Epperson v. Howell

154 P. 621, 28 Idaho 338, 1916 Ida. LEXIS 6
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 8, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 154 P. 621 (Epperson v. Howell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Epperson v. Howell, 154 P. 621, 28 Idaho 338, 1916 Ida. LEXIS 6 (Idaho 1916).

Opinion

MOBGAN, J.

This proceeding was commenced for the purpose of procuring the issuance of a writ of mandate requiring defendants, who constitute the board of county commissioners of Ada county, to immediately take action upon plaintiff’s application for employment, made pursuant to chap. 27, Sess. Laws 1915 (p. 80), or to employ him or show cause why they have not done so.

In the application for the writ and in the return thereto the parties are denominated petitioner and respondents, respectively. The title of the cause has been reformed to read as above stated, in order to conform to the provisions of sec. 4955, Bev. Codes, which provides: “The party prosecuting a special proceeding may be known as the plaintiff, and the adverse party as the defendant.” (Connolly v. Woods, 13 Ida. 591, 92 Pac. 573; Bragaw v. Gooding, 14 Ida. 288, 94 Pac. 438.)

Plaintiff, in his application, alleges the necessary statutory facts entitling him to be employed under the provisions of chap. 27, supra. An alternative writ was issued and served and, by way of return, defendants admitted the facts alleged and demurred to the application, asserting that the legislative enactment under consideration violates the constitution of the state of Idaho in a number of particulars, some of which will be hereinafter discussed.

Chap. 27, supra, provides that the boards of county commissioners of the various counties in Idaho are authorized and required to designate certain work upon the public highway, or such other work as they may determine upon, as emergency employment, and to fix the compensation of persons employed in such work. It is therein provided that any person who is a citizen of the United States and who has 'been a resident of Idaho for not less than six months shall be entitled to emergency employment subject to the provi[342]*342sions of the chapter. An applicant for employment is required to appear before the clerk, or any member of the board of county commissioners, and to make oath or affirmation to the following facts: That he is a citizen of the United States,- that he has been a resident of the state of Idaho for an uninterrupted period of not less than six months; that he is a resident of the county in which such application is made, and has been for more than ninety , days last past ,- that he is unable to secure other employment; that he does not own or possess negotiable, real or personal property of a total value of more than one thousand dollars; that he hast or has not, as the case may 'be, dependents, and if he has such dependents, name them individually and separately and state the relationship of each to him; that he has or has not, as the case may be, been employed at emergency employment within the state of Idaho during the twelve months last past; that he wall perform the labor to which he may be assigned with due and reasonable diligence and in a fair and workmanlike manner to the best of his ability, and such applicant must be identified and vouched for by some freeholder in the county where application is made.

The manner in which payment shall be made, out of the current expense fund of the county, for labor performed at emergency employment, and the manner of keeping account of such employment, and the manner of keeping account of such expenditures and of certifying the same to the county auditor, are provided for, and secs. 12, 14, and 15 of the chapter are as follows:

‘ ‘ Sec. 12. The County Auditor shall certify to the Auditor of the State of Idaho in his annual return of State taxes from the county, a statement of the total sum expended within the county for Emergency Employment and fifty (50) per cent of the amount of such total sum shall be deducted from the sum of the general taxes collected by the State of Idaho from the county in which such Emergency Employment was provided.”
“Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the Auditor of the State of Idaho to certify to the State Treasurer a correct account [343]*343of all sums reported from the various counties of the State of Idaho as Emergency Employment deductions from the general State tax returns.
“See. 15. It shall be the duty of the State Treasurer to keep in his office a true and correct record of all sums reported as Emergency Employment expenditures from the various counties.”

It will be at once observed that this chapter provides for the deduction, by a county, from the moneys due from it to the state, arising from taxation, of one-half of the amount it has been required to expend in giving emergency employment. Defendants contend that the chapter is void because it is in conflict with see. 7, art. 7, of the constitution of Idaho, which provides: “All taxes levied for state purposes shall be paid into the state treasury, and no county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, the inhabitants thereof, nor the property therein; shall be released or discharged from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be levied for state purposes.” This section of the constitution is mandatory, and it is entirely clear that the legislative enactment under consideration, in so far as it provides for diverting from the state treasury money due to the state from the counties, arising from taxation, and for paying it out by the counties to those engaged at emergency employment, cannot be sustained.

No appropriation of money has been made with which to pay the state’s proportion’ of the expense of giving emergency employment, and it is urged by defendants that the chapter is unconstitutional because it conflicts with see. 13, art. 7, of the constitution, which is as follows: “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in pursuance of appropriations made by law. ’ ’

An appropriation, within the meaning of the section of our constitution last above quoted is authority from the legislature expressly given in legal form, to the proper officers, to pay from the public moneys a specified sum, and no more, for a specified purpose, and no other. It follows that no money may lawfully be paid from the treasury except pursuant to and in accordance with an act of the legislature [344]*344expressly appropriating it to the specific purpose for which .it is.paid. No money having been appropriated for that purpose, the state is as effectually precluded by sec. 13, art. 7, from paying its proportionate share of the expense of giving emergency employment as is the county from retaining it from the state treasury by see. 7, art. 7, of the constitution. (Kingsbury v. Anderson, 5 Ida. 771, 51 Pac. 744; Kroutinger v. Board of Examiners, 8 Ida. 463, 69 Pac. 279; and Jeffreys v. Huston, 23 Ida. 372, 129 Pac. 1065.)

Our attention is also directed to the fact that no provision is made for the submission of claims against the state, arising out of emergency employment, to the state board of examiners, but, upon the other hand, payment of funds belonging to the state, without such examination, is attempted to be provided for. This feature of the chapter is in contravention of sec. 18, art. 4, of the constitution, which grants to that board power to examine all claims against the state, except for salaries or compensation of officers fixed by law. (Winters v. Ramsey, 4 Ida. 303, 39 Pac. 193.)

Certain other objections have been made touching the validity of this legislative enactment, but in view of the conclusions reached upon those heretofore mentioned, it is not deemed necessary to discuss them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
154 P. 621, 28 Idaho 338, 1916 Ida. LEXIS 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/epperson-v-howell-idaho-1916.