State ex rel. Griffith v. Thompson

223 P. 258, 115 Kan. 457, 1924 Kan. LEXIS 267
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 9, 1924
DocketNo. 24,991
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 223 P. 258 (State ex rel. Griffith v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Griffith v. Thompson, 223 P. 258, 115 Kan. 457, 1924 Kan. LEXIS 267 (kan 1924).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Marshall, J.:

The plaintiff prosecutes this action to compel the' defendants E. T. Thompson, as state treasurer, and Norton A. Turner, as state auditor, to withdraw from the defendant, the Home State Bank of Russell, and place in the treasury of the state the money arising from the sale of certain state property under the provisions of chapters 278, 279, 280, and 281 of the Laws of 1921; the money arising from the sale of sand and gravel taken from the navigable rivers of the state under sections 71-101 and 71-102 of the Revised Statutes; and the money appropriated by the congress of the United States to be used in the state of Kansas and known as the federal vocational fund. The plaintiff alleges that Norton A. Turner is a stockholder in the Home State Bank of Russell and that the Home State Bank has not been designated a state depository by the board of treasury examiners.

[458]*458Chapters 278, 279, 280, and 281 provide that the irrigation commissioner shall sell certain real and personal property belonging to the state of Kansas. Those statutes direct the irrigation commissioner to pay certain items connected with the sales and to pay the balance into the state treasury, where it shall become a part of the general revenue fund of the state. T.he answers of the defendants allege, and the evidence tends to show, that the irrigation commissioner sold a portion of this property and remitted the proceeds thereof to E. T. Thompson, who deposited it in his name in the Home State Bank of Russell, and that the irrigation commissioner requested that E. T. Thompson, treasurer, and Norton A. Turner, auditor, handle the funds for him. The funds were handled in that manner until the time of the return of the alternative writ of mandamus in this action, when there was on deposit in that bank to the credit of E. T. Thompson, a balance of $645.41. It appeared on the argument of this case that this money has been turned into the general revenue fund of the state.

The defendants Thompson and Turner argue that the law creating this fund directs that certain payments be made out of it; that no appropriation has been made by the legislature for those payments; and that it is therefore necessary to keep those funds separate and apart from the general revenue fund of the state until those payments are made. They argue that, if this fund is placed in the state treasury, no part of it can be taken therefrom except by an appropriation by the legislature. They argue further that, because this is what they call a custodial fund and because it is necessary to keep it separate and apart from the general revenue fund of the state, the laws of the state governing the custody and deposit of public funds do not apply and therefore the treasurer has the right under the law to deposit this fund as his judgment directs.

At the outset it must be conceded that the money arising from the sale of this property belongs to the state and does not belong to E. T. Thompson. It was public money in the hands of the irrigation commissioner. It remained public money when it was deposited in the Home State Bank to the credit of E. T. Thompson, who was then treasurer of the state. He could not receive public money in an individual capacity. It was public money when it came into his hands, thereafter remained public money, and as such was under his control as state treasurer.

Section 75-604 of the Revised Statutes reads:

[459]*459“The treasurer shall be required to keep safely in the state treasury, without loaning, using, or depositing in banks or elsewhere, all public moneys of whatsoever character paid into such treasury, or otherwise at any time placed in his possession and custody as state treasurer, until the same is ordered by the proper department or officer of the state government to be transferred or paid out according to law, and when such orders for the transfer or payment are received, faithfully and px-omptly to make the same as directed, and also to do and perform alloother duties as state treasurer which may be imposed by law: Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prohibit the state treasurer from depositing moneys in banks designated as state depositories in accordance with the act providing for state depositories.”

Section 75-2401 makes the governor, the secretary of state, and the state auditor a board of treasury examiners, and that section and section 75-2402 give the board of treasury examiners power to designate the banks in which the public funds of the state may be deposited. That authority is not limited to a part of the public funds of the state; it is not limited to the school fund, to the general revenue fund, or to any other particular fund, but includes all the public funds. If the money arising from the sale of this property is a public fund, it is under the control of the board of treasury examiners. It has been seen that 'it is a public fund. It is therefore under the control of the board of treasury examiners and must be kept in the treasury or be deposited in a bank named as a depository by the board of treasury examiners.

The last sentence of section 75-2401 reads:

“It shall be unlawful for the board to select any bank as such depository in which either the state treasurer or any member of the board of treasury examiners is interested as stockholder.”

The evidence shows that the state auditor, a member of the board of treasury examiners, is a stockholder of the Home State Bank, owning a one-third interest therein, and is vice president of the bank. Under these circumstances, the Home State Bank could not have been designated by the board of treasury examiners as a depository for any part of the public funds.

This action includes what is known as the sand fund, which is money collected under sections 71-101 to 71-109, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes. Section 71-101 reads as follows:

“That from and after the taking effect of this act it shall be unlawful for any person, partnership or corporation to take from within or beneath the bed of any navigable river or any other river which is the property of the state of Kansas any sand, oil, gas, gravel, or mineral, or any natural product whatsoever from any lands lying in the bed of any such river or any hay, tim[460]*460ber, or other products belonging to the state, except in accordance with this act.”

Section 71-102 in part reads:

“Whenever any person shall desire to take from any such river any sand, gravel, oil, gas or mineral, or from any land in such river any hay, timber or other products, he shall first obtain the consent. of the executive council of the state of Kansas and upon such terms of payment to the state of Kansas and under such terms and conditions as the said executive council may determine to be just and proper. . . . Provided, however,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 P. 258, 115 Kan. 457, 1924 Kan. LEXIS 267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-griffith-v-thompson-kan-1924.