Williams v. Kirby

70 S.W. 140, 169 Mo. 622, 1902 Mo. LEXIS 303
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedOctober 27, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 70 S.W. 140 (Williams v. Kirby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Kirby, 70 S.W. 140, 169 Mo. 622, 1902 Mo. LEXIS 303 (Mo. 1902).

Opinion

BUEGESS, J.

— This proceeding was begun in the county court of New Madrid county, by plaintiffs, to- condemn for levee purposes a right of way over certain .lands belonging to the defendant. The strip of land sought to be condemned was described in the posted notice as follows: “A strip of land 112 feet wide, beginning on the north boundary line of survey No. 28>28, running in a northerly direction to the south boundary line of survey No. 1051, and lying west of and immediately adjacent to the Point Pleasant and New Madrid public road.”

After this notice was posted, a petition for- condemnation was filed in the county court, in which the strip of land was described as follows: “A strip of land 112 feet wide running in a northerly direction, and lying west of, and immediately adjacent .to, and alongside of what is known as the New Madrid and Point Pleasant road, to a point in what is known as the Highland in survey 1051, section 17, township 21, range 14 east.”

The petition was filed August 6, 1895. On August 7, [626]*6261895, the county court appointed commissioners to view and assess the strip of land, describing it in the same terms used in the petition. On November 4, 1895, the commissioners filed their report describing the land assessed by them, as follows: “The following described land in the county of New Madrid, Missouri, to-wit, section 17, township 27, range 14 east.”

On February 5, 1896, the county court rendered judgment of condemnation, describing tire strip, as follows: “A strip of land 112 feet wide, beginning on the north boundary line of survey 2928, in section 17, township 21, range 14 east, running in a northern direction, and lying east of and immediately adjacent to what is known as the New Madrid and Point Pleasant public road, to a point in what is known as the ‘Highlands’ in survey 1051, in section 17, township 21, range 14 east.”

On February 13, 1896, the defendant filed in the office of the clerk of the county court his affidavit for appeal; notice of appeal duly served, and an appeal bond. On February 22, 1896, at the next term of the county court, the appeal bond was approved, but the court made no order allowing the appeal.

The clerk of the county court returned the papers in the case to the clerk of the circuit court of New Madrid county, in which court the plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, on the ground that the county court of New Madrid county had never granted an appeal. The circuit court of that county at tire September term, 1897, sustained plaintiffs’ motion and dismissed defendant’s appeal to the circuit court. From this judgment of dismissal an appeal was taken to this court.

Defendant has filed in this court á motion to dismiss these proceedings, on the ground that the record discloses that the county court had no jurisdiction to render judgment of condemnation, and hence, neither the circuit court nor the [627]*627Supreme Court acquired jurisdiction of this appeal. But as the case has been fully briefed by defendant, which covers all the points presented by the motion to dismiss, we will dispose of the appeal upon its merits regardless of that motion.

It may be conceded at the outset that, proceedings to condemn private property for public use being in rem, they must affirmatively show every fact necessary to confer jurisdiction on the tribunal in which had.

This defendant claims the record, in the case in hand, not only fails to affirmatively show, but shows otherwise.

The act creating the St. Erancis Levee District of Missouri provides that in case the board of directors can not procure the voluntary relinquishment of the desired right of way, “they shall proceed as provided by the law of this State regulating the manner of obtaining the right of way for public roads.” [Laws of Missouri, 1893, p. 200, sec. 24.] The road law then in force provides that the petition for condemnation for the right of way for public roads, shall “specify the proposed beginning, course and termination” of the proposed right of way, and also state the amount of damages claimed by the owner of the land sought to be condemned. [R. S. 1889, sec. 7796, as amended by Laws of 1893, p, 222.] And also¡ that the report of the commissioners appointed to assess damages contain a description of the land for which the damages are assessed. [Sec. 3, p. 223, Laws 1893.]

The notice of the intended application for a new road is required to be given by written or printed handbills, put ■up in three or more public places, one of which is to be put up at the proposed beginning, and one at the proposed termination of said road, at least twenty days before the first day of a regular term of the county court at which the pet-i'tion is to be presented. [Sec. 7797, R. S. 1889.]

Now, the notice in this ease showed that the terminus [628]*628of the proposed right of way was intended h> be at the intersection of the Point Pleasant and New Madrid public road, and the south boundary line of survey 1051, while the petition thereafter presented fixed the terminus of said proposed right of way” at, a point in what is known as the Highlands in survey 1051, in section 17, township 21, range 14 east.

The notice in the first place was jurisdictional (Railroad v. Young, 96 Mo. 39) and without it all the proceedings would have been without authority and absolutely void. And anything that was thereafter done toward condemning defendant’s land for levee purposes, not in pursuance of it, or with respect to lands of defendant not embraced within its provisions, rendered the entire proceedings a nullity.

It is plain from a casual reading of the petition that it does not specify the termination of the proposed right of way. “To a point in what is known as the Highlands, in survey 1051, section 1.7,” is evidently too indefinite for any purpose, and clearly does not comply with the statute which requires the' termination to be specified in the petition.

No surveyor could find the terminus of it .under such a description, for how could he determine from the petition the exact point in what is known as the Highlands in survey 1051, section 17, was intended under a description so indefinite. It would be impossible.

And it has been uniformly held by this court, in proceedings to condemn private property for public use, that unless it affirmatively appear upon the face of the proceedings that every essential prerequisite of the statute conferring the authority has been complied with, such proceedings will be void. [Anderson v. Pemberton, 89 Mo. 61; Whitely v. Platte County, 73 Mo. 30; Jefferson County v. Cowan, 54 Mo. 234; Zimmerman v. Snowden, 88 Mo. 218.] That the petition does not specify the terminus of the proposed right of way, is too clear for argument, and, as it must appear from the face of the record in order to confer juris[629]*629diction on the county court in the first instance, it must follow that neither the circuit nor the Supreme Court acquired jurisdiction of the property by appeal.

It is said that the circuit court erred in dismissing the appeal from the county court. This seems to have been done upon the ground that the county court made no order of record granting an appeal which must have been considered by the circuit court as being absolutely necessary to that end.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
70 S.W. 140, 169 Mo. 622, 1902 Mo. LEXIS 303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-kirby-mo-1902.