124 Ark. 234 | Ark. | 1916
On the 25th day of March, 1916, appellees filed their petition in the circuit court praying for a writ of certiorari requiring appellants to produce the records and proceedings of the county court of Pope County relating to the formation of Road Improvement District No. 1 of Pope County, Arkansas, to the end that the proceedings and orders establishing said road improvement district be quashed. Appellants answered and made a copy of the records of the county court a part of their answer and demurred to the petition of appellees. Appellees demurred to the answer of appellant. The court overruled the demurrer of appellants and sustained the demurrer of appellees to the answer of appellants. A judgment was accordingly entered!, quashing and annulling all the orders and proceedings of the county court relating to the formation of said road improvement district. The case is here on appeal.
The district was created under a general act of the Legislature of 1915, Acts of Arkansas, 1915, page 1400. The record affirmatively shows that the provisions of the act were in all respects complied with except that it does not show that a preliminary survey, plans, specifications and estimates of the costs of improvement were •filed with.the county court before the petitions for formation of the district were circulated, and .appellees allege that no such plans, specifications or estimates were filed. They contend that the judgment of the county court establishing the road district is void because of the failure to comply with the act in this respect.
On the other hand it is the contention of appellants that appellees’ remedy to correct the alleged error was by appeal and that the time for appeal having elapsed, they can not now complain of jurisdictional defects or irregularities in the formation of the district. In other words they contend that the present proceeding is a collateral attack.upon the judgment of the county court and for that reason can not be maintained.