Dysart v. Wichita Falls, R. & Ft. W. Ry. Co.

220 S.W. 277, 1920 Tex. App. LEXIS 302
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 27, 1920
DocketNo. 9386.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 220 S.W. 277 (Dysart v. Wichita Falls, R. & Ft. W. Ry. Co.) 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
Dysart v. Wichita Falls, R. & Ft. W. Ry. Co., 220 S.W. 277, 1920 Tex. App. LEXIS 302 (Tex. Ct. App. 1920).

Opinion

CONNER, C. J.

This appeal is from an order of the district court of Eastland county denying an application for an injunction to restrain the appellee railway company from taking possession of certain real property described in the plaintiff’s petition. Briefly stated, the plaintiff, J. C. Dysart, alleged that he was the owner of certain real property, describing it, situated in the city of Ranger, *278 in Eastland county, upon which he had erected a building 37x140 feet, two stories high, and used by him as a horse and mule depot and in which he had some 13 horses and 20 mules, besides grain and feed. It was further alleged that the railway company, in accord with the law of eminent domain, had hied an application in the county court of Eastland county to condemn the property described, pursuant to which application the judge of said court had appointed certain commissioners, naming them, to assess the damage done to the plaintiff by reason of the construction of a railroad and right of way across the lands of said plaintiff, and that, in accordance with said appointment, the said commissioners met in Ranger, Tex., on the 4th day of December, 1919, for the purpose of ascertaining the damage done to the plaintiff, and that said commissioners, after hearing the evidence relating to the same, assessed the damage to said property at the sum of $8,500, which said award was filed with the clerk of said county court; a certified copy of said award being attached as an exhibit to the petition.

The record discloses that notice was issued to the defendant to appear and show cause why the injunction prayed for by the plaintiff should not be issued,'pursuant to which the defendant answered, among other things, to the effect that it, as a railroad corporation, duly incorporated under the laws of Texas, and desiring to .construct a railroad along and over the premises of plaintiff, had, in the manner provided' by law, applied to the county court for condemnation of the land and premises in controversy for the purpose stated, and that upon said application the court had duly appointed commissioners to assess the damages, before whom the defendant had personally appeared, and that after hearing the commissioners had assessed plaintiff’s damages at the sum of $8,500. It was further alleged that the plaintiff being dissatisfied with said award had objected thereto, and that said proceedings had been filed in the county court where they were still pending on appeal; that defendant had deposited the sum of $8,500 with the clerk of the said court subject to the order of the plaintiff and had deposited a further sum of $8,500 to secure any further damage that plaintiff might suffer, and had also executed a bond for the payment of any other costs that might be adjudged against the defendant.

The court, after hearing the evidence, denied the writ, and this appeal from the order denying it has been prosecuted, as before stated.

Our V. S. Tex. Civ. Stats, art. 6504, provides that if at any time a railroad corporation shall be unable to agree with the owner for the purchase of any real estate required for the purpose of its incorporation i or the transaction of its business for its I depots, station buildings, machine and repaip shops, etc., such corporation may acquire such property in the manner provided for in the chapter of which said article is a part. Article 6506 provides that, where the company and the owner cannot agree upon the damages, it shall be the duty of the company to state in writing the real estate and property sought to be condemned,. the object for which the same is sought to be condemned, the name of the owner thereof and his residence, if known, and file the same with the county judge of the county in which such property, or a part thereof, is situated. It thereupon becomes the duty of the judge to appoint three disinterested freeholders of the county as special commissioners to assess the damages to the owner of the property. The commissioners are to be sworn to assess such damages fairly and impartially and in accordance with the law. The commissioners are required to appoint a day and place for the hearing, of which notice is to be given to the parties. At the time and place appointed, it is the duty of the commissioners to fully hear the parties and evidence submitted, after which they shall render their award. It is required thjit the award be reduced to writing and filed together with all other papers connected with the case with the county judge, and, if no objections are filed to the award within ten days, it shall be made the judgment of the court which may issue the necessary process to enforce the same. If either party, however, is dissatisfied with the decision-of the commissioners, he may, within 10 days after the same has been filed with the county judge, file his opposition thereto in writing, “setting forth the particular cause or causes of his objection,” and thereupon the adverse party shall he cited, and said cause shall be tried and determined as in other civil causes in said court.

Article 6530 reads as follows:

“In no case shall such corporation be entitled to enter upon and take the property condemned, without first having paid whatever amount of damages and costs may have been awarded or adjudged against it by such commissioners, or deposited money to coyer the same in the court wherein such condemnation proceedings are pending. But if the plaintiff in the condemnation proceedings should desire to enter upon and take possession of the property sought to be condemned, pending litigation, it may do so at any time after the award of the commissioners, upon the following conditions, to wit:
“First. It shall pay to the defendant the amount of damages awarded or adjudged against.it by the commissioners, or deposit the same in money in court, subject to the order of the defendant, and also pay the costs awarded against it.
“Second. In addition thereto, it shall deposit in said court a further sum of money equal to the amount of the damages awarded by the *279 commissioners, and which shall be held, together with the award itself, should it be deposited in court instead of being paid, exclusively to secure all damages that may be awarded or adjudged against the plaintiff; and it shall also execute a bond with two or more good and solvent sureties, to be approved by the judge of the court in which such condemnation proceedings are pending, conditioned for the payment of any further costs that may be adjudged against it, either in the court below or upon appeal.
“Third. Should it be determined on final decision of the ease that the right to condemn the property in question does not exist, the plaintiff shall surrender possession thereof, if he has taken possession pending litigation, and the court shall so adjudge and order a writ of possession for the property in favor of the defendant, and the court may also inquire what damages, if any, have been suffered by the defendant by reason of the temporary possession of the plaintiff, and order the same paid out of the award or other money deposited; provided, that in any case where the award paid the defendant or appropriated by him exceeds the value of the property as determined by the final judgment, the court shall adjudge the excess to be returned to the plaintiff.

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263 S.W. 1089 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
220 S.W. 277, 1920 Tex. App. LEXIS 302, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dysart-v-wichita-falls-r-ft-w-ry-co-texapp-1920.