City of Moultrie v. Colquitt County Rural Electric Co.

89 S.E.2d 657, 211 Ga. 842, 1955 Ga. LEXIS 486
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedSeptember 16, 1955
Docket18976
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 89 S.E.2d 657 (City of Moultrie v. Colquitt County Rural Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Moultrie v. Colquitt County Rural Electric Co., 89 S.E.2d 657, 211 Ga. 842, 1955 Ga. LEXIS 486 (Ga. 1955).

Opinions

Head, Justice.

“The general rule is that courts exercising equitable jurisdiction will not enjoin criminal prosecutions; and this rule is ordinarily applicable to proceedings to punish for violations of municipal ordinances, which are quasi criminal in their character.” Mayor &c. of Shellman v. Saxon, 134 Ga. 29 (1) ’ (67 S. E. 438, 27 L. R. A. (NS) 452); Jones v. Carlton, 146 Ga. 1 (90 S. E. 278); Burton v. City of Toccoa, 158 Ga. 63 (122 S. E. 603); Corley v. City of Atlanta, 181 Ga. 381 (182 S. E. 177); Powell v. Hartsfield, 190 Ga. 839 (11 S. E. 2d 33); City of Abbeville v. Renfroe, 192 Ga. 467 (15 S. E. 2d 782); Stephens v. City Council of Augusta, 193 Ga. 815 (20 S. E. 2d 80); City of Atlanta v. Universal Film Exchanges, 201 Ga. 463 (39 S. E. 2d 882); Code § 55-102.

Where repeated prosecutions are threatened under a void municipal ordinance and the effect of the prosecutions would tend to injure or destroy the property of the person so prosecuted, or deprive him of the legitimate enjoyment of his profits, equity may entertain a suit to inquire into the validity of the ordinance and to enjoin its enforcement. Carey v. City of Atlanta, 143 [850]*850Ga. 192 (84 S. E. 456, L. R. A. 1915D 684, Ann. Cas. 1916E 1151); Upchurch v. City of LaGrange, 159 Ga. 113 (125 S. E. 47); Morrow v. City of Atlanta, 162 Ga. 228 (133 S. E. 345); Chaires v. City of Atlanta, 164 Ga. 755 (139 S. E. 559, 55 A. L. R. 230); City of Douglas v. South Ga. Grocery Co., 178 Ga. 657 (174 S. E. 127); Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. City of Columbus, 189 Ga. 458 (6 S. E. 2d 320).

In order, to determine whether or not the petitioner had a property right pursuant to valid contracts for its electric service within the territory involved, consideration must be given to the charter powers of the parties and the record in the cause. The Electric Membership Corporation Act of 1937 (Ga. L. 1937, pp. 644, 645; Code, Ann. Supp., §§ 34A-102, 34A-103), under which the petitioner was chartered and is operating, provides that such corporations may engage in the business of “the furnishing of electric energy to persons in rural areas who are not receiving electric service from any corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the Georgia Public Service Commission, or from any municipal corporation.” “Rural area” is defined as “any area not included writhin the boundaries of any incorporated or unincorporated city, town or village, having a population in excess of 1,500 inhabitants, according to the last Federal census, and includes both the farm, and non-farm population.”

The charter powers of the City of Moultrie (Ga. L. 1937, p. 1990; Ga. L. 1943, pp. 1458-1499) authorize the city to engage in the business of furnishing electrical energy. It has been held, in the absence of specific legislative authority, that a municipal corporation may own and operate a water works or electric system under its general-welfare clause or under its contractual powers. Mayor &c. of Rome v. Cabot, 28 Ga. 50; Heilbron v. Mayor &c. of Cuthbert, 96 Ga. 312 (23 S. E. 206).

The right, power, and authority of each of the parties to engage in the business of furnishing electrical energy is not questioned in this case. The petitioner contends that its right to serve customers in the disputed area is based upon the jorior construction of its lines to serve customers with whom it had contracts and at a time when the territory in dispute had not been included within the corporate limits of the city. The city contends that the petitioner extended its lines with notice of the city’s intention to [851]*851include the territory within its corporate limits, that the petitioner’s only customers for permanent service were procured after the territory was annexed to the city, and that the petitioner can not operate within the territorial limits of the city.

The uncontroverted facts appearing from the record disclose that the petitioner had electric lines and distribution lines in a part of East Moultrie Heights Subdivision, adjoining the city, continuously from the year 1951. It had no distribution lines in blocks 6, 7, and 8 of section 2, the territory involved in the present dispute. This property was undeveloped prior to 1954. On August 17, 1954, the owner of the property appeared before the mayor and council of the city and requested in writing that this territory be taken into the city. At that time an ordinance was passed on first and second reading, to include the territory in the city. The ordinance was finally passed on November 2, 1954.

It appears from the testimony of H. S. Glenn, the manager of the petitioner: He had notice from a publication appearing in the paper in August, 1954, that the city proposed to annex blocks 6, 7, and 8 of section 2, and on or about November 3, 1954, he was advised by the city manager that the territory had been annexed. At the time the litigation was instituted by the petitioner, it was not furnishing permanent service to any customer in blocks 6, 7, and 8 of section 2 of the subdivision. The city offered to pay the petitioner in full for its lines in this area before the petitioner’s suit was filed, and this offer was refused.

The petitioner introduced, and relies upon, some nine contracts or applications for its service. Five of these applications were signed by Fred Nijem, the first two being dated November 10, 1954. The applications signed by Nijem appear to have been subsequently approved by agents of the petitioner. The other four applications do not appear to have been approved by the petitioner’s agents. ‘

The first requisite of a valid contract is that there shall be parties able to contract. Code § 20-107. The Electric Membership Corporation Act (Ga. L. 1937, pp. 644, 645; Code, Ann. Supp., §§ 34A-102, 34A-103), provides that such corporations can not operate within the boundaries of an incorporated city having a population in excess of 1,500 inhabitants. Whether cal[852]*852culatecl by the census of 1930 or of 1950, the City of Moultrie had in excess of 1,500 inhabitants prior to and at the time written applications were made to the petitioner for electric service. The limitation imposed by the Electric Membership Corporation Act, that corporations created under that act may operate electric lines in rural areas not receiving service from a municipal corporation or a corporation regulated by the Public Service Commission, is a limitation to be determined at the time the application for service is made.

The petitioner attacks an ordinance of the City of Moultrie passed on January 18, 1955, making it unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to maintain poles, wires, or electric apparatus within the city without the consent of the mayor and council. It is alleged that this ordinance “is unconstitutional and void as being discriminatory against petitioner,” and is “arbitrary and unreasonable” in violation of art. I, sec. I, pars. II and III of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

The allegations attacking the ordinance are wholly insufficient to make any question as to its constitutionality.

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City of Moultrie v. Colquitt County Rural Electric Co.
89 S.E.2d 657 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1955)

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Bluebook (online)
89 S.E.2d 657, 211 Ga. 842, 1955 Ga. LEXIS 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-moultrie-v-colquitt-county-rural-electric-co-ga-1955.