State v. City of Kansas
State v. City of Kansas
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
In this case the state, on the relation of the county attorney of Wyandotte county, questions the validity of certain ordinances passed by the city of Kansas City, for the annexation of certain territory to the city. The court sustained a demurrer to the petition and rendered judgment in favor of the city, from which the plaintiff has appealed.
The sole question involves the proper construction to be placed upon the language of section 1220 of the General Statutes of 1909, authorizing the extension of the limits and boundaries of cities of the first class.
“Whenever any land adjoining or touching the limits of any city has been subdivided into blocks and lots, or whenever any unplatted piece of land lies within (or mainly within) any city, or any tract not exceeding twenty acres is so situated that two-thirds of any line or boundary thereof lies upon or touches the boundary-line of such city, said lands, platted or unplatted, may be added to, taken into and made a part of such city by ordinance duly passed.”
Our attention has been called to an error in the printed statute which is not of much consequence. The word “or” is substituted for the word “of,” as appears from the original draft of the act, which was House bill No. 116. The statute should read: “two-thirds of any line of boundary,” instead of “two-thirds of any line or boundary.” It is the contention of appellant that the statute should be construed to mean two-thirds of the entire boundary of any unplatted tract not exceeding twenty acres; that is to say, that the legislature meant two-thirds of the entire boundary or perimeter of such tract. The trial court upheld the city’s contention and construed the statute to mean the same as if it had read: “Having any one side or boundary, two-thirds of which lies upon or touches the boundary-line of such city.”
The precise question has never been before the court. Both plaintiff and defendant quote from the language of the court in the opinion in the case of Chaves v. Atchison, 77 Kan. 176, 93 Pac. 624, where, in speaking of the provision for annexing territory to cities of the first class, it was said:
“In this act, . . . provision is made for annexing three classes of lands: . . . third, a tract of platted or unplatted land, not exceeding twenty acres in area, having a boundary-line two-thirds of which lies upon or touches the boundary-line of the city.” (p. 177.) (Italics ours.)
The defendant attaches some importance to the use by the court of the expression “a boundary-line two-
We think the contention of the city must be sustained, and that the only reasonable construction to be placed upon the language of the statute is that the legislature meant two-thirds of any single boundary where the tract contains less than twenty acres. “Any line of boundary” means, of course, the same thing as “any boundary-line.” The construction contended for by appellant requires us to ignore entirely the use of the word “any.” In construing statutes the courts have given different meanings to this word, according to the sense in which it is used, as determined by the context. In many cases “any” has been construed to mean the same as “every.” On the other hand, “any” has often been held to mean any one out of a number. (See 1 Words and Phrases, pp. 412 et seq.) The first definition given by Webster’s International Dictionary is: “One indifferently, out of an indefinite number; one indefinitely, whosoever or whatsoever it
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Kansas, ex rel. James M. Meek, as County Attorney, etc. v. The City of Kansas City, Kansas
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS OF THE COURT. ' Cities of First Class — Annexation of Adjacent Territory— Construction of Statute. Section 1220 of the General Statutes of -1909, which authorizes cities of the first fclass by ordinance to extend their corporate limits so as to include any tract of unplatted land not exceeding twenty acres whenever the same “is so situated that two-thirds of any line or boundary thereof lies upon or touches the boundary-line of such city,” means whenever two-thirds of any single boundary-line or side of such tract lies upon or touches the boundary-line of such city; the word “any” being construed as used in the sense of one indifferently, out of an indefinite number.