Snow v. State ex rel. State Highway Commission

528 P.2d 1368, 19 Or. App. 610, 1974 Ore. App. LEXIS 823
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 9, 1974
DocketNo. 381-143
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 528 P.2d 1368 (Snow v. State ex rel. State Highway Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snow v. State ex rel. State Highway Commission, 528 P.2d 1368, 19 Or. App. 610, 1974 Ore. App. LEXIS 823 (Or. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

FORT, J.

Plaintiffs brought an action against defendant in circuit court for a money judgment claimed under the Relocation Assistance Act. ORS 281.060 to 281.100. They appeal from an order dismissing for lack of jurisdiction.

Defendant, Oregon State Highway Commission, acquired plaintiffs’ home by voluntary agreement in connection with right-of-way acquisition for construction of a public highway. No question is raised concerning the authority of defendant to do so. Following this agreement, plaintiffs filed with defendant, pursuant to ORS 281.060 to 281.1-00, a claim for relocation payment in addition to the amount previously agreed to. After due consideration, defendant denied plaintiffs’ claim. Thereafter, plaintiffs brought this action.

The title to Oregon Laws 1971, ch 142, p 174, now ORS 281.060 to 281.100, states:

“Relating to authorization to comply with requirements of Federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 in connection with federally assisted program or project resulting in the acquisition of real property; and declaring an emergency.”

The federal act therein referred to is Pub L 91-646, title II, § 201, Jan. 2, 1971, 84 Stat 1895, and is entitled:

“AN ACT

“To provide for uniform and equitable treatment of persons displaced from their homes, busi[612]*612nesses, or farms by Federal and federally assisted programs and to establish uniform and equitable land acquisition policies for Federal and federally assisted programs.”

The statute is found in 42 USCA §§ 4601-4655. A general description of its purposes is set forth in House Report No. 91-1656, 3 United States Congressional and Administrative News, 91st Congress, Second Session, pp 5850-875 (1970).

42 USC § 4621 provides:

“Declaration of policy
“The purpose of this subehapter is to establish a uniform policy for the fair and equitable treatment of persons displaced as a result of Federal and federally assisted programs in order that such persons shall not suffer disproportionate injuries as a result of programs designed for the benefit of the public as a whole.”

It is conceded that plaintiffs’ house was taken in connection with the acquisition of the right-of-way for the Mt. Hood freeway and, as such, was a program which received federal financial assistance within the meaning of ORS 281.060.

Plaintiffs submitted their claim for relocation payments to the state highway commission. It is conceded that defendant commission processed the claim through its established administrative channels, including determinations by defendant’s right-of-way section, then by its Appeals Board, and thereafter by the Administrator of Highways. At each level, plaintiffs’ claim was denied.

No petition for review of the final administrative decision was filed in this court by the Snows, [613]*613plaintiffs-appellants herein. Instead, they filed the instant action in the circuit court.

ORS 183.480 (1) (a) provides:

“Any person adversely affected or aggrieved by an order or any party to an agency proceeding is entitled to judicial review of a final order, whether such order is affirmative or negative in form, under ORS 183.480, 183.490 and 183.500. A petition for rehearing or reconsideration need not be filed as a condition of judicial review unless specifically otherwise provided by statute or agency rule.”

No contention is here made that the Snows’ claim before the highway commission was not a contested case.

ORS 183.480 (2) provides:

“Jurisdiction for judicial review of contested cases is conferred upon the Court of Appeals * * *. Proceedings for review shall be instituted by filing a petition in the case of contested cases in the Court of Appeals * *

Plaintiffs, if we correctly understand them, take the position that it was not necessary for them to seek review under the foregoing provisions in part because of ORS 281.080, which provides:

“Any displaced person aggrieved by a determination as to eligibility for a payment authorized by ORS 281.060 to 281.100, or the amount of payment, may have his application reviewed by the administrative head or governing body, or the duly authorized representative, of the state, county, or other municipal or public corporation undertaking the federal program or project whose decision shall be final.” (Emphasis supplied.)

ORS 183.480 (l)(b) provides:

“Judicial review of final orders of agencies shall be solely as provided by ORS 183.480, 183.490 and 183.500.”

[614]*614Appellants in their brief next assert:

“It is immaterial to the issue here whether the Oregon Legislature attempted to preclude judicial review or not. The Supremacy Clause, Paragraph 2, Article VI, of the U. S. Constitution provides:
“ ‘This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States, which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and' the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.’ ”

In Oregon, the scope of the inherent power of a court is discussed at length in Ortwein v. Schwab, 262 Or 375, 498 P2d 757 (1972), aff'd 410 US 656, 93 S Ct 1172, 35 L Ed 2d 572 (1973). There, the Oregon Supreme Court considered waiver on behalf of an indigent of the statutory filing fee required in all civil cases filed in the Court of Appeals in terms of the inherent power of the court as well as upon alleged constitutional grounds. It stated:

“We accept the doctrine of inherent power for the judiciary; however, we view it as a more limited source of power than apparently the California and Washington courts, do. In State ex rel Bushman v. Vandenberg, 203 Or 326, 335, 276 P2d 432, 280 P2d 344 (1955), we quoted with approval from Rottschaefer, Constitutional Law, 46 (1939):

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1993 OK CR 22 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1993)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
528 P.2d 1368, 19 Or. App. 610, 1974 Ore. App. LEXIS 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snow-v-state-ex-rel-state-highway-commission-orctapp-1974.