Case Title: Wiggins v. Lopez

Citation: 387 P.2d 330, 73 N.M. 224

Docket Number: 

State: new-mexico

Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Date: 1963-11-26T00:00:00Z

Document:
387 P.2d 330 (1963) 73 N.M. 224 Marion G. WIGGINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Jose G. LOPEZ, M. A. Baca, H. G. Clouthier, Frank S. Pino, and Darwin Daniels, as Members of the Board of Education, Wagon Mound Public School District No. 12, Mora County, New Mexico, Defendants-Appellees. No. 7297. Supreme Court of New Mexico. November 26, 1963. *331 Kellahin & Fox, Santa Fe, for appellant. Roberto L. Armijo, Las Vegas, for appellees. CHAVEZ, Justice. This is an appeal from a judgment denying appellant's petition to enjoin the members of the board of education of Wagon Mound School District No. 12, Mora County, New Mexico, from issuing and selling certain school bonds purportedly authorized by an election held on February 20, 1962. The trial court also ordered that appellant's petition be dismissed. Plaintiff-appellant Wiggins is a resident and taxpayer of Wagon Mound School District No. 12, Mora County, New Mexico. Defendants-appellees are the duly elected, qualified and acting members of the board of education of Wagon Mound School District No. 12. On January 15, 1962, appellees adopted a resolution providing for the calling and holding of a school bond election on February 20, 1962, for the purpose of submitting the question of the issuance and sale of $200,000 in school bonds. At least fifteen days before the election, a copy of this resolution was published in the Las Vegas Daily Optic, a newspaper of general circulation in Mora County. At least five days prior to the election, pursuant to § 73-8-24, N.M.S.A., 1953 Comp., notice of the special election was posted in five conspicuous places in the school district. The trial court made the following finding of fact: The court also found: A brochure was mailed to each box-holder in the district, containing much of the same information as appeared in the newspaper article. The court further found: The election was held as scheduled and resulted in a vote of 120 votes in favor of the proposed bond issue and 108 votes against the bond issue. There were approximately 400 qualified voters in the district according to the school superintendent, and at least 550 qualified voters according to the list of taxpayers submitted by appellees. We note that the canvass of returns of the general election held on November 6, 1962, compiled by the secretary of state, shows the total votes cast in the two Wagon Mound Precincts Nos. 12-A and 12-B, Mora County, to be 386. Appellant prosecutes his appeal under two points. The first point, and the one which we find determinative, is that the failure of appellees to comply with § 73-8-24, supra, as to publication of notice in a *333 newspaper, renders the election illegal or void. Section 73-8-24, supra, provides: Appellees contend that the above statute is directory and not mandatory and, by being directory, the doctrine of "substantial compliance" will apply. Hicks v. Krigbaum, 13 Ariz. 237, 108 P. 482; Lee v. Bellingham School Dist. No. 301 of Whatcom County, 107 Wash. 482, 182 P. 580. In Hicks, the order required that notice of holding the election be given by posting in three of the most public places in the district and by publishing at least once a week for three successive weeks in the Review and Miner, daily newspapers published in the city of Bisbee. It was conceded that the posting was sufficient and that there was a sufficient publication in the Miner. The publication in the Review was insufficient. The court held that the election was not vitiated by the election publication in the Bisbee Review and that publication in one newspaper was a substantial compliance with the statute. In Lee, the notice was published for only two days instead of three and the court held that the statute was directory rather than mandatory. In City of Albuquerque v. Water Supply Co., 24 N.M. 368, 174 P. 217, 5 A.L.R. 519, the statute required that the notice of election shall be published "at least once each week for four consecutive weeks immediately prior to said election." This court held that a notice published once a week for four consecutive weeks, the last publication being thirteen days prior to the election constituted substantial compliance with the statute. The court also stated that mere irregularity in connection with an election as to notice will not, of itself, invalidate an election. The question in the instant case is not that of an irregularity in the notice so as to apply the doctrine of substantial compliance, but a question of no compliance at all with the statute in respect to the requirement of notice by publication in a newspaper. In State ex rel. Jackson v. Board of Commissioners of Fayette County, 122 Ohio St. 456, 172 N.E. 154, a bond election was held and all statutory proceedings were carried out according to law, except that the statutory notice was not published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, although notice of the election was widely circulated through various private agencies. The election was conducted and carried by a vote of more than 55% of those voting upon such proposition. The court refused to issue a writ of mandamus requiring the issuance of the bonds and said: In accord with this position is Dunn v. City of Centralia, 153 Wash. 495, 280 P. 26, where the trial court found: The appellate court, in reversing an order dismissing plaintiff's action, said: It has been held that newspaper articles, or comments or publicity by television or radio, cannot lawfully substitute for the mandatory requirements of the law. Special Tax School District No. 1 of Duval County, Florida v. State, (Fla. 1960), 123 So. 2d 316; Ashcraft v. Estill County, (Ky. 1956), 290 S.W.2d 31; State ex rel. City of Berkeley v. Holmes, (1949), 358 Mo. 1237, 219 S.W.2d 650; Turner v. Lewie, (Tex.Civ.App. 1947), 201 S.W.2d 86. Appellees cite Sacramento County v. Stephens, 11 Cal. App. 2d 110, 53 P.2d 197, wherein the following test was laid down: This test, however, will not apply in direct contradiction of a legislative requirement, the legislature having the power to set these requirements. Varney v. City of Albuquerque, 40 N.M. 90, 55 P.2d 40, 106 A.L.R. 222; Special Tax School District No. 1 of Duval County, Florida v. State, supra; Ashcraft v. Estill County, supra; American Legion Phillips Post v. City of Malden, (Mo. App. 1959), 330 S.W.2d 189. It is commendable that appellees in this case made such an attempt to acquaint the voters with all of the aspects of the proposed bond issue, but the legislature has stated that notice shall be made by posting and by publication in a newspaper, and we hold that § 73-8-24, supra, has two required forms of notice: (1) posting in five conspicuous places in the district; and (2) publication in a newspaper. Thus, although appellees complied with the posting requirement, the failure to publish as required by the statute vitiates the election. By this holding, we are not overruling our previous decisions wherein we held certain notice statutes to be directory. Taos County Board of Education v. Sedillo, 44 N.M. 300, 101 P.2d 1027; Aldrich v. Gallup State Bank, 25 N.M. 315, 182 P. 863; City of Albuquerque v. Water Supply Co. supra; Barry v. Board of Education of City of Clovis, 23 N.M. 465, 169 P. 314; Board of Education of City of Roswell v. Citizens' Nat. Bank of Roswell, 23 N.M. 205, 167 P. 715. Our position is much like that of the Kentucky court in construing a notice statute for a special election. In Ashcraft v. Estill County, supra, the court said: Having concluded that appellees did not give notice as required by statute, the judgment is reversed and remanded to the district court, with direction that the judgment heretofore entered be set aside and that judgment be entered consistent with the views herein expressed. In view of our holding, it becomes unnecessary to consider appellant's point II. It is so ordered. CARMODY and NOBLE, JJ., concur.