Missouri Pacific Railway Co. v. State
Missouri Pacific Railway Co. v. State
Opinion of the Court
The state, upon the relation of the county attorney of ‘Coffey county, brought an action of mandamus to compel the Missouri Pacific Railway Company to restore to its former condition of usefulness a highway-crossing which had been impaired by a reconstruction of the company’s railroad. After a trial a peremptory writ was awarded in accordance with the prayer of the petition.
The railway company contends here, as it did in the district court, that the board of railroad commissioners have exclusive jurisdiction of the controversy. That the board of railroad commissioners have jurisdiction in the premises the state does not deny, but it regards the remedy afforded by the law creating that body as cumulative to those existing by virtue of the common law. This position is assumed on account of the statute itself. Section 5998 of the General Statutes of 1901 makes it the duty of every railroad company to obey all reasonable orders of the board of railroad commissioners, made under authority of law, and provides for the enforcement of such orders, but concludes as follows :
“The remedies provided by this section shall not 'be deemed to exclude or limit any other remedies provided in this act or existing in virtue of any other statutes or common law, but shall be additional thereto.”
The language quoted does not mean simply that other statutory and common-law remedies may be utilized to compel obedience to orders of the board, but its purpose was to save all other remedies for the redress of grievances, even though such grievances be cognizable by the board.
It is conceded that, aside from the railroad-commission law, an ordinary action of mandamus will lie to compel a railway company to restore to their former
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.