Case Title: State v. Bartos

Citation: 102 Ariz. 15, 423 P.2d 713

Docket Number: 

State: arizona

Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Date: 1967-02-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
102 Ariz. 15 (1967) 423 P.2d 713 STATE of Arizona, Plaintiff, v. Dan BARTOS, Defendant. No. 1740. Supreme Court of Arizona. In Banc. February 10, 1967. Robert K. Corbin, County Atty., Maricopa County, Fred J. Ash, City Atty., City of Scottsdale, and Richard Filler, Scottsdale, for the State. Dan Bartos, in pro. per. UDALL, Justice. City of Scottsdale Ordinances 64 and 207 provide for a "sewer rental charge" to be paid to the city by owners of premises served by the city sewer system. The rental charges are pledged by the city to retire the bonds used to finance construction of the sewer system and to the current operating and maintenance expenses of said system. Section 29 of Ordinance 207 is a catch-all penalty provision: On July 15, 1966, a criminal complaint was filed in the city court of the City of Scottsdale, charging Dan Bartos (hereinafter referred to as defendant) with a violation of city ordinances 64 and 207. The complaint alleged that defendant used *16 sewage facilities without paying the rental charge imposed on a user. Defendant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to pay a fine of $50 or to be imprisoned for a period of twenty days. Defendant appealed to the superior court and in accordance with the provisions of Rule 346, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, 17 A.R.S., the superior court has certified the following question: Article II, Section 18 reads: A municipality may regulate and control the use of its sewer system under its police power to promote the public health of citizens within the city; and where as in the instant case, the sewer system has been constructed at the general expense of the municipality, a reasonable rental charge for the use thereof may be fixed and an appropriate collection procedure may be enforced. Such rental charges are neither taxes nor assessments, but are charges made for use of the sewer. See, The Law of Municipal Corporations, McQuillan, Third Edition, Section 31.30A. We are of the opinion that the rental charge imposed for the use of the sewer is a charge for services rendered, and as such, it constitutes a debt within the guarantee of Article II, Section 18 of the Arizona Constitution against imprisonment for debt. See Turner v. State, ex rel. Gruver, Fla.App. 1964, 168 So. 2d 192; Hubbell v. Higgins, 148 Iowa 36, 126 N.W. 914; State v. McFarland, 60 Wash. 98, 110 P. 792 The Florida court in the Turner case said at page 193 of 168 So.2d: Hubbell v. Higgins, supra, involved a fee for hotel inspection service, nonpayment of which was made a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment. The Iowa court held at page 918 of 126 N.W.: The McFarland case also involved a fee for hotel inspection service. The Washington Court cited the Hubbell decision as controlling in holding that imprisonment for nonpayment of the fee was unconstitutional. This Court held In the Matter of Application of Silvas, 16 Ariz. 41, 44, 140 P. 988, 989: We deem a sewer rental charge to be a debt based on a contractual relationship. See Opinion of the Justices, 93 N.H. 478, 39 A.2d 765; City of Stanfield v. Burnett, 222 Or. 427, 353 P.2d 242; In re Petition of Philadelphia, 340 Pa. 17, 16 A.2d 32; Powell *17 v. City of Duluth, 91 Minn. 53, 97 N.W. 450. In Opinion of the Justices, 39 A.2d at 767, the New Hampshire Court said: The Pennsylvania court noted in In re Petition of Philadelphia, 16 A.2d at 34: Since the sewer rental charge is a debt arising out of a contract, it is clear that under the law as stated in the Application of Silvas case, supra, the City of Scottsdale may not constitutionally imprison a property owner for nonpayment of the rental fee. However, the City purports to accomplish the same end by making the nonpayment of the rental charge a crime and punishable by imprisonment. The rule general recognized as applicable in such a situation is stated in 16 C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 204(4): After due consideration, we are convinced that the City of Scottsdale's Section 29 of Ordinance 207 amounts to a mere "debt collecting device under the guise of penal laws." In concluding we note that the question as certified requests this Court's opinion as to whether a municipal ordinance which provides for a fine or jail sentence for one who uses municipal sewage facilities without paying the rental charge imposed on the user violates Article 2, § 18 of the Constitution of the State of Arizona. As pointed out, § 29 of Ordinance 207 is a catch-all penalty provision. It does not expressly provide a penalty for the failure to pay for the use of municipal sewage facilities. It is the application of § 29 to this prosecution which is invalid. Section 29 is not necessarily unconstitutional as applied to other parts of the ordinance but obviously, would be unconstitutionally applied if used to prosecute criminally a person for the nonpayment of a debt. Courts may annul the action of a public official without declaring the statute invalid. Southwest Engineering Co. v. Ernst, 79 Ariz. 403, 412, 291 P.2d 764, 770. Our conclusion, therefore, is that § 29 of Ordinance 207 is not per se unconstitutional but as applied in this instance deprives the defendant of a constitutional right. BERNSTEIN, C.J., McFARLAND, V.C.J., and STRUCKMEYER and LOCKWOOD, JJ., concur.