Meckley v. Kunzie
Meckley v. Kunzie
Opinion of the Court
The defendant in error, J. R. Kunzie, brought action in the court of appeals of Morrow county wherein he sought a writ of mandamus requiring plaintiff in error E. D. Meckley, as auditor of Morrow county, to issue a warrant payable to him, as treasurer of the Chester Township Rural School District, for the funds claimed to be payable from the county treasurer to the board of education of such school district.
Separate answers were filed by the county auditor and by O. H. Dailey, who had been made a
The Chester Township Rural School District was created in April, 1919, by the county board of education of Morrow county, and pursuant to the authority vested in the county board by the provisions of Section 4736, General Code, it appointed a board of education of the newly-created district, and such board of education selected the defendant in error as its treasurer-clerk. At this point, in an action brought in the common pleas court for such purpose, an injunction was
It is clear that at the time of the election in November, 1919, the proceeding to create the Chester Township Rural School District from territory which theretofore composed the Chester Village School District and the Chester Township School District was restrained by perpetual injunction theretofore issued by the common pleas court. That court had found the action of the county board to be invalid, and as long as that judgment and decree remained unmodified there was no legally created Chester Township Rural School District in which to hold an election and for which a board of education could exercise any power or authority whatever. It cannot be contended that if such case had proceeded no further there would be any right or authority to do anything looking toward a continuance of the organization of the district which the county board had attempted to create. The attempt, therefore, to elect a board of education of such district not then having a legal existence was a nullity. There can be no proper sanction of an absolute disregard of an existing judgment and order of a court. So long as that decree was effective the conditions as to the new district were held in statu quo, and to all intents and purposes there was no new district. That was the situation at the time of the election, and there could be no valid election in a district, which, under the terms
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.