118 P. 804 | Mont. | 1911
delivered the opinion of the court.
On June 19, 1911, there was presented to the board of county commissioners of Chouteau county a petition for the creation of a new county, to be known as Hill county, from a portion of Chouteau county. So far as disclosed by this record, that petition was in due form, and met the requirements of Chapter 112, Laws of 1911. The board thereupon by order designated July 17 as the time for hearing the petition and any objections thereto. Prior to the last-named date, there was filed with the
“We, the undersigned, voters of * * * in Chouteau county, Montana, do respectfully petition that Townships 29 to 37 North, inclusive, and Ranges 1 to 10 East, inclusive, bé allowed to remain in Chouteau county, as is' provided for in Substitute for Senate Bill No. 35, 1911 Session Laws.”
This counter-petition was signed by a large number of people, and following the signature was this form of verification:
“State of Montana,
“County of Chouteau,
“John McDowall, John Laird and John A. Arthurs, being first duly sworn, upon oath, each for himself, deposes and says: That he is a qualified elector and taxpayer within the county of Chouteau within the section of said county comprised within Townships 29 to 37 North, inclusive, and Ranges 1 to 10 East, inclusive; that they have each read the foregoing petitions asking that Townships 29 to 37 North, inclusive, and Ranges 1 to 10 East, inclusive, be allowed to remain in Chouteau county, and that they have examined the signatures thereto affixed, and that they each do believe that it is signed by at least one-half of the electors within the said territory comprised within Townships 29 to 37 North, inclusive, and Ranges 1 to 10 East, inclusive, in said county of Chouteau, and that the signatures thereto affixed are genuine, and that each of such persons so signing was a qualified elector of the county of Chouteau at the time of the signing thereof.”
“Subscribed and sworn to,” etc.
On July 24, the board rejected this counter-petition, approved the petition for the creation of Hill county, ordered an election for November 20, and on July 31 adjourned. This proceeding was then instituted by John A. Arthurs, a resident taxpayer of the territory described in the counter-petition, .and a party
The proceedings for the creation of a new county under Chapter 112, above, are initiated by filing with the board of county commissioners a petition, describing the territory sought to be included in the new county. Notice is then given that such petition has been filed, and a time is designated for a hearing, which time must not be more than thirty days from the date when such petition was filed. The Act further provides: “At the time fixed for said hearing the board of commissioners shall proceed to hear the petitioners and any opponents and may adjourn such hearing from time to time, not exceeding fourteen days in all.” And again: “On the final hearing said board of county commissioners must, upon petition of not less than fifty per cent of the qualified electora of any territory lying within said proposed new county and contiguous to the boundary line of the said proposed new county and of the old
If this counter-petition meets the requirements of the statute, the board does not have any discretionary power, but must exclude the territory so sought to be withdrawn, and reform the lines of the proposed new county accordingly. So that the only question, apparently, which can arise before the board upon the counter-petition is: Does it in fact meet the requirements of the statute?
1. It is insisted that the counter-petition presented to the commissioners in this instance was and is insufficient, in that: “It does not mention the meridian or the county, or the state in which the land sought to be withdrawn is located. It fails to state that the territory is wholly within any county, or that it is contiguous to the proposed Hill county, or lies wholly within the old county. ”
The presentation of a counter-petition under this Act presupposes that an original petition has been filed for the creation of a new county, in which original petition the territory to be included in the new county is described; and such original petition had been filed with and was -before the board at the time this counter-petition was presented. The proceeding for the
It is not the province of the board to ask whether the counter-petition is drawn with all the technical niceties which might be expected from one learned in the law and accustomed to drafting legal documents; but rather it should ask whether it is possible for the board to take the counter-petition, in connection with the other papers and proceedings in the matter, and determine the will of those who signed it. It will be presumed that the members of the board understand the method
Each of the persons making the verification to this counter-petition swears that he is an elector and taxpayer within Chouteau county, and within the section of said county comprising Townships 29 to 37 North, inclusive, and Ranges 1 to 10 East,
It cannot be insisted that the description in the counter-petition shall be more definite and certain than is required in deeds,
In Bryan v. Scholl, 109 Ind. 367, 10 N. E. 107, there was considered a decree of foreclosure, which ordered the sale of certain land in Township 21 North, Range 1 West, but omitted to state that the land was situated in Clinton county, Indiana. In disposing of the matter, the court said: “The foreclosure proceedings were commenced, and the decree rendered, in the Clinton circuit court. No.objection was made to the jurisdiction of the court. The mortgage, a copy of which was made part of the complaint in the foreclosure proceedings, described the land as being in Clinton county. The decree and notice de
In Noland v. State, 115 Ind. 529, 18 N. E. 26, there was before the court for consideration a mortgage which did not state that the land encumbered was in any county or state, but the court held that it was not void, and said: “It was delivered to the auditor of Montgomery county to secure a loan of the common school fund of the state, and it shows upon its face that it was signed and acknowledged in that county by mortgagors residing therein. Taking into consideration the facts, which appear upon the face of the mortgage, that the mortgage was signed and acknowledged in Montgomery county, by residents of that county, and that the law required the auditor to take security on land situate in that county, and the legal presumptions which flow from those facts make the present a case in which a true description may be supplied by the aid of proper averments in the complaint.”
In Mee v. Benedict, 98 Mich. 260, 39 Am. St. Rep. 543, 57 N. W. 175, 22 L. R. A. 641, there was before the court an instrument in writing which purported to convey an interest in standing timber, but which omitted the name of the state in which the timber was situated; but the court held it not void, and said: “Pease, the maker of the instrument, had title of record to these lands. Although the acknowledgment was taken
In Devine v. Burleson, 35 Neb. 238, 52 N. W. 1112, there was before the court the question of the sufficiency of a complaint which described the land involved as “the N. W. %, section 20, Township 29, Range 14 West.” The court held the complaint sufficient, and said: “It is insisted that the description is not sufficiently definite, as neither the meridian, county, nor state is given. The objection is untenable. The description is not defective, for the premises are definitely described. There is no uncertainty as to the lands intended. True, the meridian is omitted, but the courts of this state will take judicial notice of the mode of the general government of surveying public lands, and that there is but one meridian line in this state. We know that there is but one tract of land in this state to which the description contained in the complaint is applicable, and that is situated in Holt county. The premises could be established and identified by a competent surveyor without difficulty.”
In Atwater v. Schenck, 9 Wis. 151, the court considered a bond for a deed which described the land as the “southwest of the southwest quarter of section three, Township ten, North of Range fourteen East, excepting ten acres formerly deeded by John Corwith to Wm. H. Dearborn, out of the southwest corner,, containing thirty acres, more or less.” The court said: “It will be seen that the county and state are not mentioned. But still' the courts will take judicial notice of the government surveys, and the legal subdivisions of the public lands; and, as the parties-to this contract all reside in this state, will presume that the land referred to is situated in this state, at least until something to the contrary appears. But, moreover, the plaintiffs in error offered to identify the land by a witness, and also by the deed referred to in the bond. This was competent evidence, and should have been received.”
In Ladnier v. Ladnier, 75 Miss. 777, 23 South. 430, the deed in question omitted the county and state in which the land was situated, but it was held not void for uncertainty, and this doctrine is announced by the courts generally. (Butler v. Davis, 5 Neb. 521; Lewis v. Seibles, 65 Miss. 251, 7 Am. St. Rep. 649, 3 South. 652; Scheuer & Bro. v. Kelly, 121 Ala. 323, 26 South. 4.)
2. It is insisted that the counter-petition does not disclose the facts which it is necessary for the subscribers to prove in order to justify the board in withdrawing the lands mentioned, viz.: (a) That the- territory sought to be withdrawn is within and contiguous to the boundary line of the new county, and contiguous to the boundary line of the old county; (b) that it is signed by at least fifty per cent of the qualified electors of the territory sought to be withdrawn; and (c) that the territory sought to be withdrawn lies entirely within Chouteau county.
(1) It does not appear affirmatively from the counter-petition that this territory sought to be withdrawn lies within and is contiguous to the boundary line of the proposed new county, and contiguous to the boundary line of the old county. It is alleged in the affidavit for this writ that such are the facts,
(2) While it does not appear from the face of the counter-petition that it is signed by at least fifty per cent of the qualified electors of the territory sought to be withdrawn, this fact is
(3) As intimated above, this court takes judicial notice of the fact that the lands described in the counter-petition lie entirely within Chouteau county.
But is it necessary that the counter-petition recite these facts? The statute does not require that such withdrawal petition assume any particular form, and neither does it in terms demand that it contain any particular matter, save the prayer for the
Our attention has not been directed to any decided case upon the particular character of petition here involved, but analogous cases may be found, wherein petitions have been considered, as, for instance, petitions for laying out roads, removing county seats, calling local option elections, and the like, and there is not any difference in principle between them and a counter-petition presented under this statute of ours. The courts are not in harmony in their decisions as to whether such petitions shall recite all the facts necessary to be proved, but the decided weight of authority is to the effect that such recitals are not necessary, unless required by the statute itself. The statute of California, relating to laying out public highways, provides that “any ten freeholders who will be accommodated by the proposed road, two of whom must be residents of the road dis
Since this counter-petition recites all the facts which‘the statute requires it to recite, we think it is sufficient, and that the additional facts may be shown upon the hearing without being specially alleged.
3. It is next urged that mandamus is not an appropriate remedy: (A) Because the time within which the board could consider such counter-petition has expired. (B) Because the act of the board in rejecting the counter-petition as insufficient was judicial or quasi-judicial in its nature.
(A) Chapter 112, above, apparently contemplates that the board shall determine all matters up to and including the order for the election within forty-four days from the date upon which the original petition was filed. Since we have determined that the counter-petition is sufficient, it was and now is the duty of the commissioners to hear evidence in support of it, and, if the necessary facts appear, to so far reform the lines of the proposed
(B) Assuming that the hoard acted as a gwasi-judicial body, still we think this question is set at rest in this state by the decision in Raleigh v. District Court, 24 Mont. 306, 81 Am. St. Rep. 431, 61 Pac. 991, in which it is said: “Refusal to take
Reversed and remanded.