City of Fort Scott v. Arbuckle

196 P.2d 217, 165 Kan. 374, 1948 Kan. LEXIS 486
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJuly 10, 1948
DocketNo. 36,879; No. 36,880; No. 36,881
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 196 P.2d 217 (City of Fort Scott v. Arbuckle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Fort Scott v. Arbuckle, 196 P.2d 217, 165 Kan. 374, 1948 Kan. LEXIS 486 (kan 1948).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Smith, J.:

The opinion in this appeal was filed December 6,1947. (See City of Fort Scott v. Arbuckle, 164 Kan. 49, 187 P. 2d 348.) [375]*375In it we stated that defendant had waived her right to trial by jury on appeal from police court to district court by going to trial without, demanding it. In due time she filed her petition for rehearing. In it she called our attention to an excerpt of the transcript of the record wherein she demanded a jury.

. No reference was made to this portion of the transcript in her abstract here. One of her grounds for a new trial was the denial of a jury trial on her appeal. Her motion for a new trial was not printed in her abstract, however. There was no argument as to her right to trial by jury in her main brief in this court. Neither was this included in her specifications of error except one of them was that the court erred in overruling her motion for a new trial. In her reply brief filed the morning the appeal was argued she, for the first time, presented to us the argument that she was entitled to a jury trial on her appeal from police court to the district court. This reply brief was handed to counsel for the city on the day before the case was set for argument. Due to some unfortunate circumstances counsel for the city was not present for the oral argument. No reference was made by counsel for defendant to the denial of a jury in the oral argument. After the petition for a rehearing was filed we obtained the files from the trial court and learned from an examination of the original motion for a new trial that a denial of her right to trial by jury was one of the grounds relied on.

It is doubtful whether she as a matter of right may have her denial of a jury trial decided by us since it was not one of her specifications of error. However, the point is a serious one and we allowed a rehearing upon the sole question of whether defendant was entitled to reversal because the court erred in denying her the right to a trial by jury on the appeal and upon no other question. The rehearing was set and submitted upon oral argument and briefs by both sides at the April session.

Defendant relies on what this court has said largely by way of dicta in some early decisions dealing each time with the actual question of whether the defendant was entitled to a jury as a matter of right in police court.

The first case to which counsel makes reference is City of Emporia v. Volmer, 12 Kan. 622. There Yolmer had been charged in the police court of Emporia with running a “tippling shop” in violation of an ordinance of the city. In the police court he demanded a jury, [376]*376which was denied. He was found guilty and appealed to the district court. In the district court he was tried before a jury and found guilty. A new trial was refused and he was fined $100. One of the errors urged in this court was a jury trial was refused him in police court. We referred to the Laws of 1872, chapter 100, section 83, which authorized summary proceedings in police court. We then stated the only question that could be raised was whether that section was in conflict with the provision in the-bill of rights, which declares that:

“The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate.”

We then stated:

“Without attempting to decide as to the extent or limits of this constitutional provision, it is enough for us in this case to decide that, where the summary proceeding, authorized by statute,“ is in a municipal court, for the violation of one of the city ordinances, and the defendant may have an appeal, clogged by no unreasonable restrictions, to an appellate court in which he has a right to a trial by jury, this is sufficient, and his constitutional rights are not invaded.”

As thus stated, it would appear the court held the defendant was not entitled to a jury in the first instance in police court because if he saw fit to appeal he would have a trial by jury in the district court. It will be noted that such was not a holding that he was entitled to a jury on appeal in district court but rather an assumption that he was. It should be noted that section 90 of chapter 100 of the Laws of 1872 provided that the appeal from police to district court could only be had by the defendant giving a bond for the payment of the fine imposed in police court. We cited among other authorities State v. Young, 3 Kan. 445. That case pointed out Topeka was organized under thé authority of the territorial legislature; that this legislature had authority to organize cities and that such authority was not inconsistent with the organic act which invested judicial power in the district court, the supreme court, the probate court and justices of the peace. We stated:

“The creation, of municipal corporations is certainly a ‘rightful subject of legislation.’ They are absolutely necessary for the good government of cities and towns, as demonstrated by the history of the world. Their creation for centuries has been regarded as a proper exercise of the legislative power in England; and in the United States no other power rightfully could, or has attempted to, create them. . . . Nor is the creation of municipal courts for'the enforcement of municipal regulations inconsistent with this section, because the exercise of such power on the part of the legislature is not only [377]*377conferring judicial power within the meaning of this section, but is exercising authority over a rightful subject of legislation, within the meaning of section twenty-four. This construction does violence to the spirit of neither of the sections referred to, is in accordance with the manifest intention of Congress, and is consistent with immemorial usage.” (pp. 448, 449.)

This opinion demonstrates there always has been a distinction between the enforcement of city ordinances and the enforcement of state statutes, the one being within the jurisdiction of municipal courts, usually called police courts, and the other within the jurisdiction of state courts.

At any rate, this subject was again before us in In re Rolfs, Petitioner, 30 Kan. 758, 1 Pac. 523. That was a case from Leavenworth. Rolfs had been charged and convicted in the police court of Leavenworth with maintaining a nuisance by having a pigpen in the city limits. In police court he demanded a trial by jury, which was refused. He was tried and found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine. Immediately after the conviction he tendered a bond and demanded an appeal to the district court, which was refused, because his fine was less than ten dollars and the statute in effect at the time provided there could be an appeal to the district court from the police court only where that fine exceeded twenty dollars. The hearing in this court was before Mr. Justice Brewer on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Mr. Justice Brewer stated that since the action was one of habeas corpus the inquiry was limited to the question “Was the judgment void, or has it been stayed, superseded, or otherwise spent its force?” He stated that the police court had exclusive jurisdiction over all offenses against the ordinances of the city and had power to punish any such violation by fine or confinement in the city prison or labor on the streets. He pointed out there was no question but that the legislature could delegate to municipal corporations powers to punish a violation of their ordinances.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ashley Clinic v. Coates
545 P.3d 1020 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2024)
Tillman v. Goodpasture
485 P.3d 656 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2021)
State v. Love
Supreme Court of Kansas, 2017
Tulley v. City of Jacksonville
199 So. 3d 779 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2014)
City of Decatur v. Lindsey
989 So. 2d 1157 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2007)
Attorney General Opinion No.
Kansas Attorney General Reports, 2002
Donley v. City of Mountain Brook
429 So. 2d 603 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1982)
City of Overland Park v. Estell
592 P.2d 909 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1979)
City of Dodge City v. Day
403 P.2d 1004 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1965)
Knudsen v. City of Anchorage
358 P.2d 375 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1960)
Lawton v. Hand
350 P.2d 28 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1960)
City of Garden City v. Miller
311 P.2d 306 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1957)
Statee Ex Rel. Suchta v. District Court of Sheridan County
283 P.2d 1023 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1955)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
196 P.2d 217, 165 Kan. 374, 1948 Kan. LEXIS 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-fort-scott-v-arbuckle-kan-1948.