West v. School Dist. No. 9, Platte County

• Decision Date: 16 August 1927
• Docket Number: 1454
• Citation: 258 P. 583,37 Wyo. 36
• Parties: WEST, ET AL. v. SCHOOL DIST. No. 9, PLATTE COUNTY, ET AL. [*]
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

258 P. 583

37 Wyo. 36

WEST, ET AL. v. SCHOOL DIST. No. 9, PLATTE COUNTY, ET AL. ^[*]

No. 1454

Supreme Court of Wyoming

August 16, 1927

RESERVED QUESTIONS from District Court, Platte County WILLIAM A. RINER, Judge.

Action by W. R. West and others against School District No. 9 in County of Platte and others for declaratory judgment. On reserved questions from district court.

Dillon Ellery & Spencer, for plaintiffs.

The term "any election" as used in the provisions of the Constitution material to this controversy was not intended to apply to school district meetings. Sections 2239 2240 and 2243 C. S. relating to school district meetings are substantially the same as the original Act passed in 1876. The sections have been cited or construed in School Dist. v. Tube Co., 5 Wyo. 185, and Baldwin v. Nickerson, 3 Wyo. 208. In Parker v. School Dist. 17 Wyo. 535 it was held that the general election laws of the state with reference to opening and closing the polls did not apply to school elections: Words & Phrases Vol. 2 p. 95; Bouvier p. 2186. See also Words & Phrases Vol. 3 p. 2330. The nature of school elections is also defined in Miller v. School Dist. 5 Wyo. 217. School district meetings are not referred to in Article VI, Sec. 2 of the Constitution. Section 2244 C. S., as amended by Chapter 35 L. 1925 is not in conflict with Article VII, Sec. 1 of the Constitution. The question here is not governed by the case of Simpkins v. Rock Springs, et al., 33 Wyo. 166. The provisions of the Michigan Constitution are similar to ours and it has been held in that state that the qualifications of school electors are not identical with those of an elector under the Constitution; Bells v. Burr, 43 N.W. 24; Burton v. Lindsay, 151 N.W. 48; Gaddis v. District, 139 N.W. 280. Where the Constitution gives the legislature power to establish and maintain a public school system, the general rule is that it may likewise prescribe the qualifications of voters at school district meetings, 35 Cyc. 875; McKinnon v. District (Ore.) 241 P. 386; In Re Gage (N. Y.) 25 L.R.A. 71; People v. English (Ill.) 15 L.R.A. 131; Wheeler v. Brady, 15 Kan. 27; State v. Cones, 15 Nebr. 444. A school district is not a subdivision of the county within the meaning of Article XVI, Sec. 4, and Section 2244 is not in conflict with Sections 2 or 4 of Article XVI of the Constitution; Baldwin v. Nickerson, 3 Wyo. 208; State v. City (Okla.) 224 P. 347; MacQueen v. City (Mich.) 160 N.W. 627; Teeple v. State (Ind.) 86 N.E. 49; City v. Comm. (Ky.) 121 S.W. 411; Kline v. Martin (Oh.) 115 N.E. 37; Board v. State (Okla.) 109 P. 563; State v. McGraw (Mont.) 240 P. 812; Scown v. Czarnecki (Ill.) 106 N.E. 276; School Dist. v. Town (Vt.) 66 A. 1033; School Dist. v. Longden (Cal.) 83 P. 246; People v. Township (Mich.) 182 N.W. 118; Herman v. Board (N. Y.) 137 N.E. 24. This court declined to decide the question in Miller v. School District supra for the reason that it arose as an abstract question there. Sec. 2244 C. S. as amended by Ch. 35 L. 1925 is not in conflict with the Constitution relating to taxation, Article I, Sec. 28. A school district is a state agency provided for a specific purpose by the legislature under authority of the Constitution, State v. Council (Wis.) 71 N.W. 86; Town v. Jenkins 57 N.Y. 177; Curtis v. County, 16 L.Ed. 745. Section 2244 C. S. is in conflict with Article III, prohibiting special or local legislation, McGarvey v. Swan, 17 Wyo. 120. Legislative construction of the constitutional provision here involved is entitled to controlling weight in its interpretation, People v. Dayton, 55 N.Y. 367; People v. Ins. Co., 92 N.Y. 337; Slidell v. Grandjean, 111 U.S. 421; Swan v. U.S., 3 Wyo. 152. Courts will hesitate in declaring a statute void unless its invalidity is beyond reasonable doubt.

Oscar O. Natwick and Marion A. Kline, for defendants.

The statute and constitutional provisions involved in the eight questions reserved and certified to this court seem to be Chapter 35, L. 1925; Article I, Secs. 3 and 23; Article VI, Secs. 1 and 2; and Article XVI, Secs. 2 and 4 of the Constitution. Defendants contend that Section 2244 as amended in 1925 conflicts with the foregoing sections of the Constitution. Chapter 36, L. 1925 seems to be a companion measure of Chapter 35, differing only in that Chapter 36 is general in its terms and Chapter 35 applies to school districts; Chapter 36 was construed in Simpkin v. City of Rock Springs, et al., 33 Wyo. 166 and adjudged to be void. A school district is a subdivision of a county and within the inhibition of Article XVI, Secs. 2 and 4 our statutes provide for the division of the counties into school districts, Chap. 32 L. 1913. City v. Water District (Me.) 63 A. 663. The qualifications of school electors are the same as in other elections. The intent of Article XVI of the Constitution is to cover the whole question of public indebtedness, including school districts. The term "people" as used in the sections of the Constitution referred to means electors of the state generally and is not restricted to property owners or tax payers. In Re State Debts, 37 A. 14; Koehler v. Hill (Ia.) 50 N.W. 609; State v. Board (Minn.) 197 N.W. 965; Klutts v. Jones (N. M.) 148 P. 494; Wendover v. Tobin (Tex.) 261 S.W. 434; Johnson v. County (N. D.) 113 N.W. 1071; Morris v. Powell (Ind.) 25 N.E. 221; Van Cleve v. Comm'rs. (N. J.) 58 A. 571; State v. Garbroski (Ia.) 82 N.W. 959.

BLUME, Chief Justice. POTTER, J., and KIMBALL, J., concur.

OPINION

BLUME, Chief Justice.

This is an action, brought by plaintiffs, tax payers in the school district hereinafter mentioned, under the socalled declaratory-judgment act. They alleged in their petition that at a special district meeting in School District No. 9 of Platte County, Wyoming, held for the purpose of voting on the question of the issuance of bonds for the construction of school buildings in the district, the provisions of chapter 35 of the Session Laws of 1925, which amended section 2244, W. C. S. 1920, were ignored, on the theory that the chapter was unconstitutional and void, and that every person having the qualifications of an elector at a general state election, was permitted to vote upon the question, and that no elector voting thereon was in possession of, or was required to produce, a tax receipt, mentioned in the chapter aforesaid, or to make the affidavit therein stated; that a majority of the electors of the school district present at the special school meeting and voting on the issuance of bonds, voted in favor thereof, and the defendants school trustees so determined and declared; that if the provisions of chapter 35, aforesaid, is not in conflict with the constitution of this state, then the action of the electors of the school district, at the special meeting aforesaid, was and is void; but that if, on the other hand, the statute aforesaid is unconstitutional, then the action of the electors at the meeting aforesaid was and is valid and binding upon the plaintiffs and all others similarly situated. Plaintiffs asked the court to determine whether or not chapter 35 aforesaid is valid or unconstitutional. The defendants appeared, admitted the allegations of the petition, and joined in the prayer that the court determine the validity and constitutionality of the chapter above mentioned. The court, thereupon, instead of complying with the prayer of the petition and the answer, certified to this court for its decision the question, among others, whether or not said chapter 35 is in violation of section 4 of article 16 or in violation of section 2 of article 6 of the Constitution of this state. Section 4 aforesaid reads as follows:

"No debt in excess of the taxes for the current year shall, in any manner, be created by any county or subdivision thereof, or any city, town or village, or any subdivision thereof in the state of Wyoming, unless the proposition to create such debt shall have been submitted to a vote of the people thereof and by them approved."

Section 2 of article 6 aforesaid reads as follows:

"Every citizen of the United States of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who has resided in the state or territory one year and in the county wherein such residence is located sixty days next preceding any election, shall be entitled to vote at such election, except as herein otherwise provided."

1. Chapter 35 of the Session Laws of 1925, is, as heretofore stated, an act purporting to amend section 2244, W. C. S. 1920, relating to the qualifications of electors for voting on special school tax appropriations or the bonding of school districts, and reads as follows:

"All school district elections shall be carried on as provided by law, and the qualifications of voters at such elections shall be the same as at any other election, and in addition thereto, such voter shall be in possession of a tax receipt, from the tax collector of the county in which such election is being held, showing that such voter is a taxpayer on real property in such school district; or shall make an affidavit upon oath before the school trustees before whom he or she offers to vote, that he or she is the owner, or is the husband or the wife of the owner of real property in such school district; provided, however, that the tax qualification mentioned in this section shall apply only to questions of special school tax appropriations of money and bonding such school district."

During the session of the Legislature in 1925, there was also adopted the companion measure of chapter 35 aforesaid, namely chapter 36 of the Session Laws of 1925, which prescribed the qualifications of electors in bond elections, and reads as follows, to-wit:

"No elector shall be eligible to vote for or against any bonds in any regular or...