Thompson v. Rapides Parish School Board

637 So. 2d 680, 94 La.App. 3 Cir. 651, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 1504, 1994 WL 192128
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 18, 1994
DocketNo. 94-651
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 637 So. 2d 680 (Thompson v. Rapides Parish School Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Rapides Parish School Board, 637 So. 2d 680, 94 La.App. 3 Cir. 651, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 1504, 1994 WL 192128 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

DECUIR, Judge.

This is an election suit. The central issue is whether the physical boundaries of Cotile [681]*681School District No. 22A of Rapides Parish, a taxing district created by the Rapides Parish School Board, pursuant to R.S. 17:1371, were enlarged by the Rapides Parish Police Jury when the Police Jury moved the boundary line between Wards 5 and 7 of Rapides Parish.

Plaintiffs, Reeves Thompson, William Riggs, and Virginia Riggs, alleging to be qualified voters of Ward 7, brought suit against the Rapides Parish School Board pursuant to R.S. 18:1406 to nullify the results of a bond issue election held on January 15, 1994. The tax proposition passed by a single vote, 451 in favor of the bond issue, and 450 against the bond issue. The Riggs alleged that they were entitled to vote in the tax election and would have voted against the proposition but were prevented from voting by the commissioners at the polling place. Mr. Thompson alleged that he was a resident of Ward 7 and entitled to challenge the results of the election.

The taxing district, Cotile School District No. 22A of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, was created and ^established by an ordinance of the Rapides Parish School Board passed August 16, 1947, pursuant to R.S. 17:1371. At the time of the school board’s creation of Cotile School District No. 22A, its boundaries were nearly identical with the boundaries of Ward 7, a political subdivision of the parish created by the Rapides Parish Police Jury. The 1947 ordinance of the Rapides Parish School Board described the Cotile School District No. 22A as follows:

Beginning at the NE corner of T 3 N, R 3 W; thence in a direct line following a northwesterly direction to McNutt’s Hill; thence in a northeasterly and northerly direction following the ward line between Wards 7 and 8 to its intersection with the south bank of Red River; thence following up the right descending bank of Red River with its meanders through T 5 N, R 3 W and through T 6 N, R 3 W to the intersection of the parish line between Rapides and Natchitoches parishes; thence following along the line between Natchitoches and Rapides Parishes in a southwesterly direction to its intersection with the section line between Vernon and Rapides Parishes; thence along the line between Vernon and Rapides parishes in a southeasterly direction to the western boundary of T 3 N, R 4 W at the quarter-section corner of the west line of Section 7; thence in a southerly direction a distance of three-quarters (¾) of a mile along the west line of Sections 7 and 18 to its intersection with the center of Bayou Seiper; thence following along Bayou Seiper in a southeasterly direction a distance of one-half (½) mile; thence in a northeasterly direction along the Burr’s Ferry Road to its intersection with the northern boundary with T 3 N, R 4 W; thence in an easterly direction along the ward line between Wards 5 and 7 to the point of beginning.

The boundary in controversy is the boundary line described as “in an easterly direction along the ward line between Wards 5 and 7 to the point of beginning.” Subsequent to the creation of the Cotile School District No. 22A, the Highway Department extended Louisiana Highway 28 in a westerly direction from Garner, Louisiana approximately 1 mile south of the traditional boundary of Wards 5 and 7. After the highway was constructed, the Rapides Parish Police Jury moved the dividing line between Wards 5 and 7 of Rap-ides Parish in a southerly direction and established the new dividing line between these wards at the newly constructed extension of Louisiana Highway 28.

Is At the time of the election, the Riggs’ residence was clearly located in the confines of Ward 7, Rapides Parish, but were outside the originally drawn boundaries of Cotile School District No. 22A.

After a trial on the merits, the trial court ruled that the actions of the Rapides Parish Police Jury in moving the boundary line between Wards 5 and 7 of Rapides Parish, enlarged the boundaries of the Cotile 22A Taxing District created by the School Board. The trial court concluded that the Riggs’ property and residence was at the time of the January 15, 1994, tax election, within the geographical boundaries of Cotile 22A Tax District. The trial court determined that since the boundaries of the School Board [682]*682Taxing District had been enlarged that the Riggs’ property was going to be subject to the school tax; therefore, the Riggs were qualified electors in the election. From a judgment invalidating the January 15, 1994, election, and ordering a new election to be held on the bond issue, the School Board has appealed.

LSA-R.S. 17:1371 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. Parish school boards may at any time create school districts composed of the parish as a whole or any part or parts thereof and may also, with the consent of the respective school boards of one or more adjoining parishes, create school districts composed of a part of the parish and a part or parts of such adjoining parishes, and shall have complete discretion in the fixing of the boundaries of all such school districts, but may not create a new school district within the parish if such new school district embraces part of any school district already existing within such parish, except as follows:
(1) A school district may be created comprising an entire parish even though there are existing school districts in such parish, and school districts may be created within a school district comprising the entire parish;
(2) A consolidated school district may be created within a parish and may include therein one or more existing school districts, with or without the addition thereto of territory not at the time lying within the boundaries of an existing school district, and school districts may be created with a consolidated school district;
(3) A school district may be enlarged through the addition thereto of territory not at the time lying within an existing district, and the original district and the district as so enlarged shall not be construed to be overlapping districts within the prohibition of this section;
(4) School districts may be created under the provisions of R.S. 17:1372 even though they overlap existing school districts
5(b) An existing district within the meaning of this subsection shall be understood to mean a school district theretofore created which has outstanding indebtedness or which has voted an unexpired special tax.

|4In Bradley v. McKnight, 392 So.2d 1081 (La.App.3rd Cir.1980), this court was confronted with a similar factual issue. In that suit, the plaintiffs were registered voters in Natchitoches Parish School District No. 1 and filed a mandamus suit pursuant to R.S. 18:197 to compel the Registrar of Voters to remove 13 voters from the rolls of Natchi-toches Parish School Board District No. 1. The plaintiffs contended that the challenged registrants actually resided within the limits of School Board District No. 10, and therefore were not qualified electors of School Board District No. 1.

School Board Districts No. 1 and 10 were established by a resolution of the Natchitoch-es Parish School Board in 1972. A map specifically outlining the boundary lines of the districts was attached to the resolution. The resolution adopted by the School Board clearly placed the challenged voters in School Board District No. 10. In Bradley,

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

Related

Opinion Number
Louisiana Attorney General Reports, 2006
Thompson v. Rapides Parish School Board
637 So. 2d 683 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
637 So. 2d 680, 94 La.App. 3 Cir. 651, 1994 La. App. LEXIS 1504, 1994 WL 192128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-rapides-parish-school-board-lactapp-1994.