State ex rel. Atwood Bank v. Board of Finance

141 N.E. 456, 194 Ind. 350, 1923 Ind. LEXIS 34
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 20, 1923
DocketNo. 23,995
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 141 N.E. 456 (State ex rel. Atwood Bank v. Board of Finance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Atwood Bank v. Board of Finance, 141 N.E. 456, 194 Ind. 350, 1923 Ind. LEXIS 34 (Ind. 1923).

Opinion

Ewbank, J.

The question for decision is whether or not a bank in an incorporated town whose board of school trustees has been abolished, whose school property has been conveyed to the school township organized in the civil township in which such property is situated, and whose schools are controlled and operated by the trustee of that school township is “located within the limits of such” school township by which the schools of the town are operated, and thereby qualified to act as a public depository of- the school funds of such township, although not situated within the civil township served by the trustee having control of the town schools.

A demurrer to appellee’s answer to the complaint was overruled, which ruling is assigned as error. The complaint alleged, in substance that the relator was a bank located in Harrison township and in Harrison school township, of Kosciusko county, Indiana, and the defendants, respectively, were the township officers who constituted the board of finance of said township and said school township; that because of being the only bank [352]*352located in said Harrison township, the relator had been made sole depository of all the public funds of the civil township; that by reason of facts pleaded in detail, which included the filing of a proper and sufficient bond, relator had become qualified to act as depository of all the funds of said Harrison school township; that there was no other bank,' banking institution or trust company within the limits of said Harrison township; but that the Farmers State Bank, located in the town of Mentone, which had also qualified as a depository, except that it was not located within said township, also had been seiected as a depository of the funds of the school township and given a share of them, relator being allotted only the remainder. The prayer was for a writ of mandate requiring the board of finance to award to relator, as public depository, all the funds of Harrison school township, and requiring the trustee to deposit such funds with it alone. The answer alleged that in 1885 the town of Mentone was incorporated so as to embrace parts, of said Harrison township and of Franklin township, adjoining it on the south, in said Kosciusko county; that Main street in said town of Mentone runs east and west along the line dividing said townships, the center line of the street being the township line; that the Farmer’s State Bank was situated on the south side of Main street in said town of Mentone, within said Franklin township; that in 1885, said town was organized as the school town of Mentone, with boundaries identical with the boundaries of the civil town, and existed as such, and in all respects owned, controlled and managed the public school therein, and the school building which it had erected on grounds purchased by said school town, and had paid for out of taxes levied and collected by said school town, until July 1, 1916; that on said date, by appropriate acts in conformity with the statute, as set out, the school town [353]*353was dissolved, the board of school trustees thereof was abolished, and the school building and grounds above referred to, which were north of Main street, were turned over to the management and control of the trustee of said Harrison school township, and the title to all the school property of the town, both real and personal, was conveyed by the school town of Mentone to said Harrison school township; that the same was accepted and thereafter was and is held by said school township and the trustee thereof for public school purposes; that thereupon and thereafter, said Harrison school township and the trustee thereof assumed the full and complete ownership, management and control of said schools within the town; employed teachers and maintained and conducted schools therein for all children within school age resident in the town of Mentone, in either township, levied taxes for school purposes in the name of Harrison school township on all real and personal property within the limits of Harrison civil township, and in that part of the town of Mentone lying outside the limits of said civil township, and in each of several years, successively, had been and was then receiving the school revenues derived from such taxes, and expending them for the use and benefit and maintenance of the schools of said Harrison school township; that Franklin school township aforesaid had no jurisdiction or control, for school purposes, over that part of the incorporated town of Mentone lying within Franklin civil township; that it neither levied nor collected school taxes nor maintained schools therein, nor paid tuition or transfer costs or charges on account of children who lived therein attending the schools of Harrison school township..

Whether or not the facts alleged gave the bank in Mentone a right to share in deposits of the funds of [354]*354Harrison school township depends upon the construction of certain statutes, which may be epitomized as follows: Each civil township is to be also organized as a school township haying the same boundaries and bearing the same name, and each such township and each incorporated town is made a distinct municipal corporation for school purposes. §§6404, 6405 Burns 1914, §§4437, 4438 R. S. 1881.

But an incorporated town having less than 1,500 inhabitants, and no school debt, may abandon and discontinue its management -and control of the public schools within such town, abolish the board of school trustees, and convey and transfer all the school property to the trustee of the township in which the school is located, all of which shall be accepted and held by him for the use and purposes of the school township; any children of school age who are residents of such incorporated town shall be entitled to the same school privileges as those who reside exclusively in the township that has assumed ownership and control of the school and school property, and all school revenue paid by that portion of the incorporated town lying outside of said township shall be paid to the trustee of said township wherein the school is located, in the same way and manner as such revenues. were before paid to the school trustees of the town. And the township trustee shall thereafter have full and complete control of all schools within the town, and shall conduct the same as provided by law for the other schools of such township. And all children of school age residing in the town, but outside the township in which the school is located, shall possess all the rights and privileges to attend such school located in the town, as though they lived in the township in which it is situated. §§6480, 6480a, 6480b Burns 1914, Acts 1913 p. 353.

All funds of city, town, township and school corpo[355]*355rations shall be deposited in banks, banking institutions or trust companies designated as public depositories located within the respective limits of such cities, towns, townships or school corporations if such there be which will accept such deposits of funds on the terms prescribed by the statute. Acts 1919 p. 698, §7542 Bums’ Supp. 1921.

Under the provisions of the above statutes, when an incorporated town shall abolish its school board and convey its school building and grounds to the township in which they are located, the entire territory in the town is annexed to such township for all school purposes.

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Related

Follett v. Sheldon, Treas.
144 N.E. 867 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1924)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
141 N.E. 456, 194 Ind. 350, 1923 Ind. LEXIS 34, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-atwood-bank-v-board-of-finance-ind-1923.