Sanders v. Harper

141 S.E.2d 156, 220 Ga. 649, 1965 Ga. LEXIS 363
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 4, 1965
Docket22739
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 141 S.E.2d 156 (Sanders v. Harper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanders v. Harper, 141 S.E.2d 156, 220 Ga. 649, 1965 Ga. LEXIS 363 (Ga. 1965).

Opinion

Almand, Justice.

The judgment excepted to is the grant of a mandamus absolute and antecedent rulings on the pleadings.

[650]*650John C. Harper brought his petition against Carl E. Sanders and four other individuals, in their official capacities as members of the Board of Commissioners of the Ordinaries’ Fund of Georgia, hereinafter referred to as the “board.” He alleged: that on January 1, 1957, he retired as an active ordinary for the County of Richmond and qualified for the monthly sum of $328.13 of benefits under the Ordinaries’ Retirement System as provided under Ga. L. 1953, Nov. Sess., p. 362, as amended; that until said Act of 1953 was repealed on March 21, 1958 (Ga. L. 1958, p. 185), he was paid only two-thirds of his retirement benefits; that the repealing Act made no provision for the continued management of the funds; that in March, 1958, he and several other retired ordinaries brought their petition in Richmond Superior Court seeking the appointment of a receiver of the funds- that were in the hands of the board under the Act of 1953 at the time of its repeal in March, 1958, and the payment of retired ordinaries’ benefits allegedly due them; that the orders overruling the general demurrers were affirmed by the Supreme Court (Gunby v. Harper, 216 Ga. 94, 114 SE2d 856); that while said suit was pending, the General Assembly passed two Acts amending the Ordinaries’ Retirement Act of 1958 by providing: “that it is the expressed intent of the General Assembly not to divest any right that may have vested in any claimant under the provisions of an Act of the Legislature approved December 22, 1953 (Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Session, page 362), as amended”; “that the provisions of this Act shall in no way affect the rights of any former Ordinary who has retired under the provisions of an Act of the Legislature approved December 22, 1953 (Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dee. Session,, page 362) as subsequently amended.” Attached to the petition as an exhibit is the final decree of September 16, 1960, in which it appears that the retirement funds collected under the 1953 Act were turned over to the board as provided under the 1958 Act, who were made parties to the suit, and they were directed to administer said funds in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1953. It was decreed that the retired ordinaries were entitled to the monthly sums in the amounts set out in the decree and the board was directed to pay petitioner Harper the sum of $328.13 per month from said [651]*651fund in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1953. In paragraph 9 of the petition it was alleged: “That said 1958 Act (Georgia Laws 1958, page 184), though not providing for anyone to succeed to the duties, powers or rights with respect to managing the funds in litigation at that time, did make provisions for the continuation of the vested rights of your petitioner by the amendments approved March 17, 1959 (Georgia Laws 1959, page 269 and page 354), in the new funds being collected, because said 1958 Act, as amended, is a substantial re-enactment of the 1953 Act recognizing and making provision for the continuation of benefits due to your petitioner and the other related Ordinaries falling in the same classification as your petitioner.” It was alleged that in event the court should determine that the 1958 Act, as amended, did not make provision for the continuation of petitioner’s vested retirement benefits under the Act of 1953, sections 7, 9, 10 and 18 of the 1958 Retirement Act would be unconstitutional as violating Art. I, Sec. X of the Federal Constitution (Code § 1-134) prohibiting the States from passing laws impairing contractual obligations and Art. I, Sec. Ill, Par. II of the Georgia Constitution (Code Ann. § 2-302) which prohibits laws impairing contractual obligations.

It was further alleged that pursuant to the decree of September 16, 1960, the defendant board has paid in full his pension benefits through the month of August, 1960; that a demand had been made on the board to pay the monthly benefits accruing since August, 1960, but the demand has been refused. Attached to an amendment to the petition is a copy of the letter from the board addressed to petitioner’s counsel, refusing to comply with the demand, in which it was stated: “The Board’s position is that the right of your father to retirement benefits was adjudicated and settled by the judgment of the court in the suit which you brought in Richmond County. As you know, the judgment and decree in that case ordered and directed the disbursement of the entire residue of the fund collected under the provisions of the law which created and governed the retirement system under which he retired, according to the provisions thereof and certain interpretations placed thereon by the Court. In compliance with said judgment and decree and with said law, the Board disbursed the residue of said fund on October 18, 1960.”

[652]*652Attached to the petition is an exhibit showing that as of June 30, 1963, there was in the custody of the board, the Ordinaries’ Retirement Fund in an amount exceeding $400,000.

The prayers of the petition were for a mandamus absolute requiring the defendant board to pay petitioner the sum of $328.13 per month from October, 1960 to date and all future monthly benefits at the same rate.

The defendant board filed its (a) plea to the jurisdiction, (b) general and special demurrers and (c) its answer. At the hearing for writ of mandamus absolute, the court, without the intervention of a jury, entered its order (a) denying the plea to the jurisdiction as raised by the plea and general demurrer; (b) overruling the demurrers; (c) sustaining the plaintiff’s demurrer to paragraph 16 of the defendant board’s answer and (d) granted a mandamus absolute as prayed.

In its bill of exceptions the defendant board assigns error upon all these orders.

Plea to the Jurisdiction. The petition discloses that the only defendant board member alleged to be a resident of Richmond County is Carl E. Sanders. The plea asserts that Carl E. Sanders, under the provisions of the Ordinaries’ Retirement Act of 1958 (Ga. L. 1958, p. 185, § 1), is a member of the board solely because of his position as Governor of Georgia and that under Code § 40-107 which provides -that, “The Governor shall reside at the seat of government during his term of office,” Carl E. Sanders is a resident of Fulton County and not of Richmond County, which is his residence as an individual.

The court properly held that Carl E. Sanders, for the purposes of this suit, was a resident of Richmond County. Code § 40-107 does not remove the Governor’s non-official residence or domicile to the seat of government. The action seeking to compel Governor Carl E. Sanders, as a member of the Ordinaries’ Fund Retirement Board, to perform his duties as a member of the board is essentially against him in his personal capacity and not an action in rem against the office. Bryant v. Mitchell, 195 Ga. 135 (23 SE2d 410); McCallum, v. Bryan, 213 Ga. 669 (100 SE2d 916).

The Rulings on the General Demurrers. The allegations [653]*653of the petition which we have set out above clearly disclose that plaintiff retired as an active ordinary under the Ordinaries’ Retirement Fund Act of 1953 (Ga. L. 1953, Nov. Sess., p.

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Bluebook (online)
141 S.E.2d 156, 220 Ga. 649, 1965 Ga. LEXIS 363, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-v-harper-ga-1965.