Wilson v. Brown
Wilson v. Brown
Opinion of the Court
This is an action brought by T. B. Wilson and 12 other citizens of Collin •county, Tex., against Ed S. Brown, as tax collector of said county, I. E. Reeves, as tax assessor of said county, and the other appel-lees, as trustees of the Lavon independent school district, to dissolve said district and restrain the selling of bonds issued by said trustees for school purposes and the collection of taxes levied for maintenance purposes and to pay said bonds, etc. It is alleged, in substance, among other things: That the trustees of said school district elected J. Patterson tax assessor of said district, but that they have never elected a tax collector for the same. That said Patterson has never qualified as tax assessor, and that neither he nor the tax assessor of Collin county, Tex., has ever assessed the taxes of said district. That said trustees elected or pretended to elect a board of equalizers for said school district, but that, according to their information and belief, the persons elected to act as such have never qualified or done any act in line with their duties. That the Lavon independent school district is not a valid and subsisting corporation. That the order of the court attempting to create said district, and all the proceedings thereunder, including the election of trustees, the elections in regard to the levy of taxes, and issuance of the bonds, etc., are void for the following reasons: (1) There was not a village in said district containing 200 inhabitants, and no evidence introduced that there was. (2) The field notes marking the boundary lines of said district conflict with another school district, do not close, and are so indefinite and unintelligible that it is impossible to compute or even approximate the amount of land contained therein. (3) The map or plat of said district is so inaccurately drawn that it is wholly defective and insufficient, and, instead of aiding and explaining the defective field notes, it makes them more confusing. (4) The Lavon independent school district did not have any existence, actual or pretended, until the 13th day of June, 1910, and therefore had no authority to levy and collect a tax for the year 1910, as the law does not contemplate the assessment and collection of taxes for any purpose except such purposes as were in existence on the 1st of January of that year. (5) There was no legal board of equalization to pass upon the tax rolls of said district. The case was tried by the court without a jury, and judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiffs enjoining the collection of the taxes for the year 1910, and in favor of the defendants on all other issues. From this judgment, in so far as it was favorable to the defendants, the plaintiffs appealed.
Appellants’ first and second assignments of error are grouped, and are to the following effect: “(1) The court erred in sustaining special exception No. 1 contained in defendants’ original answer, which is as follows: ‘Defendants specially except to subdivision 15 of said original petition as set out that said independent school district does not contain a village of 200 inhabitants, because, as shown by subdivision 3 of said petition, said matters were passed upon by the county *641 judge of Collin county, Tex., who ordered the election to determine whether or not said district should incorporate as an independent school district, and the order of said county judge ordering said election is conclusive and binding upon all the parties, and this court cannot now go behind the order of said county judge as a fact that the village of Lavon, situated in said district, contained 200 inhabitants, and of this defendants pray judgment of the court.’ (2) The court erred in its answer to the first question of law propounded by the plaintiffs, which is as follows: ‘Are not the allegations in plaintiffs’ original petition sufficient to show that the county judge participated in the legal fraud in the ordering the election allowing said territory to incorporate for free school purposes?’ The answer to the question being as follows: ‘No, the allegations in plaintiffs’ petition are not sufficient to charge that the county judge acted fraudulently or corruptly in ordering said election.’ ” The proposition contended for under these assignments is that “the allegations in the plaintiffs’ petition are sufficient to charge' fraud in the ordering of the election.”
The allegations of the petition at which the special exception was leveled, and to which the court’s answer referred to in the second assignment related, are as follows: “(15) Section 149, chapter 124, of the Acts of Twenty-Ninth Legislature, .allows the incor-porations of independent school districts where the territory to be incorporated contains a town or village having 200 inhabitants or over. In the case of the Lavon independent school district there is no town or village having as much as 100 inhabitants, much less having 200 inhabitants. There never was any town or village in this territory having 200 inhabitants, and there was no occasion for any one to believe or to find as a fact that such territory did have such town or village, and there was not any evidence produced before the court to show such to be the facts, and if this school district is permitted to remain and is not set aside and the corporation not ordered dissolved, it will be a fraud on the bondholders or other creditors of said school district, for the reason that the bonds are to be sold upon the faith and representation that such town or village does exist, and it is inequitable and unjust to permit said board of trustees or their successors to offer for sale or to have registered with the Attorney General bonds upon an independent school district in which there is no city or town as is required by the laws of this state.”
The third and fourth assignments of error are presented together, and are as follows: “(3) The court erred in its answer to the second question of law propounded to it by the plaintiffs; the question being as follows: ‘In the establishing of school districts, can the court set aside any particular. call of the field notes or map in order to make it harmonize with the footsteps of the survey- or?’ And the answer being as follows: ‘The court can harmonize a call where there are two calls, one of which will harmonize with the actual line run by the surveyor and make a valid district, and one of which will not make, and the court can accept the call that follows the surveyor’s footsteps, and make a correct district, and reject the call that would defeat the district and which does not follow the surveyor’s line, and the court can reject a mistake in the map.’ (4) The court erred in its answer to the third question of law propounded to it by plaintiffs; the question being as follows: ‘Will the general rules followed in actions of trespass to try title in regard to setting aside course and distance in order to make calls harmonize be applied in a case like this?’ The answer being: ‘Yes.’ ”
This disposes of all of appellants’ assignments of error, and what we have said results in an affirmance of the case.
The judgment' of the court below is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WILSON Et Al. v. BROWN Et Al.
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published