County Judge, et al. v. Hagins.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Decided June 20, 1933.

1. Counties. — Repeal of statute requiring presentation to county treasurer of warrant within 30 days of allowance of claim held

not to affect prior judgment against county for which warrant was issued (Ky. Stats., sec. 1840a; Laws 1932, c. 24, p. 127, sec. 25).

2. Counties. — Acceptance of county warrant held complete satisfaction of judgment against county for which warrant was issued, in absence of express reservation to contrary.

3. Statutes. — Court must construe and enforce unambiguous statute as written.

4. Counties. — Statutory requirement that holder of county warrant must present it to county treasurer and demand payment within 30 days in order that warrant may bear 6 per cent. interest from such date held mandatory (Ky. Stats., sec. 1840a).

5. Counties. — Where plaintiff recovering judgment against county for specified sum with interest until paid accepted county warrant therefor, he was not entitled to recover interest on warrant from date thereof until paid where he failed to present it for payment to county treasurer within 30 days after date of allowance of claim by court (Ky. Stats., sec. 1840a).

Appeal from Breathitt Circuit Court.

KASH C. WILLIAMS and A.M. RUSSELL for appellants.

E.C. HYDEN for appellee.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUDGE RICHARDSON.

Reversing.

The sole question presented for determination in this case is the right of a holder of a warrant issued by the fiscal court of a county of this commonwealth to demand and collect of the county, 6 per cent. interest from its date until paid, without presenting it for payment to the county treasurer, not more than thirty days after the date of the allowance of the claim by the court as required by section 1840a, Ky. Stats. The Legislature by an act of March 1926, c. 171, p. 783, sec. 22, attempted to repeal section 1840a, but the repealing act was held unconstitutional as a whole. Felts, County Attorney v. Linton, 217 Ky. 305, 289 S.W. 312. Since the institution of this action and the rendition of the judgment herein, the Legislature at its 1932 Session (chapter 24, p. 127, sec. 25) repealed section 1840a, Ky. Stats., with the proviso that the repealing act should not become effective until January 1, 1933. Such repealing act in no way affected the prior judgment.

On the 10th day of August, 1926, J. Wise Hagins, in an action pending in the Breathitt circuit court, recovered a judgment against Breathitt county for the sum of $973.76 with interest thereon from date until paid. On the 13th day of April, 1928, he caused the fiscal court of Breathitt county to issue, and it issued to him, a warrant, on its face, for the sum of $973.76. It was directed to the treasurer of the county for payment out of the funds of the county. No copy of the warrant appears in the record, but in the consideration of the case we shall treat it as complying with the statutes authorizing and controlling the issuance of warrants by the fiscal court on claims presented to it. This action was filed setting forth these facts and alleging that the warrant had been presented to the treasurer of the county and payment demanded thereon, but refused. The petition charges that it was presented to the treasurer of Breathitt county, "at divers times" and payment demanded, but that its payment was continuously refused; that taxes had been levied and collected every year since its issuance, and the funds paid to the treasurer of the county, but the warrant had not been paid out of funds collected for any year. A mandamus was sought to compel the fiscal court to pay the original judgment in satisfaction of which the warrant was issued, including interest and costs of the action.

Hagins argues...