Yant v. City of Grand Island

784 N.W.2d 101, 279 Neb. 935, 2010 Neb. LEXIS 63
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedMay 28, 2010
DocketS-09-664
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 784 N.W.2d 101 (Yant v. City of Grand Island) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yant v. City of Grand Island, 784 N.W.2d 101, 279 Neb. 935, 2010 Neb. LEXIS 63 (Neb. 2010).

Opinion

784 N.W.2d 101 (2010)
279 Neb. 935

Roger YANT et al., appellants,
v.
The CITY OF GRAND ISLAND et al., appellees.

No. S-09-664.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

May 28, 2010.

*103 Raymond E. Walden, of Walden Law Office, James Beckmann, of Beckmann *104 Law Offices, Lincoln, and Kenneth C. Winston for appellants.

Jon Bruning, Attorney General, Dale A. Comer, and Charles E. Lowe, Lincoln, for appellees Department of Administrative Services and State Treasurer.

John C. Wiltse and Joel D. Pedersen, Lincoln, for appellee Board of Regents.

Dale M. Shotkoski, Grand Island City Attorney, for appellee City of Grand Island.

Jack Zitterkopf, Chief Deputy Hall County Attorney, for appellees Hall County Treasurer and Hall County Board of Supervisors.

Gail S. Perry, of Baylor, Evnen, Curtiss, Grimit & Witt, L.L.P., Lincoln, for appellee Nebraska State Fair Board.

Michael L. Johnson, of Leininger, Smith, Johnson, Baack, Placzek & Allen, for appellees Hall County Livestock Improvement Association and Hall County Agricultural Society, Inc.

HEAVICAN, C.J., WRIGHT, CONNOLLY, GERRARD, McCORMACK, and MILLER-LERMAN, JJ., and INBODY, Chief Judge.

HEAVICAN, C.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

Roger Yant, Brian Von Seggern, and Jerry Christensen (collectively appellants) appeal the decision of the Lancaster County District Court denying their request for a declaratory judgment declaring 2008 Neb. Laws, L.B. 1116 (LB 1116), unconstitutional. Appellants claim that LB 1116, which provided for the relocation of the Nebraska State Fair from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska, is special legislation, and hence unconstitutional and void. We affirm the decision of the district court.

II. FACTS

The facts of this case are not in dispute. According to the record, the location of the state fair has been set by statute since 1901. Prior to the passage of LB 1116, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 2-101(3) (Reissue 2007) provided in part:

The state fair shall be held at or near the city of Lincoln, in Lancaster County, under the direction and supervision of the Nebraska State Fair Board, upon the site and tract of land selected and now owned by the state for that purpose and known as the Nebraska State Fairgrounds.

At its annual meeting in 2003, the State Fair Board admitted publicly that the State Fair and its campus were "in a dire short term and long term financial crisis."

In 2004, the Nebraska Legislature requested that an investigation be conducted into new models for the state fair. Among the alternatives suggested and considered were to not have a state fair, to relocate the state fair to another site in Lincoln or Lancaster County, or to relocate the state fair to another location in the state. Another study was conducted in 2007, and on December 14, the Legislature held a public hearing on the report generated by the study. LB 1116 was introduced on January 23, 2008, and was then referred to the Legislature's Agriculture Committee for a public hearing.

The Agriculture Committee held a public hearing on LB 1116 on February 26, 2008, giving various parties an opportunity to present arguments for and against relocating the state fair. And over the course of several days, the floor debate on LB 1116 allowed various members of the Legislature to present arguments both for and against relocating the state fair.

*105 LB 1116 was passed and is now codified at § 2-101 (Supp.2009). Section 2-101(4)(a) states:

It is the intent of the Legislature that no later than 2010 the Nebraska State Fair be permanently located within the city of Grand Island upon the site and tract of land owned by the Hall County Livestock Improvement Association and known as Fonner Park....

Subsection (b) provides:

The Nebraska State Fair Board, the Department of Administrative Services, and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska shall cooperate with each other and with other appropriate entities to provide for and carry out the plan to relocate the Nebraska State Fair and transfer the Nebraska State Fairgrounds in Lancaster County to the Board of Regents....

While Grand Island, Hall County, and the Hall County Livestock Improvement Association (HCLIA) were tasked with preparing Fonner Park to host the state fair, the University of Nebraska was designated to take over the fairgrounds in Lancaster County for an "Innovation Campus."[1] Thus, the effect of LB 1116 was threefold: The legislation operated to relocate the state fair from Lincoln to Grand Island, it required certain entities associated with the state fair to cooperate in relocating the fair, and it transferred the fairgrounds in Lancaster County to the University of Nebraska.

In 2008, appellants filed suit in Lancaster County District Court asking the district court to issue a declaratory judgment finding that LB 1116 was unconstitutional and void in its entirety. The district court dismissed appellants' action, finding that the statute was constitutional. This appeal followed.

III. ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Appellants assign that the district court erred in finding that (1) LB 1116 did not constitute special legislation in violation of Neb. Const. art. III, § 18, and (2) LB 1116 did not improperly delegate legislative powers to private corporations. Appellants also claim that LB 1116 is unconstitutional in its entirety and that the unconstitutional portions cannot be struck.

IV. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Whether a statute is constitutional is a question of law; accordingly, the Nebraska Supreme Court is obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the decision reached by the court below.[2] A statute is presumed to be constitutional, and all reasonable doubts are resolved in favor of its constitutionality.[3] The burden of establishing the unconstitutionality of a statute is on the one attacking its validity.[4]

The unconstitutionality of a statute must be clearly established before it will be declared void.[5]

V. ANALYSIS

Appellants argue that LB 1116 is unconstitutional for two reasons: first, because it violates the prohibition on special legislation found in article III, § 18, of the Nebraska Constitution, and second, because there is an unconstitutional delegation of authority to HCLIA and the State *106 Fair Board. We affirm the decision of the district court.

1. LB 1116 IS NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL SPECIAL LEGISLATION

We first note that the burden of proving a statute is unconstitutional is on the party attacking the validity of a statute,[6] and unconstitutionality must be clearly established before a statute will be declared void.[7]

Neb. Const. art. III, § 18, provides:

The Legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following cases....
....
Granting to any corporation, association, or individual any special or exclusive privileges, immunity, or franchise whatever.... In all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted.

In support of their argument, appellants cite Hug v. City of Omaha.[8] In that case, we stated:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
784 N.W.2d 101, 279 Neb. 935, 2010 Neb. LEXIS 63, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yant-v-city-of-grand-island-neb-2010.