Holtsclaw v. State ex rel. Town of Knightstown
Holtsclaw v. State ex rel. Town of Knightstown
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought by relator against appellants, upon the official bond given by appellant Holtsclaw, as treasurer of Henry county, to recover the alleged wrongful payment by said Holtsclaw to a person not entitled thereto, of funds in his hands as such treasurer, and belonging to relator. Issues were formed, a trial had, a special finding of facfs made, and conclusions of law stated thereon, and upon the special finding and conclusions of law judgment was rendered in favor of appellee.
It appears from the pleadings and special finding of facts that, under the px'ovision of the statute authorizing such action, the taxes levied by the proper municipal officer of the relator were extended by the auditor of the county upon the county tax duplicate, and collected by appellant Holtsclaw, as county treasurer, and that, upon the distribution of the taxes so collected, the coxxnty auditor drew two warrants, each payable, as the law required in such cases, to the treasurer of the town of Knightstown; one of said warrants being for ninety-eight per cent of the amount of funds due to the town on such distribution, and the other for two per cent of said amount. Both of these warrants were duly delivered by said auditor to the treasurer of said town, and the one for ninety-eight per cent of the amount of funds due to the town was retained hy the town treasurer, presented by him for payment, and the money duly paid to him by appellant Holtsclaw. The other warrant, for two per cent of said fund, was delivered by said town treasurer to the auditor of the county, and was hy him presented to the county treasurer for payment, and the money due thereon paid to himj and afterwards divided between said auditor and said appel
As grounds for reversal of the judgment, it is insisted by appellant (1) that there can be no recovery upon the facts shown, because the relator voluntarily paid the officers the two per cent commission, under a mistake of law and not of fact; (2) that upon the facts shown the town was liable to the county for the two per cent commission, and that if a cause of action exists against the officers it is in favor of the county, not the town; (3) that no breach of the bond is shown, for the reason that the payment was regularly made upon a warrant duly and regularly issued, and that if any right of action exists, it is against each of the officers personally for the money obtained by him belonging to the town; (4) that, conceding liability, the conclusion of the court, that appellants were liable for the full amount of the warrant, is error; that the proper'measure of liability would be the amount of money actually received by appellant Holtsclaw.
We will consider the questions thus presented in their order.
The judgment of the court below is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.