State Ex Rel. Schneider v. City of Kansas City

612 P.2d 578, 228 Kan. 25, 1980 Kan. LEXIS 300
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJune 14, 1980
Docket50,979
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 612 P.2d 578 (State Ex Rel. Schneider v. City of Kansas City) 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. Schneider v. City of Kansas City, 612 P.2d 578, 228 Kan. 25, 1980 Kan. LEXIS 300 (kan 1980).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Holmes, J.:

This appeal is from an order of the district court entered in a quo warranto action filed by the State of Kansas, on behalf of the Board of Regents, seeking a determination by what authority, if any, the City of Kansas City, Kansas, sought to require the Board of Regents to obtain a building permit and follow Kansas City building codes in the construction of a new facility at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The Board also sought equitable relief by way of a restraining order to prevent the City from enforcing its building codes. The trial court held that the Board was required to obtain a building permit and comply with the local building codes. This appeal by the Board of Regents followed. The trial court also held that as the construction was nearly complete, its ruling would only apply prospectively to future construction. The City has filed a cross-appeal from that ruling of the court.

The action was heard by the trial court upon an agreed statement of facts. In 1975, the University of Kansas embarked upon a program to build a radiation therapy facility on the campus of the Kansas University Medical Center located within the city limits of Kansas City. The proposed construction and equipment to be utilized therein would cost in excess of $3,000,000.00. Two [26]*26million dollars were appropriated by the Kansas legislature and approximately one million more was to be received through a grant from the federal government. The proposed radiation treatment facility would be utilized in the treatment of private patients who will pay for the services and as a part of the educational system of the Kansas University School of Medicine. In December, 1977, after funding had been assured, bids solicited and construction contracts let, the chief building inspector of Kansas City advised the general contractor that a building permit and various other city permits would be required before construction could commence. In order to obtain a building permit the plans and specifications must be approved by the City, and the construction must comply with the building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical codes adopted by the City. The proposed facility, as is true with the entire Medical Center, would be dependent upon the City’s utilities for water and electricity, would tie into the City’s sanitary and storm sewer systems and would rely upon the City for fire protection. The Board of Regents declined to obtain the required permits and filed this action on December 13, 1977, seeking a temporary restraining order and a determination of whether the requirements for a building permit and compliance with the City’s building codes are valid. An ex parte restraining order was issued against the City on the same day. No attempt was made by the City to set aside the restraining order; construction of the radiation therapy facility has been completed and it is in operation at the Medical Center. Following the filing of briefs and various delays which occurred for one reason or another, the matter finally came to trial on February 16,1979, and the court, on February 27,1979, issued its memorandum decision in favor of the City.

At the outset we deem it advisable to address a procedural issue raised by the City in its cross-appeal. It is the City’s contention that the district court erred in not finding that the case should have been filed by the Board of Regents rather than by the State of Kansas on the relation of the Attorney General. It is argued that the real party in interest is not named and the action is improper, having been brought in the name of the State of Kansas.

K.S.A. 60-217(a) provides in pertinent part:

“Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest .. . and when a statute so provides, an action brought for the use or benefit of another shall be brought in the name of the state of Kansas.”

[27]*27K.S.A. 76-713 provides in part:

“The board of regents may sue in its own name or in the name of any state educational institution, or may authorize suit to be brought by the chief executive officer of any state educational institution in the name of such state educational institution. . . . The attorney general, or an attorney designated by the attorney general, shall represent the board of regents and any state educational institution in all litigation.”
There being no statute authorizing an action by the Board of Regents to be brought in the name of the State of Kansas, it is the City’s position there is no authority for the action to be brought by the State of Kansas. The City relies upon Torkelson v. Bank of Horton, 208 Kan. 267, 491 P.2d 954 (1971), wherein this court stated:
“One standard frequently applied is that the real party in interest is the one entitled to the fruits of the action, and the phrase ‘real party in interest’ is grammatically quite capable of that meaning.” 208 Kan. at 270.

In Torkelson we also stated:

“The requirement that an action be brought by the real party in interest has as one of its principal purposes the protection of the defendant from being repeatedly harassed by a multiplicity of suits for the same cause of action so that if a judgment be obtained it is a full, final and conclusive adjudication of the rights in controversy that may be pleaded in bar to any further suit instituted by any other party.” p. 270.

It is true, and the statutes so contemplate, that in actions involving the Board of Regents it is usually named as such or the individual members are made parties in their collective capacity as the Board of Regents. See, e.g., Carroll v. Kittle, 203 Kan. 841, 457 P.2d 21 (1969); McCoy v. Board of Regents, 196 Kan. 506, 413 P.2d 73 (1966); Murray v. State Board of Regents, 194 Kan. 686, 401 P.2d 898 (1965); The State, ex rel., v. Regents of the University, 55 Kan. 389, 40 Pac. 656 (1895). The Board of Regents is a governmental agency created by the legislature at the specific direction of the Kansas Constitution, article 6, section 2(b). As such it is bound by any decision brought on its behalf in the name of the State of Kansas, and there is no danger of harassment of or the filing of a multiplicity of suits against the defendant. In addition, the action was brought by the attorney general who is the person designated by K.S.A. 76-713 to represent the Board of Regents in all litigation. Considering the purpose of the real party in interest statute, the trial court did not commit error in refusing to dismiss the action for failure of it to be filed in the name of the “Board of Regents,” the name of the institution involved, or the [28]*28chief executive officer thereof. The procedural point raised by the City in its cross-appeal is without merit.

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State Ex Rel. Schneider v. City of Kansas City
612 P.2d 578 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
612 P.2d 578, 228 Kan. 25, 1980 Kan. LEXIS 300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-schneider-v-city-of-kansas-city-kan-1980.