275 P. 934 | Colo. | 1929
THIS is an action by the president and board of directors of school district No. 4 of Cheyenne county, Colorado, against the president and board of directors of alleged school district No. 10 of the same county, to restrain the defendants, as such pretended board, from interfering with the official functions of the plaintiff board in its management and control of district No. 4.
It seems that defendants, as individuals, and other persons had, under the pertinent statute, attempted to carve out of the territory of district 4, as originally created, a new school district, No. 10. This action is predicated on the theory that the pretended district No. 10 is not a legally constituted or existing body, by reason of the failure of its organizers to give the proper statutory notice and information to the voters concerned of their purpose thus to form a new school district. The interference complained of, among other things, is the demand of the defendants, as a school board, upon the county treasurer of Cheyenne county, for a portion of the school funds belonging, and apportioned to, school district No. 4, and that they will continue so to demand unless restrained by a court order. The further allegation is that unless the courts give relief, confusion and uncertainty will result and the rival school districts in that county will be demoralized to the detriment of the schools.
The transcript of the record is in some respects vague and indefinite and it is not easy to determine from it just what took place at the trial. The answer of the defendants, among other things, contained a demurrer for insufficient facts, a qualified denial of some of the allegations of the complaint, and a separate affirmative defense that the matters and things which the plaintiffs seek to litigate here have already been determined against the plaintiffs' contentions in certain proceedings had before the state superintendent of public instruction. The facts set out in this affirmative defense of the answer concerning the proceedings before the state superintendent are *372 so meagre and ambiguous that we are unable to determine what was the alleged controversy there determined, what the alleged findings were, how the proceedings got before that officer, or what the alleged rulings were, or what they purported to be. The answer is barren of facts concerning the alleged proceeding. The affirmative defense is wholly insufficient as a plea or defense of former adjudication, or res judicata, by a proper person or tribunal.
Our decision in People v. Buckland,
The district court properly held that the election was void for the reasons indicated. Its judgment is therefore affirmed. *374