260 N.W.2d 638 | S.D. | 1977
This is an appeal from a temporary injunction. We vacate the injunction and remand the case for trial.
Appellant Oahe Conservancy Subdistrict (hereinafter “the subdistrict”) encompasses 15½ counties in the north central portion of the state. The subdistrict was formed by a vote of the electors within the area encompassed by the subdistrict in the general election held in November of 1960. On January 8, 1969, a master contract was entered into between the subdistrict and the
The subdistrict as created by the 1960 election is governed by a board of directors consisting of 11 members. SDCL 46-18-13. Two of the members are elected by the voters residing in the municipalities lying within the subdistrict. The rural portion of the subdistrict is divided into nine voting areas, each of which elects one member to the board. The 1970 census figures show that 89,600 persons reside in the municipalities within the subdistrict and that 48,650 persons reside in the rural areas of the subdistrict. Thus, the two directors elected from the municipal areas represent 64.8% of the population of the subdistrict but have only 18.18% of the vote on the board, whereas the nine directors elected from the rural areas represent 35.18% of the total population of the subdistrict and have 81.81% of the total vote on the board.
Plaintiffs are residents of the subdistrict. Several of them own land that is within the area proposed to be irrigated by the water that will be channeled to the irrigable areas by a system of canals to be constructed in accordance with the master contract. Plaintiffs allege in their complaint that the apportionment of the membership on the board of directors is in violation of the provisions of the United States Constitution and the South Dakota Constitution.
The trial court concluded that the subdis-trict was a governmental entity that must comply with the constitutional requirement of one person, one vote, as mandated by the United States Supreme Court and by this Court. See, e. g., Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 12 L.Ed.2d 506; Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474, 88 S.Ct. 1114, 20 L.Ed.2d 45; City of Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, 399 U.S. 204, 90 S.Ct. 1990, 26 L.Ed.2d 523; Bailey v. Jones, 81 S.D. 617, 139 N.W.2d 385. The trial court then issued a temporary injunction that temporarily weighted the votes of the directors in the following manner:
“Director for Area 1 — three votes
Director for Area 2 — six votes
Director for Area 3 — five votes
Director for Area 4 — three votes
Director for Area 5 — three votes
Director for Area 6 — four votes
Director for Area 7 — two votes
Director for Area 8 — three votes
Director for Area 9 — six votes
Each municipal director — 32.5 votes.”
The injunction further provided that:
“The above temporary weighing formula will apply only when the Oahe Conservancy Sub-District Board of Directors is voting on matters directly relating to the Oahe Project and shall not apply to any other matters including, but not limited to, other projects or decisions that the Board must make in meeting the day-today functions of the Sub-District.”
Appellant challenges the temporary injunction on a number of grounds. Because we conclude that the injunction must be vacated in the absence of any finding that the board has acted illegally and in the absence of any determination that a plan of reapportionment cannot or will not be effectuated by some other non-judicial body, we do not reach the merits of appellant’s remaining contentions.
SDCL 21-8-2 provides in part that:
“An injunction cannot be granted:
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(6) To prevent the exercise of a public or private office in a lawful manner, by the person in possession;”
In State ex rel Cranmer v. Thorson, 9 S.D. 149, 68 N.W. 202, and in State ex rel Adams v. Herreid, 10 S.D. 16, 71 N.W. 319, this Court recognized the general rule embodied in SDCL 21-8-2(6) that injunctions
Likewise, although it may very well be that the trial court will determine after a full trial on the merits that the board as presently constituted is unconstitutionally malapportioned and that some plan of reapportionment must be implemented, no warrant exists for the extraordinary temporary relief granted by the trial court in the present posture of the case.
Accordingly, the temporary injunction appealed from is vacated and the case is remanded to the circuit court for trial.
. We intimate no opinion concerning the merits of appellant’s contention that the subdistrict and the board are not subject to the requirements of the one person, one vote principle. See, e. g., Salyer Land Co. v. Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, 410 U.S. 719, 93 S.Ct. 1224, 35 L.Ed.2d 659; Associated Enterprises, Inc. v. Toltec Watershed Improvement District, 410 U.S. 743, 93 S.Ct. 1237, 35 L.Ed.2d 675; Town of Lockport v. Citizens for Community Action, 430 U.S. 259, 97 S.Ct. 1047, 51 L.Ed.2d 313.
. SDCL 46-18-13 provides:
“The district board shall fix the number not to exceed eleven members and shall fix the qualifications of the subdistrict board to effect an equitable representation of all areas within the subdistrict. Each candidate for director shall be an owner of real property in the director area he is to represent if elected.”
The duties of the board of directors of the South Dakota Conservancy District, under the sponsorship of which the subdistrict was originally formed, see SDCL 46-17-1, were trans
. We do not mean to imply, of course, that reapportionment of the subdistrict by one of these non-judicial bodies must await the ultimate judicial determination of this case.