Board of County Com'rs of Oklahoma County v. Board of Finance of Methodist Episcopal Church, South

100 F.2d 766, 1938 U.S. App. LEXIS 2747
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedDecember 19, 1938
DocketNo. 1679
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 100 F.2d 766 (Board of County Com'rs of Oklahoma County v. Board of Finance of Methodist Episcopal Church, South) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of County Com'rs of Oklahoma County v. Board of Finance of Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 100 F.2d 766, 1938 U.S. App. LEXIS 2747 (10th Cir. 1938).

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge.

The owners of certain drainage district bonds issued by Oklahoma Comity, Oklahoma, brought this suit against the board of county commissioners of Oklahoma County, the individual members of the board, the clerk, the assessor, and the treasurer of the county, respectively, and certain owners of land within the drainage district. Plaintiffs prayed judgment against the board of county commissioners for the amounts due on the bonds for principal and interest, for a mandatory injunction to compel the levy and collection of the necessary assessments to pay such judgment, and for an injunction restraining the further prosecution of a suit pendingvin the district court of Oklahoma County.

From a judgment in favor of plaintiffs upon the bonds, which reserved jurisdiction for the purpose of entering such further orders and decrees as might be necessary and proper in the premises, the defendants below have appealed.

The cause was tried upon an agreed statement of facts. On September 5,- 1922, the board of county commissioners of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, purporting to act under authority of the Oklahoma State Drainage Act, §§ 6039 to 6070, inclusive, C.O.S.1921, 82 Okl.St.Ann. § 281 et seq., made and executed 18 drainage bonds, each in the sum of $1,000, numbered 1 to 18, inclusive, to provide funds for paying the cost of a combined system of drainage known as Choctaw Drainage District No. 8. Each of the bonds contained the following recitals:

“This bond is based upon and constitutes a lien upon and is payable solely out of the proceeds of the special assessment for benefits heretofore legally levied on the lands to be benefited, and out of no other fund whatsoever.

“And it is hereby certified and recited that all acts, conditions and things required to be done in locating and establishing said drainage district, and in making and levying said assessment against lands benefited thereby and in the authorization, executing [768]*768and issuance of this bond were and have been legally had, done and performed; ❖ * *

“ * * * The Board of County Commissioners of said Oklahoma County, in the State of Oklahoma, have caused this bond to be signed by their Chairman, countersigned and registered by the County Clerk. * * * ”

The first two bonds issued have been paid. The last three are not included in this suit. Bonds No. 3 to 8, inclusive, became due more than five years prior to the institution of this suit.

The petition for the establishment of the drainage district was filed September 19, 1921. Thereafter, certain proceedings were had pursuant to the provisions of §§ 6039 to 6070, C.O.S.1921, 82 Okl.St.Ann. § 281 et seq., including the issuance of the bonds. The petition, orders, and notices were defective in certain particulars by reason of errors and omissions. On February 10, 1923, and April 13, 1923, respectively, the county commissioners entered orders correcting these errors and omissions, in the proceedings. On August 14, 1922, the drainage district entered into a contract with one O. M. Cole for the excavation work on a portion of the drainage construction. Cole agreed .to receive bonds of the drainage district at par in payment for such work, and the bonds were delivered to Cole pursuant to such contract. No cash was paid for the bonds except an amount sufficient to pay the district organization costs.

The plaintiffs purchased the bonds in suit from a broker in St. Louis, acting for Cole. Plaintiffs did ■ not know Cole was the owner of the bonds at the time they acquired them. They purchased the bonds for value, before maturity, on the faith of the recitals contained therein and a transcript of the proceedings before the board of county commissioners, which was duly certified by the county clerk of Oklahoma County and reflected such proceedings after the errors had been corrected and the omissions supplied by the orders above referred to, and without actual notice or knowledge of the corrective orders above referred to, of the actual records in the office of the county commissioners, or of any infirmity in the bonds. The contract with Cole was set forth in the certified transcript of the proceedings.

On June 2, 1928, the owners of' lands within .the district joined as defendants in the instant suit, instituted a suit in the district court of Oklahoma County, and procured a judgment enjoining the county officials of Oklahoma County and their successors in office from assessing or collecting special drainage taxes, interest, penalties, and costs upon the lands of such owners. Thereafter, the state court entered its order vacating the injunctive decree. The plaintiffs therein appealed to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, gave a supersedeas bond, and obtained a stay of the order vacating the injunction. On March 26, 1935, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, Nichols v. Bonaparte, 171 Okl. 234, 42 P.2d 866, affirmed the action of the state district court, and on that date the injunction was discharged. The suit is still pending in the district court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.

■ Section 6070, C.O.S.1921, 82 Okl.St. Ann. §§ 372-382, provides for the issuance of such bonds and for the form thereof, including the recitals. The bonds in question are in substantial compliance with the form prescribed by the statute, and were duly registered by the county clerk of Oklahoma County. Section 6070, supra, further provides that “the only defense that can be offered against the validity of said bonds shall be forgery, or fraud, when such bonds have been registered as provided for in the preceding section of this act.” 82 Okl.St.Ann. §§ 378, 379.

The board of county commissioners were’ clothed with statutory authority to establish the drainage district and issue drainage district bonds in the form of the bonds here sued on and to cause them to be registered by the county clerk. The defect in the Oklahoma State Drainage Act which caused the Oklahoma Supreme Court to hold the board of county commissioners without authority to establish the districts involved in Coyle v. Board of County Commissioners, 38 Okl. 370, 132 P. 1113, and Mullican v. Johnson, 77 Okl. 68, 186 P. 242, was cured by amendment. See Ch. 79i § 1, S.L.Okl.1910, § 13005, O.S.1931, 82 Okl.St.Ann. § 301, and Board of Com’rs of Rogers County v. Lipe, 45 Okl. 685, 146 P. 713. The bonds here sued on were issued under the act as amended.

Each bond recited “that all acts, conditions and things required to be done in locating and establishing said drainage district * * * and in the authorization, executing and issuance of this bond [769]*769were and have been legally had, done and performed.”

The proceedings in locating and establishing the drainage district as reflected by the certified transcript of the proceedings were in all respects legal and regular.

The briefs do not cite, and a careful search on our part has not disclosed any Oklahoma decision dealing with the question of the effect of such recitals. We must look, therefore, to the general law on the subject. In Board of Education of Town of Carmen v. James, 10 Cir., 49 F.2d 91, 99, we said:

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Bluebook (online)
100 F.2d 766, 1938 U.S. App. LEXIS 2747, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-county-comrs-of-oklahoma-county-v-board-of-finance-of-methodist-ca10-1938.