Wright v. Donaldson

144 Tenn. 255
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedApril 15, 1920
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 144 Tenn. 255 (Wright v. Donaldson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wright v. Donaldson, 144 Tenn. 255 (Tenn. 1920).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Hall

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This cause involves the. constitutionality of chapter 288 of the Acts (Private) of 1917, which is the road law applicable to Lake county.

The complainant filed her hill in the chancery court of Lake county, seeking to enjoin the defendants, who constitute the highway commissioners of said county under said act, from taking and appropriating a portion of her [258]*258land for road purposes. The right of said commissioners' to take and appropriate complainant’s land is challenged by her bilj upon the ground that said act is unconstitutional and void.

Upon the cause being heard before the chancellor a decree was rendered dismissing the bill; the chancellor being of the opinion that the act was valid. Prom this decree complainant has appealed to this court, and has assigned errors.

The constitutionality of said act is challenged upon several grounds. Among others, it is said that.it provides for the taking of private property, for a public use, and does not provide any adequate remedy to the land-owner whose land is taken and appropriated for the enforcement of the payment of damages, and therefore violates section 21 of article 1 of our Constitution] which provides :

.“No man’s . . . property (shall) be taken, or applied to public use, without the consent of his representatives, or without just' compensation.”

Section 9 of said act r.eads as follows: “Be it further enacted, that all applications to open, close, or change roads shall be made by written petition setting forth the proposed change signed by one or more citizens, and addressed to the board of highway commissioners. If the proposed change appears advantageous the county board will give five days’ notice to the person first appearing as signer to the petition and to all landowners affected by the proposed change, notifying them of the filing of the petition, and of the date on which the commission, or its duly authorized representative will be [259]*259present at the beginning point mentioned in the petition to act on the application.

“If any landowners affected by such proceedings be a nonresident of the county, then ten days’ notice to his tenant, agent, or attorney residing in the county where the land is situated shall be sufficient, and if such nonresident has no tenant, agent, or attorney in said county, publication in some newspaper published in said county shall be sufficient notice to such owner.

“The commission may inspect the proposed road, or change therein, or may hear proof, and after due consideration shall make such orders in regard thereto as may be deemed for the best interest of the public and all concerned. If the application is granted and the land condemned.

“The commission shall assess such damages as, in their judgment, should be paid the owner, or owners, and shall appropriate an amount of road funds sufficient to pay such damages, expenses and costs incident to the proceeding, and the Commission shall make a written report of their actions and findings to the county court presided over by the chairman or county judge, describing the land and reciting all essential facts. Said report may be approved or disallowed, and a decree shall be entered on the minutes of the chairman’s court, confirming or overruling same.

“Any party interested, if dissatisfied, may, within five days after the entering of said decree, appeal to the next term of the circuit court of the county where the land lies, by giving bond, as required by law in appeal cases, which appeal, if taken by the landowner, shall not have [260]*260the effect of stopping the progress of the work or prevent the commission from carrying* into effect the proposed change; provided, that no damages shall he paid until the owner of the land so condemned for road purposes shall have been deprived of the use and possession of same by the same being fenced out or used as a road.”

After a careful examination of the authorities, we are of the opinion that the act is violative of the section of the constitution above referred to, in that it nowhere provides an adequate remedy for the enforcement of the payment of damages, or just compensation for property proposed to be taken for public use. While section 9 of the act provides that.the commissioners may assess such damages as, in their judgment, should be paid the owner or owners of the land proposed to be taken, and shall appropriate an amount of the road funds sufficient to pay such damages, the act nowhere provides a remedy in favor of the landowner for the enforcement of the payment of such damages. It does not charge the general funds of the county with,the payment of the damages, and it is a matter of common knowledge and experience that the road funds in the hands of highway officers are frequently inadequate to pay and satisfy such damages. Furthermore, no remedy to the landowner is provided by the act for the enforcement or collection of damages in the event the commissioners should refuse to pay the damages out of the road funds belonging to the county, even if the same were adequate.

It is said on behalf of the commissioners, however, that if they should refuse to issue a warrent in favor of [261]*261the landowner for his damages they could he compelled to do so by a writ of mandamus.

This is probably true. But could this be done in a case where there are no road funds available out of which the damages may be paid? It is said that, in such event, the county could be compelled by a mandamus proceeding to levy a special road tax for the purpose of raising funds with which to pay the damages. This can only be done in cases where a judgment is rendered against the county. Shannon’s Annotated Code, section 681, 682. The act under consideration does not authorize the taking óf a judgment against the county for the damages in such cases.

In the case of Tuttle v. Knox County, 89 Tenn., 157, 14 S. W., 486, it was said:

“The purposes of the constitution are to place the citizen in a position to demand and receive compensation; that the enabling statutes shall point out the persons who shall pay the compensation, and at the same time furnish the remedy for the enforcement of that payment. None of these ihings are done by the eighth section of the act, and it is therefore unconstitutional and void.”

In that case the court was passing upon the question involved in the instant case, involving the validity of a similar statute. To the same effect is the holding of this court in the cases of Water Co. v. Scott, 111 Tenn., 322, 76 S. W., 888, and Memphis v. Hastings, 313 Tenn., 157, 86 S. W., 609.

This case may be distinguished from the case of State Highway Department v. Mitchell’s Heirs, 142 Tenn., 58, 216 S. W., 336. Neither of the acts involved in that case [262]*262undertook to prescribe the details of the procedure to be followed by counties or highway commissions in acquiring property for highway purposes. The acts, however, conferred the. right of eminent domain, and this court held that the acts were passed with reference to the established mode of procedure in such cases existing at the time of their passage under section 1844 et seq.

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Bluebook (online)
144 Tenn. 255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wright-v-donaldson-tenn-1920.