Crowell v. Terrell

250 S.W. 252, 1923 Tex. App. LEXIS 763
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 15, 1923
DocketNo. 1428. [fn*]
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 250 S.W. 252 (Crowell v. Terrell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crowell v. Terrell, 250 S.W. 252, 1923 Tex. App. LEXIS 763 (Tex. Ct. App. 1923).

Opinion

HIGGINS, J.

Douglas C. Crowell was appointed by the Forty-First district court of El Paso county, as receiver of the American Bonding & Casualty Company in a proceeding in that court entitled Hotchkiss-Frost Company v. American Bonding & Casualty Company, and the receiver was ordered to take charge and possession of all property of every nature, character, and kind of the American Bonding & Casualty Company, situated in the state of Texas. The said receiver made demand upon C. V. Terrell, state treasurer of the state of Texas, for the delivery to him, the receiver, of certain securities of the value of $50,000, and consisting of notes secured by mortgages on land in the state of Iowa, which the company had deposited with the treasurer as one of the requisite conditions of its being issued a permit to do business in the state of Texas. The treasurer refused to deliver the securities, and thereupon the receiver filed a motion in said proceeding in the district court of El Paso county against the treasurer, alleging his appointment as receiver, the deposit prior to his appointment, by the company, of certain named securities, consisting of notes executed by various parties and secured by liens and mortgages on lands situated in the state of Iowá, with the treasurer, and that same had been So deposited with the treasurer as required by the laws of Texas, in order for said company to do business in this state, the demand upon the treasurer for the delivery of said securities, his refusal, and further alleging that the treasurer claimed: that there was no law by which he might collect the sums due under the securities, nor any law by which he was authorized to distribute the funds in his possession applicable to the state of affairs of said company in the state of Texas, and further alleging that as a matter of fact there is no method by which those entitled to said, securities or the funds to be derived from them may be obtained, except through the instrumentality of this court, and that same should be delivered to the receiver, to the end that the same could be held for the benefit of Texas creditors of said company, and the estate administered and determined and disposed of, and praying that the treasurer be directed to turn said securities into the registry of this court, and that he be relieved of the trust imposed upon him by statute in reference thereto.

The state treasurer ‘answered by exceptions, general and special, general denial, and a special answer, the contents of which need not be detailed. The court sustained the general exception and a special exception to the effect that “it is not alleged that all the rights of the various claimants, having-an interest in the securities or fund in question, have been finally adjudicated.”

The receiver declined to amend. His motion was thereupon dismissed, and he appealed.

The suggestion is made by appellee that the district court has no jurisdiction over the subject-matter of this litigation. This is predicated upon article 5732, R. S., which reads:

“No court of this state (except the Supreme Court, as provided by article 1526) shall have *253 power, authority or jurisdiction to issue the writ of mandamus or injunction or any other mandatory or compulsory writ of process against any of the officers of the executive departments of the government of this state to order or compel the performance of any act or duty which, by the laws of this state, they, or either of them, are authorized to perform, whether such act or duty be judicial, ministerial or discretionary.”

No authority is cited in support of the suggestion, and we have found none bearing upon the question. In our opinion, however, the motion of appellant does not seek “to order or compel the performance of any act or duty which, by the laws of this state,” the treasurer is “authorized to perform,” and therefore this proceeding is not within the purview of that statute. This being true, the district court is the proper forum. Kaufman v. McGaughey, 3 Tex. Civ. App. 655, 21 S. W. 261.

The securities which it is sought to have delivered to the receiver were deposited with the state treasurer by the company in accordance with article 4930 (Complete Texas Statutes 1920), which provides:

“And, if such company be organized under the laws of any other state than this state, it must also have on deposit with a state office of one of the states of the United States, not less than one hundred thousand dollars in good securities, deposited with, and held by, such officer for the benefit of the holders of its obligations; * * * and must also have on deposit with the treasurer of this state at least fifty thousand dollars in good securities, worth at par and market value at least that sum, of the value of which securities the commissioner of insurance shall judge, held for the benefit of the holders of the obligations of such company; said securities so deposited with said treasurer to remain with him in trust to answer any default of said company as surety upon any such bond, undertaking, recognizance or other obligation, established by final judgment upon which execution may lawfully be issued against said company; said treasurer and his successors in office being hereby directed to so receive and hereafter retain such deposit under this act, in trust, for the purposes hereof; * * * provided, however, that whenever any such company, domestic or foreign, has been engaged in this state in the business contemplated by this act, has made deposit in this state, in trust or otherwise, of securities, to answer any' default of such company upon any such bond, undertaking, recognizance, guaranty, or stipulation, such securities so deposited shall be by the trustee or custodian thereof transferred and delivered to said treasurer of this state in trust for the same purposes under and subject to all the rights and equities of all parties interested, and to the terms and provisions of this act; and thereupon such deposit shall remain in trust under and subject to the terms and provisions of this act; and, whenever such deposit has been made with a trustee by order of any court or other authority, it shall be the duty of the court or other authority, by order or otherwise, to direct such transfer to said .treasurer; and, in case such deposit is less than the sum of fifty thousand dollars, then said, company must deposit with, said treasurer securities sufficient to increase said deposit to said sum of fifty thousand dollars, as required by this chapter. * * * ”

This statute has been construed by the Supreme Court in the recent case of Texas & Fidelity Bonding Co. v. City of Austin, 246 S. W. 1026, opinion by Chief Justice Cureton, and with reference to securities depositted thereunder it was said:

“The statutes contain every element essential to the creation of a trust fund and the designation and selection of a trustee. That the effect of these statutes was to create a trust fund and make the state treasurer trustee is well settled by the decisions of our courts and other authorities.”

To grant the motion of the receiver herein would operate as an ouster of the state treasurer from the trust imposed upon him under the law. Whether this will be done, it is said in note 46 L. R. A. (N. S.) 187—

“must of necessity depend to a great extent upon the wording and construction of the particular statute permitting or requiring the deposit.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 S.W. 252, 1923 Tex. App. LEXIS 763, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crowell-v-terrell-texapp-1923.