County of Dickey v. Denning
County of Dickey v. Denning
Opinion of the Court
This action is prosecuted by. Dickey county to recover from the defendant certain sums 'of money which it alleges were unlawfully paid to and received by,'him as and for salary as superintendent of schools. The defendant interposed a general demurrer to the complaint. -This was overruled, and the defendant has appealed from' the order overruling the samé.
The complaint shows that from January 5,. 1903, when the defendant entered upon the duties of his office, up to and including the month of September of that year, he-drew a salary computed upon the basis of all the schools- and departments of schools in his county, including the schools and departments of schools in the special districts of the city of Oakes and the city -of" Ellendale, in said county. The entire controversy is as to whether the schools in these two cities should be included' in Computing his salary. If they should be included, it-is admitted' that he'has been paid only the salary allowed by law. If they should not be included, it is conceded that he is liable for the amount demanded in the complaint.
It will thus be seen that the real, and indeed the only, question is as to what schools should be -included in computing the defendant’s salary. Our statute recognizes four kinds of public schools, each being classified according to the character of the district organization: (1) Those known as common schools; (2) schools in special school districts; (3) schools in independent school districts; and (4) schools in cities organized under a special'law. The cities of Oakes and Ellendale are special school districts. The salaries of county superintendents are -regulated by section 652, Rev. Codes. This' section, after providing generally for a graduated salary corresponding to .the number -of schools which have been taught in the county at least three months during .'the preceding school year, declares that “ the amount of his salary shall be determined each year by the actual number of schools or separate 'departments in graded'schools -over which such. superintendent had official supervision during the preceding year'. * *” Counsel for. the county contend, and this view was sustained by the trial court, that schools in -special districts are not under the “official supervision” of county superintendents. .We fully agree with this contention. The provision last quoted -plainly contemplates that there are- or may be schools in each county which are not to be included in the computation. The language is' -restrictive.''' It authorizes the in
Counsel for defendant contend that, even though special schools are not “under the supervision” or “general superintendence” of county superintendents, they are under his “official supervision,” claiming that there is a distinction between “general superintendence” and “official supervision.” It is pointed out that county superintendents have the general power of granting and revoking certificates of teachers employed in public schools, including those employed in special districts; that they have duties to perform in reference to the apportionment of the state tuition fund, and are required to receive and file reports, to gather statistics, and perform various duties in reference to all of the public schools of the county, including special schools. In our opinion, these several duties are not supervisory in their nature. They affect the schools indirectly, it is'true, but only indirectly. They are more properly classed as administrative duties. Other county officers are also charged with duties with affect the public schools; for example, the treasurer and auditor, in the collection and distribution of taxes, including the distribution of the state 'tuition fund. It would hardly •be contended that because of this they have “official supervision” of public schools. The argument proves too much. If the contention of defendant’s counsel is sound, the performance of the duties referred to amounts to “official supervision.” In that event all public schools are under the “official supervision” of the county superintendent, and should be counted in computing his salary; for all public schools are affected by the several acts which are relied upon. That this was not the purpose .of the legislature is clearly shown by the restrictive language of section 652, previously quoted, which authorizes the inclusion of schools which are “under his official supervision” and excludes those which are not. The fact that they are charged with duties relating to schools not under their supervision has no significance in construing the statute fixing the amount of the salary. The salary provided is compensation for the performance of all the duties imposed by law. The legislature may, in its discretion, impose duties upon an officer other than those
It follows that the complaint states a cause of action, and the demurrer was properly overruled.
Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The County of Dickey v. W. W. Denning
- Status
- Published