School Dist. No. 25 v. Hodge

1947 OK 220, 183 P.2d 575, 199 Okla. 81, 1947 Okla. LEXIS 573
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 8, 1947
DocketNos. 33158, 33161
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 1947 OK 220 (School Dist. No. 25 v. Hodge) 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
School Dist. No. 25 v. Hodge, 1947 OK 220, 183 P.2d 575, 199 Okla. 81, 1947 Okla. LEXIS 573 (Okla. 1947).

Opinion

ARNOLD, J.

In an effort to more adequately fulfill its duty under the Constitution to maintain a system of free public schools wherein all the children of the state may be educated (article 13, sec. 1, Constitution) the 1947 Session of the Legislature passed engrossed House Bill No. 85. It presents a comprehensive plan of reorganization of school districts, transferring of pupils and equitable distribution to complying districts of $18,000,000 appropriated by the same Legislature and other funds on a uniform basis to school districts so that all the children of the state might have the benefits of education according to the minimum standards of education set up by the Legislature in the act. The act says “the right of every child to a free common school education, including high school but not including kindergartens and junior college, is hereby guaranteed.”

Though the purposes of the act are known to be commendable and in furtherance of the foregoing constitutional mandate, it is not for the courts to say that the legislation is good, bad advisable or inadvisable in whole or in part. The determination of the policy to be pursued in matters of enactment of legislation to discharge its constitutional'responsibility to the people in matters of education is a question that rests solely with the Legislature. In such an attack as is here made on the act, the only justiciable question is: Did the Legislature act within the powers granted to it or did it exercise its authority arbitrarily and capriciously, thereby transcending its power?

Where the constitutionality of an act of the Legislature is in question, all reasonable doubt will be resolved in favor of the questioned authority and the act will be declared constitutional unless it can be clearly demonstrated that the Legislature did not have the power or authority exercised or that its authority was exercised arbitrarily, and capriciously, for instance, as to classification or delegation of authority, to the prejudice of the rights of some of the citizens. Particularly is this true where [83]*83the act in question is, as here, of great public concern involving the performance of an absolute duty imposed on the Legislature by the basic law of the state. See Associated Industries of Oklahoma v. Industrial Welfare Comm, et al., 185 Okla., 177, 90 P.2d 899; Herrin et al. v. Arnold, Judge, 183 Okla. 392, 82 P.2d 977; Townsend et al. v. Yeomans, 301 U. S. 441, 81 L. Ed. 1211; Excise Board of Ottawa County v. St. Louis, S. F. Ry. Co., 176 Okla. 641, 57 P.2d 261; Pawnee County Excise Board v. Kurn, 187 Okla. 110, 101 P. 2d 614; Gibson Products Co. of Tulsa v. Murphy, State Labor Com’r, et al., 186 Okla. 714, 100 P.2d 453; Brown v. State Election Board et al. (Foley, Intervener), 197 Okla. 169, 170 P. 2d 200.

The act is severable and therefore the unconstitutionality of any severable part of the act will not affect the validity of otherwise constitutional parts of the act. Johnson v. State Election Board, 197 Okla. 211, 167 P.2d 891; Sterling Refining Co. v. Walker 165 Okla. 45, 25 P.2d 312; Musick, County Supt., v. State ex rel. Miles, 185 Okla. 140, 90 P.2d 631; Dowell v. Board of Education, 185 Okla. 342, 91 P.2d 771.

Any severable portion of the act, though invalid, will not be discussed by us nor determined at this time because not of demanding present importance and the other circumstances maintaining, unless it appears that the enforcement thereof would adversely and prejudicially affect the parties hereto or those similarly situated. The applications herein, both alleging various grounds of unconstitutionality, on behalf of various school districts of the same and different counties, were filed June 9, 1947, and June 13, 1947, respectively. The act became effective by its terms on July 1, 1947. Some of the features of the act which are alleged to be unconstitutional will not become operative or be put into operation except upon the happening of a future contingency that may not occur, though respondents admit that they shall, to the best of their ability, put all of the valid provisions of said act into operation if, as and when the contingency arises which would demand their enforcement; other severable portions of the act, if enforced, might not affect the parties here or those similarly situated adversely. The importance of this matter of great public concern and the urgency of a decision as to the constitutionality of the act generally have demanded great speed on the part of the attorneys for petitioners and respondents and the court. It is not deemed advisable under all the circumstances to pass upon questions raised which will arise only under the happening of ; future contingency that may not occur or that relate to severable matters that may not affect the parties, or any one similarly situated, prejudicially.

It is first contended that the act is invalid because its title is insufficient under the provisions of article 5, sec. 57, of the Constitution of Oklahoma. That section of the Constitution, insofar as its language is material to be considered■ here, reads:

“Every act of the Legislature shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title . . . provided, that if any subject be embraced in any act contrary to the provisions of this section such act shall be void only as to so much of the law as may not be expressed in the title thereof.”

The first clause of the title of House Bill No. 85 reads:

“An Act relating to the public schools of Oklahoma.”

Following this language the title contains some 14 subsidiary clauses all referable to and predicated on the subject expressed in the above-quoted clause. These subsidiary clauses fairly foreshadow the cotents of the act itself and in our judgment are in no way misleading.

House Bill No. 85 is composed of four articles. Article 1 provides for the apportionment of certain state revenues to school districts, and deals with the [84]*84transfer of school children from the school district in which they reside, to another school district for educational purposes. Article 2 provides for the disorganization and mandatory annexation of certain classes of school districts. Article 3 apportions financial assistance to school'districts. Article 4 contains a severability clause, fixes the effective date oí the act and declares an emergency.

It has been uniformly held by this court that the purpose of section 57 of article 5, supra, is to prevent the blending of repugnant objects of legislation in one act and to prevent the inclusion in legislative acts of provisions not indicated by the title of the act in order that those interested in such legislation may pot be misled or misinformed as to the contents of the act by any expression used in its title. This court with equal uniformity has also held that a title to an act is not violative of the above-quoted constitutional provision because it includes many details covered by the act if they all relate to the general subject or object to be attained by the act. In the case of Oklahoma Light & Power Co. v. Corporation Commission et al., 96 Okla. 19, 220 P. 54, the first paragraph of the syllabus reads:

“Section 57, art. 5, of the Constitution of Oklahoma, providing every act of the Legislature shall embrace but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, is satisfied if the act has but one general subject and that is fairly indicated by the title.

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Bluebook (online)
1947 OK 220, 183 P.2d 575, 199 Okla. 81, 1947 Okla. LEXIS 573, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/school-dist-no-25-v-hodge-okla-1947.