In re Munro

1 Alaska 279
CourtDistrict Court, D. Alaska
DecidedNovember 4, 1901
DocketNo. 139
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1 Alaska 279 (In re Munro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Munro, 1 Alaska 279 (D. Alaska 1901).

Opinion

WICKERSHAM, District Judge.

An ordinance creating a municipal court was passed by the common council of the [280]*280town of Nome, and approved May 13, 1901. The first section, creating the court and defining its jurisdiction, reads as follows:

“Section 1. That there he and is hereby established a municipal and police judge, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine all complaints against inhabitants of said city, against whom complaints inay be made of having violated any of the ordinances passed by the council and applicable to the inhabitants of said city, and to administer the punishment provided in said ordinance on such persons as may be found guilty by him of the violation thereof.”

Had the town of Nome power to create a municipal court and to confer jurisdiction upon it to impose sentences for the violations of municipal ordinances ?

It is not claimed that there is any statutory authority to a municipality in Alaska to create courts, but it is earnestly argued that the power is conferred .as a necessary incident to the duties imposed upon towns incorporated under the provisions of chapter .21 of the Civil Code of June 6, 1900 (31 Stat. 521, c. 786). It is urged that, without that power, the other powers and duties conferred by that chapter are left without the proper means of execution, under the rule that, where a general power is conferred or duty enjoined, every particular power necessary for the exercise of the one or the performance of the other is conferred by implication.

The general rule in such cases is stated by the Supreme Court of the United States in the following language:

“Municipal corporations are created to aid tbe state government in tbe regulation and administration of local affairs. They have only sucb powers of government as are expressly granted them, or such as are necessary to carry into effect those that are granted. No powers can be implied except such as are essential to the objects and purposes of the corporation as created and established. 1 Dill. on Mun. Corp. (3d Ed.) § 89, and cases there cited.” Ottawa v. Carey, 108 U. S. 110, 121, 2 Sup. Ct. 361, 27 L. Ed. 669.

It being conceded that Congress has not expressly granted the power to towns in Alaska to create such courts, we are [281]*281left to determine whether it is such a power as is “necessary to carry into effect those that are granted.” If such a power is necessary, the argument that it, too, is granted by necessary implication, may have some weight.

All the powers expressly granted to towns in this territory .are contained in section 201 of the Civil Code, as follows :

“Sec. 201. Powers of Town Council. The council shall have the following powers:
“First. To provide suitable rules governing their own body, and to elect one of their members president, who shall he ex officio mayor.
“Second. They may appoint, and at their pleasure remove, a clerk, treasurer, assessor, and such other officers as they deem necessary.
“Third. To make rules for all municipal elections: provided, no •officer shall he elected for a longer term than one year.
“Fourth. By ordinance to provide for necessary street improvements, fire protection, water supply, lights, wharfage, sewerage, maintenance of public schools, protection of public health, police protection, and the expense of assessment and collection of taxes.
“Fifth. To impose and collect a poll tax on electors, tax on dogs, a general tax on real and personal property, possessory rights and improvements, and such license tax on business conducted within the corporate limits as the council may deem reasonable: provided, no such tax shall exceed one per centum on the assessed valuation of property, and ail assessments made by the corporation assessor shall be subject to review by the council, and appeals may he taken from their decisions to the district court: provided, further, no bonded indebtedness whatever shall be authorized for any purpose.”

A very persuasive argument is made by counsel that a municipal court is a necessary aid to carry into effect these •express powers. He urges that no effective police protection •can be offered without such a court, and states, by way of •illustration, that the sum of $9,000 has been collected from fines imposed for the violations of municipal ordinances and paid into the town treasury within the last year. The matter of revenue, however, is not material to the inquiry. The [282]*282real question which presents itself to the court is whether the existence of a municipal court is necessary to enable the town to carry into effect all the powers expressly granted to it by Congress.

That inquiry suggests an examination into the jurisdiction of those courts already provided for by Congress in this territory. Do not these courts possess jurisdiction to assist the town in carrying into effect their granted powers ?

Chapter 70 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in the act of Congress approved June 6, 1900, and commonly called the “Alaska Civil Code,” contains this grant of judicial power:

“Sec. 698. Judicial Power, How Vested. The judicial power in the District of Alaska is vested in a District Court, in commissioners exercising the powers of prohate courts, and in commissioners as ex officio justices of the peace.
“S'ec. 699. The District Court. The District Court is a court of general jurisdiction, civil and criminal, and also shall have admiralty jurisdiction.
“Sec. 700. Justice’s Court. A justice’s court is a court held by a commissioner as ex officio justice of the peace within the precinct for which he may he appointed. There are no particular terms of such court, but the same is always open for the transaction of business, according to the mode of proceeding prescribed for it.”

Then follow the sections fixing the civil jurisdiction of the justice. The criminal jurisdiction, which alone is important in this cause, was granted by section 410 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1899, c. 429, 30 Stat. 1330, and is as follows :

“Sec. 410. Criminal jurisdiction of a justice’s court. That a justice’s court has jurisdiction of the following crimes:
“First. Darceny, where the punishment therefor may be imprisonment in the county jail or by fine.
“Second. Assault, or assault and battery, not charged to have been committed with intent to commit a felony, or in the course [283]*283of a riot, or with a dangerous weapon, or upon a public officer in the discharge of his duties.
“Third. Of any misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail or by fine, or by both.”

It thus appears that the District Court of Alaska has general jurisdiction in civil and criminal causes; that the justice’s court has a wide jurisdiction in civil matters, and general jurisdiction of any misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail, or by fine, or by both.

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1 Alaska 279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-munro-akd-1901.