Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co. v. Maltsberger

1941 OK 226, 116 P.2d 977, 189 Okla. 363, 1941 Okla. LEXIS 248
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJune 24, 1941
DocketNo. 29807.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1941 OK 226 (Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co. v. Maltsberger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri-Kansas-Texas R. Co. v. Maltsberger, 1941 OK 226, 116 P.2d 977, 189 Okla. 363, 1941 Okla. LEXIS 248 (Okla. 1941).

Opinion

RILEY, J.

This is an action commenced by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company against the county treasurer of Pawnee county to recover taxes paid under protest. The taxes in question were levied for the general fund and sinking fund of the town of Jennings, for the fiscal years 1935-36, 1936-37, 1937-38, and 1938-39.

The claim is that said taxes levied against the property of plaintiff are illegal, because the proceedings of said town for the annexation of certain territory, including property of plaintiff, to the town, by ordinance adopted February 26, 1914, were illegal and void.

The claim is that the ordinance is void because the petition for the annexation of the property, upon which the ordinance was based, was not signed by three-fourths of the legal voters residing within the area and by the owners of three-fourths in value of the property in the territory sought to be annexed; because no legal notice of said proceedings was given nor was any opportunity given to be heard, and the jurisdictional facts were not determined; and because no copy of the ordinance nor map or plat of the territory annexed was filed in the office of the register of deeds (county clerk) as required by law.

Defendant, as county treasurer, answered the petition by general denial, and further alleged in substance that the ordinance in question was adopted February 26, 1914; that since said day the citizens of the town have considered and treated the territory involved as a part of the town; that the town has extended its sewer, water, and gas, lines onto said territory; that streets and alleys have been constructed and maintained therein; that the residents thereof have participated in town affairs, and voted in the elections; that the town has voted bonds and that the residents of said territory participated therein and that said bonds are outstanding and unpaid; that taxes have been levied and collected on the property in said territory, and paid by the owners without protest or objection; that the town has exercised police, health, and safety control over said area; all to the actual knowledge of the officers, agents, and employees of plaintiff and its predecessor and that plaintiff has acquiesced in all of said acts without objection; that plaintiff and its predecessor, with full knowledge of the facts stated, accepted the benefits of the municipal government; and that plaintiff is concluded thereby and is estopped to deny the validity of said ordinance.

The cause was tried to the court on stipulations of facts and as to that to which certain witnesses would testify, if called.

It appears that plaintiff acquired its property involved herein by deed dated March 14, 1923, from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway Company. The amount of the respective levies as affecting plaintiff’s property was stipulated as were all facts substantially as alleged in the answer of defendant.

The record discloses that on February 12, 1914, the board of trustees adopted and approved a “notice” reading:

“Notice is hereby given that petitions have been presented to the Board of Trustees of the Town of Jennings, Oklahoma, signed by more than three-fourths of the legal voters and by the owners of more than three-fourths in value of the property hereinafter described, which petition represent and pray that said property be by an ordinance of the Board, of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Jennings, included within the limits of said town, and by said Ordinance the limits of said town be extended to include said property, which is more particularly described and the boundary lines thereof, as follows: . . .” (Then follows a description of the property involved exactly as it later appeared in the ordinance of annexation.)
*365 “Passed and approved this 12th day of February, 1914.
“R. L. Stewart, President of the Board of Trustees.
“Frank Arnold, Town Clerk.”

This notice was published in a weekly paper of general circulation, published in Jennings, in the issues of February 12 and 19, 1914.

The minutes of the clerk show that said notice was approved by the town board at a call meeting held in the town of Jennings, February 12, 1914, at 8:00 p. m.

The trustees, at a meeting held February 26, 1914, adopted ordinance No. 41, being the annexing ordinance involved, and it was thereafter published in said paper, in the issues of March 5, 12, 19, and 26, 1914.

The ordinance in part reads:

“Sec. 1. The City limits of the Town of Jennings, Oklahoma, shall constitute and be, and include within the limits of said Town the following property, the boundary lines of which are,
“R. L. Stewart, President of the Board of Trustees.
“Frank Arnold, Town Clerk.”

It was stipulated that a petition of some sort for the proposed annexation was presented to the town council prior to February 12, 1914, but its contents were not specifically stipulated; neither the petition nor a copy thereof could be found in the archives of the town nor in the public records of the county, though diligent search had been made therefor.

The minutes of the town council showing the proceedings were placed in evidence.

It was stipulated at the trial that Frank Arnold, if called as a witness, would testify that he was town clerk of the town of Jennings and remembered that a petition of some sort praying the annexation was presented to the board of trustees, but does not remember whether the Katy Railroad Company signed the petition.

It was also stipulated that F. M. Gil-bough, Jr., assistant land and tax commissioner of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company, would testify, if called as a witness, that he had been connected with said department of said railroad since about 1917; that said department had charge and supervision of all real estate and tax matters of said railroad; that if the matter of the proposed annexation and the question of signing a petition with respect thereto had been brought to the attention of plaintiff, it would in the usual and customary way have been referred to the tax department, and that a search of the records of that department did not disclose anything to indicate that said petition for annexation was ever presented to or signed by any one for or on behalf of said railroad company; that the correspondence files of said company indicate that the said information received by said department concerning said annexation was a letter from the State Auditor of Oklahoma dated June 10, 1914, addressed to Hon. C. S.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sherbert v. City of Ada
2015 OK 18 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2015)
IN RE: DETACHMENT OF MUNICIPAL TERRITORY FROM THE CITY OF ADA
2015 OK 18 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2015)
George v. Town of Bearden
1985 OK CIV APP 5 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1985)
Wilkes-Barre Appeal
222 A.2d 499 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1966)
State v. Clark
399 P.2d 955 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1965)
Incorporated Town of Windsor Heights v. Colby
89 N.W.2d 157 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1958)
Jones v. City of Oklahoma City
1952 OK 354 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)
Palmer v. Town of Skiatook
1950 OK 143 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1950)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1941 OK 226, 116 P.2d 977, 189 Okla. 363, 1941 Okla. LEXIS 248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-kansas-texas-r-co-v-maltsberger-okla-1941.