Beard v. Albritton

31 S.W.2d 959, 182 Ark. 538, 1930 Ark. LEXIS 504
Supreme Court of Arkansas·Decided October 27, 1930·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

Mehaeey, J.

The appellees filed a petition with the county board of education of Ouachita County, alleging that they were a majority of the qualified electors residing in School Districts No. 1 and No. 50 of Ouachita County and asking that the boundary lines of said District No. 1 be changed so as to include within said School District Nú. 1 all -of the territory now comprising said School District No. 50; which district adjoins No. 1. Then followed a description of the territory of No. 50 by sections. A plat was attached to the petition and made part of it. This petition was filed on December 2, 1929, and notice of the proposed change on October 31, 1929* more than 30 days before the petition was filed. The petition was signed by J. A. Graston and 104 others. The appellants filed a remonstrance signed Iby J. S. Beard and 21 others. One of the grounds for opposing the change was that the children of the remonstrants would be compelled to go a distance off from 12 to 15 miles to attend school, and it would be virtually denying school facilities to a great many children. It was further alleged that the children would have to cross District No. 61 in order to get to1 the school; that they would have to cross Freeo Creek, which is sometimes impassable. There was no evidence to support these allegations, and these questions are not before the court. It was alleged that a majority of the patrons of School District No. 50 opposed the consolidation. The remonstrants alleged that the notice given was not in compliance with the statute in that it. was not a geographical description of the territory to be embraced in the proposed new district. That there was no geographical description of the territory embraced in District No. 1, and that the petition did not contain a geographical description of the territory to* be created. The county board of education on December 2, 1929, after reciting its finding of facts, made the order changing the boundary so that District No. 1 included all of the territory of both No. 1 and No. 50. Other orders were made with reference to the transfer of funds. After the decision of the board of education, an affidavit and bond for appeal to the circuit court was filed by remonstrants, and in the circuit court a demurrer was filed which was by the court overruled. The f ollowing stipulation was entered into by counsel:

“It is stipulated and agreed between counsel for the parties that the notices of the application to the board of education, a copy of which is contained in the transcript in this case, were posited in the time and manner and in number as required by law. That the petition which was filed with the county board of education herein, a copy of which is included in the transcript herein, is signed by a majority of the qualified electors of the territory affected by the petition and the order of the board of edueátion. That t,he order made by the county board of education, which was appealed from, contemplates that the district formed by the order of the county board of education shall include all of what was formerly School District Number 1 of Ouachita County, Arkansas, and all of School District Number 50, of Ouachita County, Arkansas. That, while said petition does contain a majority of the qualified elector of both of saidiSchool Districts No. 1 and 50, it does not contain a majority of the qualified electors of said School District No. 50. That the agreement herein, to the effect that the notices were given in time and manner and number, as required by law, does not mean, and is not an admission, that the description of property contained therein is according to law.”

The case was tried in circuit court on February 27, and the circuit court after a recital of the facts found by it, ordered that the new School District No. 1 be established and created as ordered by the county board of education consisting of the territory set forth. Motion for new trial was filed, overruled and exceptions saved. This appeal is prosecuted to reverse the judgment of the circuit court.

It is first contended by the “appellants that the notices given did not contain a geographical description of the territory to be embraced in the district. The boundaries of both No. 1 and No. 50 were of course well known and describing them as Districts No. 1 and No. 50, of Ouachita Oounty, Arkansas, would be a geographical description of the territory. The notice and petition as contended by appellant must be in compliance with the statute, but to describe the territory as District No. 1 of Ouachita Oounty, Arkansas, would give all the information to persons entitled to know that a description by sections or by metes and bounds would give, and the purpose of notice of course is to advise persons interested as to the territory affected. If the formation of a new district took a portion of one district or all of one district and part of another, it would of course be necessary to describe the part taken. To say that a part of District No. 50 was taken would be no description at all, and the law requires that there must be a geographical description; but when it is described as District No. 1 or District No. 50, this is a complete description and a geographical description, and the notice and petition would have been valid, and there would have been a substantial compliance with the statute if it had described each district by number only.

"We agr ee with the appellants in their contention that the giving of the notice prescribed by statute was a prerequisite to the exercise of jurisdiction and that a failure to comply with the statute would make the organization invalid, but we do not agree that describing a district as No. 1 or No. 50' is not a geographical description. It is also contended that the petition is defective because it does not contain a geographical description of the territory, 'but what is said with reference to geographical description contained in the notice is applicable to the petition also.

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Beard v. Albritton, 31 S.W.2d 959, 182 Ark. 538, 1930 Ark. LEXIS 504 (Ark. 1930).

31 S.W.2d 959 (Beard v. Albritton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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