Special School District No. 33 v. Howard

187 S.W. 444, 124 Ark. 475, 1916 Ark. LEXIS 73
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 19, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 187 S.W. 444 (Special School District No. 33 v. Howard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Special School District No. 33 v. Howard, 187 S.W. 444, 124 Ark. 475, 1916 Ark. LEXIS 73 (Ark. 1916).

Opinion

Smith, J.

Appellees filed a petition in the county court of Greene County, in which they prayed the court to make an order changing the boundary lines of special School District No. 33 of that county by carving out certain portions thereof and adding the same to Common School Districts. 12 and 39 of said county, said common school districts being adjoining 'districts thereto.

(1) The question in the case is whether the county court of that county has the authority to change the boun-, dary lines of a special school district organized under Act No. 321 of the Acts of 1909, page 947, and the decision of the case is controlled iby the construction given Act No. 35 of the Acts of 1915, page 108. The title of this act would indicate that it was intended to repeal Act No. 321 of the Acts of 1909; but a perusal of the entire act discloses the fact that the last enacted statute is a special act which applies only to Greene County. 'While the title of an act may be looked to to ascertain its meaning, it is still no part of the act and is not controlling in its construction. Laprairie v. City of Hot Springs, 124 Ark. 346.

(2) This special act is not entirely free from ambiguity, but a study of its provisions leads to two conclusions. The first of these conclusions is that Act 321 of the Acts of 1909 is repealed in so far as it applies to Greene County. Section 4 of this special act provides that sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Act 321 be repealed in so far. as it applies to Greene County; but there are only four sections of that act, and its language should be read as if it said the entire act was repealed in so far as it related to Greene County. The second conclusion is that the Legislature intended to give the county court the authoritv to dismember districts which ¡had been organized under the prior act. Section 3 of this special act ¡also provides that such order of dissolution -shall not conflict with vested rights which have accrued. But that restriction does not diminish the power there conferred. This limitation would exist even in the -absence of express legislative recognition.

(3) We have -several times .-said that the power of the Legislature in enacting laws for the formation or dissolution of -school districts was plenary, provided contractual obligations were not impaired.

The motion to dismiss and the demurrer to the petition, both of which question the validity of the -special act,were properly overruled, and the judgment of the court is, therefore, affirmed.

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

Related

McDonald v. Bowen
468 S.W.2d 765 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1971)
Cook v. Bevill
440 S.W.2d 570 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1969)
Walther v. McDonald
422 S.W.2d 854 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1968)
Glover v. Henry
328 S.W.2d 382 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1959)
Jernigan, Bank Commissioner v. Loid Rainwater Co.
117 S.W.2d 18 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1938)
Special School District No. 60 v. Special School District No. 2
25 S.W.2d 443 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1930)
Woodruff v. Rural Special School District No. 74
279 S.W. 1037 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1926)
McLeod v. Purnell
262 S.W. 682 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1924)
Road Improvement District No. 16 v. Sale
243 S.W. 825 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1922)
Nixon v. Allen
234 S.W. 45 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1921)
Reitzammer v. Desha Road Improvement District No. 2
213 S.W. 773 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1919)
Oliver v. Southern Trust Co.
212 S.W. 77 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1919)
Jones v. Floyd
195 S.W. 360 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1917)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
187 S.W. 444, 124 Ark. 475, 1916 Ark. LEXIS 73, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/special-school-district-no-33-v-howard-ark-1916.