Title: Peterson v. Sandoz

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

451 So. 2d 216 (1984) Ronald A. PETERSON, Sheriff of Hancock County and Jerry D. Heitzmann, Circuit Clerk of Hancock County, Mississippi v. Sidney A. SANDOZ. No. 54191. Supreme Court of Mississippi. May 30, 1984. *217 Lucien M. Gex, Jr., Gex & Adams, Waveland, for appellants. Nicholas M. Haas, Bay St. Louis, for appellee. Before PATTERSON, C.J., and HAWKINS and PRATHER, JJ. PATTERSON, Chief Justice, for the Court: Sidney A. Sandoz, a licensed professional bail bondsman, brought suit for a declaratory judgment under Rule 57 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure against Ronald A. Peterson, the Sheriff, and Jerry D. Heitzmann, the Circuit Clerk of Hancock County, in the Circuit Court of that county. Sandoz alleged that Section 2 of Senate Bill # 3027, passed during the 1983 Legislative Session, was unconstitutional and void. That bill provides: Sandoz contended the statute was arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory inasmuch as the greater of 1% of the face value of the bond or Five Dollars ($5.00) is assessed only against professional bail bondsmen while other types of bonds are not so subjected. By way of illustration, and not as a conclusive listing, Sandoz noted that cash bonds, insurer bonds, property bonds and other types of bail bonds, among others, were exempted. Sandoz contends the statute was defective because it discriminated within a classification. Peterson and Heitzmann denied that this was so. The trial judge found the challenged section unconstitutional and Peterson and Heitzmann appeal, assigning as error: I. The trial court erred in holding Section 2 of Senate Bill # 3027, Laws of 1983, was discriminatory and violated the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. II. The trial court erred in holding Section 2 of Senate Bill # 3027, Laws of 1983, was arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable. III. The trial court erred in holding Section 2 of Senate Bill # 3027, Laws of 1983, was conflicting. IV. The trial court erred in holding that Section 2 of Senate Bill # 3027, Laws of 1983, was unconstitutional. The permissible scope of taxation has long been announced. "Common justice requires that taxation, as far as possible, should be equal ..." Society for Savings v. Coite, 73 U.S. (6th Wall.) 594, 609, 18 L. Ed. 897, 903 (1867). It is stated in Walters v. City of St. Louis, 347 U.S. 231, 237, 74 S. Ct. 505, 509, 98 L. Ed. 660, 665-66 (1954), that: Kahn v. Shevin, 416 U.S. 351, 94 S. Ct. 1734, 40 L. Ed. 2d 189 (1974), held that a Florida statute which gave a $500.00 tax exemption to widows was not unconstitutional. The state's failure to provide an analogous exemption for widowers was contended to violate the right to equal protection of the laws. The court approved the disparate treatment, saying that it was based "upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation." It explained: Mississippi cases are no more restrictive than the Federal ones. In Sharpe v. Standard Oil Co., 322 So. 457 (Miss. 1975), this Court was presented with the propriety of a statute which taxed diesel fuel used by a contractor in the performance of state contracts for motor vehicles only. The question of the inequity of the act is salient here. We held: An equal protection plan was also at issue in Coleman v. Trunkline Gas Co., Miss., 61 So. 2d 276, 279 (1952). There, it was held: "Absolute equality and uniformity are unattainable. Substantial compliance with these requirements is all that is required." Reversed on other grounds, 218 Miss. 285, 63 So. 2d 73 (1953). There is wide discretion in legislative classification and the court's scope of review is limited. The legislative intention will be accorded broad treatment in determining its constitutionality. Kohlmeyer & Co. v. Rotwein, 186 So. 2d 768, 773 (Miss. 1966). The fatal defect is classification which is "manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable and not possibly so." Southern Package Corporation v. State Tax Commission, 174 Miss. 212, 219, 164 So. 45, 47 (1935). Clark v. State, 169 Miss. 369, 383, 152 So. 820, 823 (1934). The statute is unambiguous on its face and judicial construction is unnecessary. Clark v. State ex rel. Mississippi State Medical Association, 381 So. 2d 1046, 1048 (Miss. 1980). The above cases teach that taxes should be uniformly and equally collected from a class of similarly situated taxpayers if it is to provide those within the class to equal and constitutional treatment under the law. The assessment need also be reasonably related to a legitimate state interest, and finally the means chosen to effectuate that interest must be reasonable. We are of the opinion Section 2 of Senate Bill # 3027 does not discriminate within those designated in the class, it serves a legitimate state interest in that it is earmarked for correctional facilities and the means chosen to effectuate the state's interest are reasonable. REVERSED AND RENDERED. WALKER and ROY NOBLE LEE, P.JJ., BOWLING, HAWKINS, DAN M. LEE, PRATHER, ROBERTSON and SULLIVAN, JJ., concur.