McFarland v. City of Cheyenne

42 P.2d 413, 48 Wyo. 86, 1935 Wyo. LEXIS 24
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 12, 1935
Docket1889
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 42 P.2d 413 (McFarland v. City of Cheyenne) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McFarland v. City of Cheyenne, 42 P.2d 413, 48 Wyo. 86, 1935 Wyo. LEXIS 24 (Wyo. 1935).

Opinion

*92 Blume, Justice.

This case is here upon reserved constitutional questions. The plaintiff, J. P. McFarland, brought this action in January, 1934, under the Declaratory Judgment Act of this state, to determine his rights. The petition alleges:

The City of Cheyenne is a municipal corporation, incorporated as such under a special charter (having a population of about 18,000). The defendant Archie Allison is its Mayor, and the defendant T. Joe Cahill is the duly appointed Chief of Police of the city. The plaintiff, during 1933 and for many years prior thereto, was a member of the paid police department regularly organized and maintained by the City of Cheyenne, receiving a salary of $145 per month; thereafter, and on the first day of January, the defendant Archie Allison and the defendant T. Joe Cahill attempted to remove and did remove the plaintiff from his position as such policeman, without any cause arising out of the good of the service and without serving or causing to be served upon the plaintiff a written notice, and *93 without giving the plaintiff any opportunity to answer any written cause or demand a public hearing before the City Commission of the City of Cheyenne. All this was done in violation of Sections 22-201 to 203, Rev. St., Wyo. 1931. Plaintiff accordingly prayed that his rights in the premises be declared and that he be reinstated and adjudged to be entitled to his regular compensation as a member of the police department during the time of his suspension. A demurrer to the petition was overruled. Thereupon the defendant answered, alleging, among other things, the physical incapacity of the plaintiff to serve as a member of the police department of Cheyenne, and that Sections 22-201 to 203 above mentioned are unconstitutional. The plaintiff filed a reply, denying the affirmative allegations contained in the answer. By stipulation, entered into by the parties, the essential facts alleged in the petition were agreed to be true, except that the mayor believed the removal of the plaintiff to be for the good of the service. Upon request of the attorney for the defendants, the trial court has submitted certain questions to this court for determination. Among these questions are some which relate purely to matters of statutory construction. These must first be passed upon by the lower court, and have no place in the record before us. In re Gillette Daily Journal, 44 Wyo. 226, 11 P. (2d) 265; Budge v. Commissioners, 29 Wyo. 35, 208 Pac. 874; State v. Kelly, 17 Wyo. 335, 98 Pac. 886. The investigation of these questions has doubtless added to the wisdom and learning of counsel, but the' propriety of including them in the certified reserved questions is not perceivable. We have held, moreover, that we will not pass upon any constitutional questions until matters of statutory construction or of fact, which may dispose of a case, have been decided by the trial court. The record before us suggests the possibility that there are such questions. Upon the whole, however, wé have *94 concluded that the case cannot be disposed of on that theory, and we shall, accordingly, proceed to consider the reserved constitutional questions certified to this court in so far as that may be necessary.

The statute which is claimed to be unconstitutional is Article 2 of Chapter 22, Revised Statutes of 1981, being Sections 22-201 to 204, both inclusive. The first of these sections provides as follows:

“No member of the paid police department regularly organized and maintained by any city in this State whether such city is governed by general law or special charter, shall hereafter be removed, discharged or suspended; nor shall he be reduced in grade or in compensation except for cause arising out of the good of the service or the violation by such member of any law of the United States or of the State of Wyoming-, or of any ordinance of such city. Such cause shall be stated in writing and a copy thereof shall be served upon the person affected who shall have the right within ten days of the service of such copy to answer the charges and to demand a public hearing before the city council or commission of such city. The written statement of cause together with any answer that may be made thereto shall be filed with the clerk of such city.”

The next section provides that it shall be unlawful to remove, discharge or suspend any member of the police department in violation of the chapter and that any attempt to do so shall be without effect. Section 22-203 provides that any person who shall remove, discharge or suspend any such member of the police department or reduce him in grade without complying with the provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not less than §100 nor more than §500, or imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than one month nor more than six months or both, provided “that this act shall not affect any town or city having a population of less than 8,000.” In other words, by this exception the act *95 is made applicable to all cities in the state which are governed by general law or by special charter, having a population of not less than 8,000.

The inquiry is as to whether or not the law above mentioned is in violation of Section 1, Article XIII of the Constitution, reading as follows:

“The legislature shall provide by general laws for the organization and classification of municipal corporations. The number of such classes shall not exceed four (4) and the powers of each class shall be defined by general laws, so that no such corporation shall have any powers or be subject to any restrictions other than all corporations of the same class. Cities and towns now existing under special charters or the general laws of the territory may abandon such charter and reorganize under the general laws of the state.”

Other reserved questions are as to whether or not the law above mentioned is in conflict with Section 34 of Article I of the Constitution, providing that all laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation, or in conflict with Section 27 of Article III of the Constitution, forbidding amendment of charters of cities and towns by special law where a general law can be made applicable; or in conflict with Section 35 of Article I of the Constitution, forbidding any law impairing the obligation of contracts, or in conflict with Section 1 of Article V of the Constitution, vesting the judicial power of the state in the courts thereof and in certain other bodies therein mentioned.

1. The legislature has not as yet seen fit to create, by general law, more than two classes of municipal corporations, namely, towns, which may be organized in any territory having not less than 150 population (with no maximum population mentioned), and cities of the first class, it being provided by Section 22-301, Rev. St. 1931, that “all cities having more than four thousand inhabitants shall be governed by the provi *96

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Bluebook (online)
42 P.2d 413, 48 Wyo. 86, 1935 Wyo. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcfarland-v-city-of-cheyenne-wyo-1935.