130 Iowa 412 | Iowa | 1906
In July, 1899, a petition of property owners was presented to the board of supervisors of Woodbury county, asking for the construction of a public ditch through Woodbury and Monona counties. A commission was appointed in assumed compliance with the provisions of law then in force on the subject, and, acting on the report of this commission, the board proceeded in January, 1900, to make an order establishing and providing for the construction of such ditch, designated as the “ Woodbury-Monona Ditch.” The board of supervisors of Monona county took similar action. A commission was duly appointed by the Woodbury county board to classify and apportion the costs of the portion of the ditch in that county upon the lands which would be benefited, and in September, 1900, the board levied the reported assessments, which were placed on the tax-books against the owners of the lands found to be benefited. Subsequently the enforcement of these assessments was enjoined as to certain owners in a case finally decided in this court. Beebe v. Magoun, 122 Iowa, 94. Later two statutes were passed by the General Assembly containing provisions for the reassessment and relevy of the costs and expenses in such cases. See Acts, 30th General Assembly, chapter 67, section 3, and chapter 68, section 17 (1904). In July, 1904, the Canal Construction Company, claiming a balance due it by way of •compensation for the construction of the ditch, filed a petition with the auditor of Woodbury county asking the board of supervisors to proceed under these statutory provisions to reclassify the lands benefited by said improvement and reassess the balance of the claim of said company under a contract in accordance with which it had constructed the ditch, of which portion of its compensation it had been deprived by the decision in the Beebe case. The board acted in accordance with this petition, stipulating, however, in the resolution, that the county would not assume nor pay any part of the claim or of the costs of reassessment. A
On the other hand, the officers may have duties and be subject to liabilities in their official capacity which in no way affect or involve the corporation. Thus the board of
In so acting it does not in any way represent the county. The county as a corporation has nothing more to do with its action than it has to do with the action of a justice of the peace, exercising as he does a limited jurisdiction, or the district court for the county, exercising a general jurisdiction. The county is not responsible for the judicial acts of its board of supervisors, nor is it interested in them. It may
Perhaps the contractor who is entitled to be paid out of the funds collected by the assessment might have appealed from the judgment of the district court; for, after the assessment had been made to raise a fund from which he was entitled to compensation, he was interested in protecting such assessment on appeal. In case the board had failed to act as directed by law, he might, no doubt, have ¿sked the intervention of a court by instituting proceedings for man-
The fact that the county attorney and his assistant appeared in proceedings ibefore the board of supervisors with reference to the assessments would certainly not make the county a party to such proceedings, and the unauthorized appearance of attorneys claiming to represent the county in the" district court would not confer upon the court jurisdiction in such proceeding over the county. A person who is named as a party to a proceeding in a court without notice being served upon him and without appearance in person or by attorney authorized to represent him is certainly not a party to such a proceeding. The county attorney is authorized to appear for the county as a party to a judicial proceeding only where such appearance is directed by law or specifically authorized by the board of supervisors acting for the county, if the case is one which affects the legal interests of the county; and in Code, section 302, he is expressly prohibited from appearing “ before the board of supervisors in the trial of any cause in which the state or county is not interested, or in applications to establish, vacate, or alter highways.” We have recently held that, in a proceeding before the county treasurer or county auditor with reference to the collection of taxes on omitted property, an attorney for a person employed to discover and collect such taxes is not authorized to represent the county, unless specifically employed by the board of supervisors for the county. In re Treasurer of Woodbury County, — Iowa, —.
The failure of the county attorney to object to the method of docketing the appeals to the district court would not, therefore, estop it; nor would the participation by the county attorney in the proceedings without direction from the board of supervisors acting for the county constitute an appearance. As a matter of fact Sawyer & Turner, who were the attorneys of the construction company, which originally applied to the board of supervisors to have the as
For the reasons pointed out, the motions to dismiss these appeals must be sustained, and we are without jurisdiction to consider the cases on their merits.— Dismissed.