Spaugh v. Ross, Governor

263 P. 613, 37 Wyo. 396, 1928 Wyo. LEXIS 7
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 31, 1928
Docket1346
StatusPublished

This text of 263 P. 613 (Spaugh v. Ross, Governor) 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
Spaugh v. Ross, Governor, 263 P. 613, 37 Wyo. 396, 1928 Wyo. LEXIS 7 (Wyo. 1928).

Opinion

*399 Riner, Justice.

This is a proceeding by direct appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Niobrara County, which “approved and sustained” the action of the State Board of Land Commissioners of this state denying the application of appellant Spaugh for relief under chapter 96, Laws of Wyoming 1923, and dismissed his appeal from the decision of said board in this matter.

Under the title 1 ‘ an act for the relief of contracts for the purchase of state and school lands,” the Wyoming legislature passed the law already mentioned. It provided, among other things, in substance, that any person who contracted for the purchase of state or school land, prior to January 1,1923, or who was, prior to said date, assignee in good faith of any such contract, where no arrears existed relative to said contract in payments of principal or interest on January 1, 1919, should have the right to apply the aggregate of the payments of principal made to the state by himself or his assignors to the purchase of any subdivision of the lands described in said contract or any of them designated by him, subject to appraisal and approval by the State Land Board, and also subject to its determination whether or not the designated land could be sold separate from the other lands in said contract without detriment to the state. A person desirous of obtaining relief was required to make application in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of the Act, which directed notice to be given the Commissioner of Public Lands, and specified what such notice should contain. Section 4 provided for a hearing on the application and required notice to be given applicant of the date of such hearing. Section 5 gave further relief in cases where there had been a default in payment both of *400 principal and interest on contracts for the purchase of state lands. Section 6 ordained that in certain instances forfeitures of such contracts might be set aside; and section 7 dealt with the rights of parties or their assignees, under certain conditions, to surrender their contracts and to lease the land for not exceeding five years.

On June 19, 1923, appellant filed an application in the form of a letter with the Commissioner of Public Lands, wherein he asked certain relief under the terms, of the Act above mentioned on behalf of himself, as alleged owner of certain certificates of purchase, and also as alleged assignee of others. Under date of June 5,1924, the board considered appellant’s application and denied it. Thereafter, appellant undertook an appeal from this ruling to the District Court of Niobrara County by making the filings in that court and also with the Commissioner of Public Lands, which are outlined in sections 752-757 inclusive, of chapter 60, W. C. S. 1920. The notice of appeal filed recites that “said appeal prosecuted under the provisions of chapter 60, of Compiled Statutes of 1920. ’ ’ Hon. William B. Ross, Governor, Frank B. Lucas, Secretary of State, J. M. Snyder, Treasurer, and Katherine A. Morton, Superintendent of Public Instruction, ‘ ‘ as members and constituting the Board of Land Commissioners,” were designated in said notice as “appellee.”

It appears that the appeal was heard in the District Court on the 12th day of November, 1924, and was taken under advisement until the 22nd day of December, 1924, when a judgment was entered as already indicated. A stipulation appears in the record dated January 21, 1925, signed both by attorney for appellant and the Attorney General of the State of Wyoming for appellee, which recites the fact of the court’s taking the matter under advisement, that appellant’s counsel was not present, “when the decision was rendered, owing to illness,” that “no copy of the judgment” was “served upon the said counsel for appellant,” and that appellant did not learn 1 ‘ of the said decision until the 9th day of January, 1925.” The stipulation consents that “the *401 court may set aside the said judgment and upon the presentation of this stipulation enter another as of the date signed, of the same effect.”

Under date of January 21, 1925, the stipulation was presented to the court and an order made thereon that “the judgment made, rendered and entered herein on the 23rd day of December, A. D. 1924, be, and the same hereby is, set aside and held for naught. ’ ’ The order recites no reason for setting aside the judgment other than the presentation of the stipulation, nor does any other reason appear in the record. On the next day, another judgment was made and entered by the court, the same being identical in every way with that of December 22, 1924, except the date thereof. On January 29,1925, appellant’s counsel filed in the clerk’s office of the District Court of Niobrara County a notice of appeal to this court from the judgment dated January 22, 1925. Endorsed thereon was an acceptance of service by the Attorney General under date of January 27, 1925.

This appeal cannot succeed. The stipulation upon which the court acted in undertaking to set aside its judgment of December 22, 1924, merely recited the absence of appellant’s counsel on the day the judgment was rendered, that no copy was served on him, and that he did not learn of the decision until January 9, 1925. The order purporting to set aside this judgment (and it may be here noted that the order refers to and deals with a judgment “made, rendered and entered” on the 23rd, day of December, 1924), recited no mistake, casualty, misfortune or other reason why the date of the judgment should be changed. That is actually all that was done by the entry of the judgment of January 22, 1925.

In Boulter v. Cook, 32 Wyo. 461, 234 Pac. 1101, 236 Pac. 245, where this court had under consideration a contention that a party to the cause was not notified by the court of its being taken up and acted upon, thus depriving him of opportunity to answer over, upon the overruling of a demurrer, it is said:

*402 “But the courts seem to be unanimous in bolding that no such notice was necessary to be given to the parties interested. It is the duty of a party, or his attorney, to take account of the time and place of holding court, the position of the ease on the calendar and the state of the calendar. He is presumed to know and is held to know, what is necessary to protect his interest. ’ ’ Citing many cases.

And the opinion quotes the syllabus of the case of Avery Co. v. Seeley, 110 Kans. 590, 204 Pac. 731, reading:

“Where the losing party in a case tried in the district court files and submits a motion for a new trial which is taken under advisement without any definite time being fixed for its decision, and some weeks later is overruled, the fact that such party does not learn of the ruling for more than six months afterwards and therefore loses his right to appeal therefrom, does not entitle him to have the judgment and ruling on the motion set aside by the trial court, on petition showing these facts, although it also appears that it was the practice of the court to see that the parties were notified of such rulings. ’ ’

From the court’s opinion in the last mentioned case, this court takes the following extract:

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Related

Henderson Johnson v. Sugar Co.
236 P. 244 (Utah Supreme Court, 1925)
Boulter v. Cook
234 P. 1101 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1926)
Bird v. State
241 P. 701 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1925)
Avery Co. v. Seeley
204 P. 731 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
263 P. 613, 37 Wyo. 396, 1928 Wyo. LEXIS 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spaugh-v-ross-governor-wyo-1928.