Kermit Independent School Dist. No. 5 v. State ex rel. Wink Independent School Dist. No. 1

208 S.W.2d 717, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 993
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 5, 1948
DocketNo. 4547
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 208 S.W.2d 717 (Kermit Independent School Dist. No. 5 v. State ex rel. Wink Independent School Dist. No. 1) 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
Kermit Independent School Dist. No. 5 v. State ex rel. Wink Independent School Dist. No. 1, 208 S.W.2d 717, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 993 (Tex. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

PRICE, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the judgment of the District Court of Pecos County in a quo warranto proceeding. The proceeding was instituted in Winkler County by the District Attorney on the relation of Wink Independent School District and several individuals as Trustees composing the Board of Education of said District, and as individual taxpayers against the Kermit Independent School District No. 5 and several individuals, Trustees of said Kermit District, and several individuals composing the County Board of Trustees of Winkler County. Venue was changed to Pecos County.

The Court instructed the jury to return a verdict in favor of relators, and render judgment in favor of relators against respondents. It was decreed that a certain order of the Winkler County Board of Trustees of date January 22, 1946, was in full force and effect and had been in force and effect since February, 1946, and under said order certain lands in Winkler County, including the area in dispute (which will be hereinafter further designated) were part of the Wink Independent School District and no part of said Kermit Independent School District. It was further decreed that an order of May [719]*7196, 1946, of the County Board of Trustees of Winkler County attaching the area in dispute to the Kermit Independent School District was void and of no effect. Kermit Independent School District has perfected this appeal.

Relator, Wink Independent School District, will be hereinafter called “Wink District”; the respondent, Kermit Independent School District, as “Kermit District” ; the County Board of Trustees of Winkler County the “County Board” and the area in Winlder County attempted to be attached to Kermit District by the order of May 6, 1946, as the “area in dispute”.

In accordance with Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 384 the Kermit District filed the transcript herein within 20 days from the perfection of its appeal, but did not file a statement of facts within said 20 days. After the expiration of 20 days from the perfection of the appeal it filed a motion here for an extension of time within which to file the statement of facts. This motion we denied in the belief that under the Rule as it then existed it was beyond our power to grant such leave. The Rules governing the filing of transcript and statement of facts in quo war-ranto cases prior to the filing of said motion for extension, have been amended, giving the Courts of Civil Appeals power in proper cases to grant an extension of time, but this amendment did not go into effect before January 1, 1948.

The appeal is before us on the transcript alone. This being the case, if the pleadings of the Wink District state a cause of action it is our duty to affirm the case. The pleadings were assailed by numerous special exceptions by the Kermit District. These exceptions in most instances raise issues of law and for the various reasons stated therein, in substance assert that relators’ pleadings state no cause of action.

To discuss the issues raised it is deemed necessary to summarize the pleadings of Relators with some particularity. The petition discloses on January 22, 1946, the following school districts existed in Wink-ler County: Wink District and Kermit District, each an independent school district, and four common school districts, to wit, Districts No. 2, 3, Waddell Common School District No. 4, and common school district No. 6. It was averred that each of said common school districts had on said date less than 10 scholastics residing therein and no public schools had been maintained in any of them for a period of more than five years.

On and prior to January 22, 1946, the County Board of Trustees was composed of five members, to wit, Messrs. Reneau, Lineberry, Hubbard, Waddell and Smith. On said date at a special meeting of said Board, Messrs. Reneau, Lineberry and Hubbard were present and Messrs. Wad-dell and Smith were absent. The purpose of the meeting was to take some definite action as to the annexation of some lands of the Common School Districts to the Wink and Kermit Districts. The school trustees of Waddell Common School District had been requested to attend' the meeting, but did not attend.

By motions duly made and seconded, certain lands theretofore a part of the common school districts were attached or annexed to said Wink District, and certain lands to said Kermit District. The lands herein referred to as “area in dispute” consisting of some 100 sections were attached to the Wink District. Under the motions the orders of annexation were to become effective on the reading and approval of the minutes at the regular meeting of the Board in February. The minutes were duly read and approved at said regular meeting in February.

On or about February 4, 1946, the Board caused to be filed in the County Clerk’s office a certified copy of said order of January 22, 1946, the Wink District acting through its School Trustees accepted the disputed territory as a part thereof, and accepted responsibility for furnishing the area in dispute with school facilities. The area in dispute on January 22, 1946, was contiguous to the then boundaries of the Wink District.

On or about May 6, 1946, the County Board had a meeting with all Trustees present. A resolution was passed reciting [720]*720that the order of January 22, 1946, was void, and rescinded same. The resolution recited in substance that the order of January 22, 1946, was void because no reference was made to the law under which the action was taken; because it undertook to annex land to the respective school districts and the Winkler County Board of School Trustees was without authority to annex said land according to the proceedings but should have attached said land to said independent school district. It is not shown by the motions that the land so attempted to be annexed had fewer than 10 resident scholastics within its boundaries as a common school district, and it is not so shown that no public school had been conducted within such territory as the common school district, for a period of five years immediately preceding such, action by the said County Board of School Trustees. It is not shown that the .territory so attempted to be annexed was of any common school district abolished or subdivided according to such motions, nor that such territory was attached to any or all contiguous school districts. It is not shown by such motions that the common school districts embracing said lands were abolished. It is not shown by the minutes of such proceedings upon what statutory authority the County Board of School Trustees of Winkler County, Texas, acted.

The order further recites that the Board is acting under Articles 2742e — 1 and 2742m of Vernon’s Revised Civil Statutes; that alT said common school districts are abolished ; . that the Board finds that each of said districts contained less than 10 scholas-tics and ño public school had been maintained in any of the districts within the last five years.

Certain lands were attached to the' Wink District and certain lands attached to the Kermit District. The land in dispute was by the order of the Board of January 22, 1946, attached or annexed to the Wink District; by the order of May 6, 1946, it was attached to the Kermit District.

The order of May 6, 1946, relied upon by the Kermit District recites that none of the '"common school districts involved had more than 10 scholastics therein and no schools had been conducted in any ,of them for a period of five years.

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208 S.W.2d 717, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 993, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kermit-independent-school-dist-no-5-v-state-ex-rel-wink-independent-texapp-1948.