State Ex Rel. Power v. Wenner

1926 OK 740, 249 P. 1116, 121 Okla. 190, 1926 Okla. LEXIS 110
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 21, 1926
Docket17402
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1926 OK 740 (State Ex Rel. Power v. Wenner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Power v. Wenner, 1926 OK 740, 249 P. 1116, 121 Okla. 190, 1926 Okla. LEXIS 110 (Okla. 1926).

Opinion

BRANSON, V. O. J.

Error is prosecuted herein to reverse a judgment of the district court of Logan county denying relief prayed •by the plaintiff. The relief prayed was a mandamus against Ered L. Wenner, as county treasurer of said county. It was sought in the name of the state on the relation of W. P. Power and others, as the board of education of school district No. 60 of said county. An alternative writ of mandamus was issued, the service of which was waived •by the defendant, who filed a response in tlye form of an answer to the plaintiff’s allegations.

In .brief, the plaintiff alleged that a large :sum of money had accumulated and was them in the control and custody of the defendant .as county treasurer, from interest on deposits in county depositories of moneys arising from the sale of county road bonds, and that the amount thereof which should be ap portioned according to scholastic enumeration to school district No. 60 was the sum of $5,204.64; that the treasurer having failed to apportion this or any other amount of said money to the credit of said district, the remedy as prayed was invoked.

The response or answer of the county treasurer admits that W. E. Power and the others who instituted the suit in the name of the state are the board of education of school district No. 60; that he is county treasurer of said county; but his further answer says that it is not his duty as county treasurer to credit to the common school fund of the county for distribution as other school funds the interest and money arising from average daily balances as pleaded by the plaintiff, but that the interest arising from the deposit of moneys representing the proceeds of the sale of county bonds for road purposes is- a special fund deposited by the county commissioners as required by law with the county treasurer, and that th;e interest on the unexpended portion of the proceeds received by him from the county ■depositories is required by law to be kept by him, credited and deposited to the account of said special fund of the county commissioners, to wit, the funds for which the bonds were voted and sold. The facts were stipulated, and the part of the stipulation admitted by the defendant’s response is unnecessary to be reiterated. The sub-stancp of the other part of the stipulation is this:

“That the defendant as county treasurer has deposited in the legal depositories funds arising from the sale of highway bonds issued by Logan county, and that the money alleged by the plaintiff should properly be placed to the common school fund of Logan county accrued from the deposit of such moneys; that the scholastic enumeration for Logan county for the year 1925 was 7,912; that the total scholastic enumeration of the school district No. 60 of Logan county was 3,098; that the share of the funds arising as above stipulated, to wit $13,358.73, based upon the scholastic enumeration for said district No. 60 was $5,204.64, the amount sought by the plaintiff. That the said amount is in the hands of the defendant and has not been paid out, but is to tf,e credit of the highway fund or account. It is further stipulated that the defendant carries separate accounts in the official depositories for money which is turned to him daily by each separate county official, such as the sheriff, court clerk, and so, on, and that all of these funds are by him deposited in separate accounts known as the official depository accounts. ”

The trial court denied the relief prayed, finding in its judgment:

“That the defendant is correctly placing and handling the fund or funds involved in this action, and finds that the plaintiffs are not entitled to the relief prayed.”

From this judgment, the plaintiff perfects this appeal, and the assignments of error as discussed in the briefs resolve themselves into the question as to whether or not the interest received by the county treasurer from the deposit of moneys arising1 from a county bond issue for roads, bridges, etc., should be credited to the common school fund of the county and distributed to the school districts as -by law provided for other funds.

From the above stipulated facts, it must be clear th,at the doumty treasurer does not deny that school district No. 60 is entitled to $5,204.64 as its proportionate share of the interest money collected, if the money arising as interest from such a deposit is required to be placed by him to the credit of the common school fund of the county. It was the holding of the trial court that such a fund should be credited to that particular fund and supplemented the same, or, in other words, that having bfeen placed in the iroad or highway account, it was correctly placed by the treasurer for the benefit of highway construction, and that the statute did not require that it be placed in the fund for the benefit of the common schools.

It is not contended by the plaintiff that the defendant acts arbitrarily in this matter, but plaintiff concedes that he acts honestly under a misinterpretation of the requirements of the statute.

The defendant apparently relies upon a cer *192 tain provision in section 8621, C. O. S. 1921. Tlie first part of said section requires that all county officers pay over all money», rrom whatsoever source arising, to the comity treasurer. Then it provides :

“All moneys when so received by the county treasurer, as such official depository, shall bte by him deposited in banks designated and qualified as county depositories as now provided by law and shall draw interest at a rate of not less than three per centum (8%) per annum on daily average balances, which said interest shall be paid monthly; and, when collected, shall be credited to th|e respective funds and accounts so earning- the same. * * *”

In defendant’s brief, counsel apparently relies upon the last three lin?3s of said portion of the statute, for he says:

"Under sections 8620, 8621, and 8625, of C. O. S. 1921, above cited, the county treasurer would lie guilty as provided by section 8625 of said act if he failed or neglected or refused to comply with the requirements of section 8621 of said law, which says, ‘which said interest shall he paid monthly, and when collected shall be credited to the respective funds and accounts so earning the same. * * *’ ”

The plaintiff insists that the said section relied- upon by the defendant must have a construction such as would not defeat the p.ovisions of section 8583, C. O. O. 1921. This last-named section provides:

“8583. Interest Placed to Credit of. The county treasurer shall immediately upon the passage and approval of this act place to tile credit of the common school fund of the county for distribution, as all other common school funds, all the interest money now on hand accrued on the average daily balances of money deposited with banks in pursuance of the provisions of the county depository law; all such interest moneys hereafter collected shall at the close of each month be apportioned and credited to the common school fund of the county.”

It must be noted that the above-quoted section deals with a specific subject, to wit, the disposition of the money arising as interest and paid by the depositories to the county treasurer, and refers to all moneys deposited by the county treasurer and which he is required to receive by the depository law, and as to which there is no specific exception.

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Bluebook (online)
1926 OK 740, 249 P. 1116, 121 Okla. 190, 1926 Okla. LEXIS 110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-power-v-wenner-okla-1926.