Title: State Ex Rel. Summer v. Denton
Citation: 382 So. 2d 461
Docket Number: 51766
State: Mississippi
Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court
Date: March 19, 1980

382 So. 2d 461 (1980) The STATE of Mississippi ex rel. A.F. Summer, Attorney General, and W. Hampton King, Auditor of Public Accounts, for the Use and Benefit of Alcorn County, Mississippi v. H.L. DENTON et al. No. 51766. Supreme Court of Mississippi. March 19, 1980. Rehearing Denied May 7, 1980. *462 A.F. Summer, Atty. Gen. by R. Lloyd Arnold and J. Stephen Wright, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., Jackson, for appellant. Fisher &amp; Sharp, William L. Sharp, Smith, Downs, Ross, Trapp &amp; Coleman, Orma R. Smith, Jr., Corinth, for appellees. Before SMITH, SUGG and BOWLING, JJ. SUGG, Justice, for the Court: The principal questions presented by this appeal are: (1) Are members of a board of supervisors personally liable for county funds paid to relatives of one of the supervisors in violation of the nepotism statute where the county does not suffer any actual loss because of such unlawful expenditure? (2) Are members of a board of supervisors and their sureties liable for penal damages for paying county funds to relatives of a member of the board of supervisors in violation of the nepotism statute? The answer to the first question is no, and to the second, yes. The Auditor of Public Accounts and the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi filed suit in the name of the State for the use and benefit of Alcorn County, against past and present members of the Board of Supervisors of Alcorn County and their sureties to recover county funds paid to relatives of a member of the board of supervisors. The complaint also requested the court to assess penal damages against the supervisors and their sureties for paying county funds in violation of the nepotism statute. During the trial of the case the many facts were stipulated by the parties. Some of the stipulated facts follow. 1. The family of Mickey Jones and Benny Jones bid once a year for the right to haul gravel for Alcorn County. As titular head of the Jones family, Johnny Jones, father of Mickey Jones and Benny Jones, bid for the right to haul gravel for Alcorn County. A number of bids were received annually for the right to haul gravel for Alcorn County. The Jones family bid was accepted. 2. Under this arrangement Mickey Jones and Benny Jones hauled gravel for Alcorn County and were paid individually for their efforts. The gravel hauled by the Jones brothers was used in repairing existing public roads in Alcorn County. They were paid for hauling gravel from Alcorn County public funds and the gravel hauled by them was placed on and became a fixed part of the public roads of Alcorn County. 3. The Jones brothers were subject to county control in hauling gravel in that they were told: (a) where to get the gravel for hauling; (b) where to take it after receiving it; (c) when approximately to have it available; and (d) where to dump the gravel when they arrived at the public road for which the gravel was intended. The gravel was hauled in trucks belonging to the Jones family, and they were paid the bid price for the gravel they hauled. 4. For hauling gravel for Alcorn County, the Jones brothers were paid $4,492 from November, 1974, to January 5, 1976, and $5,910.04 from January 5, 1976 through June, 1977. The Jones brothers are nephews by marriage of D.C. Mathis who was a member of the Board of Supervisors of Alcorn County during the period which was the subject matter of the suit. The Jones brothers are related to D.C. Mathis within the third degree by marriage as computed by the civil law. *463 5. Each supervisor, except J.W. Morton, knew of the relationship between Mathis and the Jones brothers. 6. Complainants had no evidence that any of the supervisors received any individual personal gain from the county funds paid Mickey Jones and Benny Jones and none of the supervisors voted against contracting with the Jones brothers for hauling gravel for the county. In addition to the stipulations noted above, the evidence shows that all funds received by the Jones brothers went into the family partnership account. In support of their position on the first question stated in the opening paragraph of this opinion, complainants argue that the supervisors are liable for the county funds paid to the Jones brothers because the payments were made in violation of one of our nepotism statutes, section 19-13-3 Mississippi Code Annotated (Supp. 1979), and recovery for such expenditures is authorized by section 19-13-37 Mississippi Code Annotated (Supp. 1979). These statutes provide: Before section 19-13-37 was amended in 1974 it consisted only of the first paragraph of section (1). Liability of supervisors for wrongful or irregular appropriations of public funds under the statute was first addressed by the Court in Paxton v. Baum, 59 Miss. 531 (1882). In that case taxpayers of Warren County filed suit for the use of the county against A.J. Arthur, supervisor for the First District, and J.F. Baum and others, sureties upon his official bond. A demurrer was filed on three grounds. One of the grounds of demurrer was that nearly all of the appropriations alleged as breaches were not "to objects not authorized by law." The Court stated: On suggestion of error the Court noted there was no allegation of corruption in the declaration but judicial officers of all grades are liable for their corrupt judgments. The Court then held that supervisors in passing upon claims against the county are acting as judicial officers and stated: The Court concluded its opinion with these words: The principles announced in Paxton v. Baum have been followed without exception and without judicial erosion of the principle laid down to this date. One of the latest cases following the principles enunciated in Paxton is Entrican v. King, 289 So. 2d 913 (Miss. 1974). The case was decided on January 28, 1974 and in it we suggested that, if the legislature intended to impose personal liability in cases such as this, the statute should be amended to effect this purpose. We stated: The legislature responded to Entrican and amended section 19-13-37 by Chapter 444 Mississippi General Laws of 1974; effective March 26, 1974, so that the statute now reads as set forth above. Section (1) of the amended statute imposes liability on members of all boards of supervisors and other public officials for any actual loss arising from unlawful expenditures as delineated in section (1). Under section 19-13-3 payment of county funds to the Jones brothers for hauling gravel was illegal because of their relationship to one of the supervisors within the degree proscribed by the statute; however, this fact standing alone does not subject the supervisor to personal liability for the unlawful expenditure. The amended statute imposes personal liability for compensatory damages only in cases where an actual loss occurs because of the unlawful expenditure. In this case the gravel hauled by the Jones brothers was delivered to Alcorn County, was placed on the roads of Alcorn County, and no loss to the county was shown. We therefore conclude, under the facts in this case, that the supervisors were not personally liable for compensatory damages for county funds paid the Jones brothers in violation of the nepotism statute. Section (2) of the amended statute (19-13-37) deals with the second question stated in the opening paragraph of this opinion. It makes the supervisors and their sureties subject to penal damages for substantially departing from the statutory method of letting contracts, making payments thereon, making purchases, or expending public funds. Unlike the compensatory damage paragraph of the statute, this paragraph does not require a showing of actual loss as a condition precedent to recovering penal damages. *466 All of the county funds paid to the Jones brothers were in violation of the nepotism statute (19-13-3) and thus unlawful. This constituted a substantial departure from the statutory method of letting contracts, making payments thereon, and expending public funds as contemplated by the amended statute. We hold the supervisors and their sureties are liable for penal damages under 19-13-37(2). We therefore reverse and remand for imposition of penal damages in accord with the statute. Complainants also argue that the supervisors are liable under section 19-13-37 because their actions in this case were a substantial departure from the statutory method of making payments on contracts as set forth in Section 19-13-15 Mississippi Code Annotated (Supp. 1979), which provides in part: We are of the opinion that the contractor referred to in section 19-13-15 refers to the successful bidder on bids let under section 19-3-9 Mississippi Code Annotated (Supp. 1979) where bids are based on plans and specifications on file with the clerk of the board of supervisors. We do not think the term "contractor" refers to individuals who perform minor tasks in the day to day maintenance of the public roads of a county. The bid of the Jones family was to haul gravel and dump it on the roads of Alcorn County. The stipulation shows that the Jones family was subject to county control in hauling gravel because they were told where to obtain the gravel, where to take it after receiving it, when to have it available, and where to dump it. In some instances a small amount of gravel would be dumped to fill a pothole in the road. The Attorney General was of the opinion that if one load of gravel was sufficient to complete a project (fill a pothole) the statute applied and it would be the duty of the board of supervisors to appoint a committee to inspect that pothole. Such construction would require the inspectors appointed by the board of supervisors to follow each gravel truck and inspect every pothole or rut filled on county roads. Certainly, the legislature never intended to impose a burden of this magnitude upon the board of supervisors. Accordingly, we hold that, under the facts in this case, section 19-13-15 has no application and the supervisors were not guilty of a substantial departure from the statutory method of making payments on contracts. An additional question requires discussion. This is whether the defendants established a "good faith" defense under section 7-5-25 Mississippi Code Annotated (1972). Before the first bid was awarded to Johnny Jones, the father of Mickey Jones and Benny Jones, to haul gravel for Alcorn County, H.L. Denton, Supervisor of the First District, raised the question of the legality of the Jones family hauling gravel because of their relationship to D.C. Mathis, member of the Board of Supervisors. Denton requested the attorney for the Board of Supervisors to obtain an opinion from the Attorney General. The attorney for the board testified that sometime in November, 1974, he called the Attorney General's office in response to the request of Mr. Denton to ascertain if the board could legally enter into a contract with the Jones family for hauling gravel. He did not remember who he talked with in the Attorney General's office but said that the person indicated, "That we shouldn't be concerned with it and from that point on, I wasn't and gave no further thought to it until three years later when the issue arose again." *467 On July 19, 1977, after all payments had been made to the Jones brothers, the attorney requested an opinion from the Attorney General, and on July 22, 1977, received the following opinion: Section 7-5-25 Mississippi Code Annotated (1972) provides that the Attorney General shall give his opinion in writing to certain officials of the State of Mississippi, including attorneys for the boards of supervisors. The section provides: It is noted that the written opinion does not refer to the relationship of Mickey and Benny Jones but only responds with reference to the relationship of their father, Johnny Jones, to D.C. Mathis. The Attorney General testified that the opinion did not refer to the children of Johnny Jones because the letter requesting the opinion did not state that the two sons were also the sons of Johnny Jones' present wife. The Attorney General observed that they could have been sons by a previous marriage so, not having any of that information in the letter, the question was answered solely with respect to Johnny Jones. He also stated that it was the practice of the Attorney General's office to answer questions as "we perceive the question" and *468 then, if the question is not fully answered, another request is made and an answer given. It was not the practice of his office to volunteer an answer to a question not specifically asked. The opinion did not discuss the relationship which existed between the Jones brothers and Supervisor Mathis. The Jones brothers, together with their father, Johnny Jones, were the partners in a family partnership and all funds received by the Jones brothers for hauling gravel went into the family partnership account. Section 7-5-25 requires opinions of the Attorney General to be in writing and in this case none was requested or given until after all payments were made to the Jones family. The statute makes no provision for an oral opinion of the Attorney General and parties may not rely on the good faith defense provided in the statute based on an oral opinion from the Attorney General. Furthermore, the opinion does not support a good faith defense because it does not refer to the relationship which existed between the Jones brothers and Supervisor Mathis. A former Attorney General issued an opinion on August 9, 1940, covering the nepotism statute in question in this case. Opinions of the Attorney General 1939-1941, page 94. In this written opinion the Attorney General stated that the board of supervisors cannot award a contract to a person related to a member of the board or to the county road commissioner within the degree proscribed by statute even though such relative is the lowest responsible bidder. We find no opinion following 1940 which changes the above ruling of the Attorney General and none has been cited. We are therefore of the opinion that the defendants did not establish a good faith defense under section 7-5-25 protecting them from the assessment of penal damages in this case. Section 7-5-25 provides that opinions of the Attorney General may be determined to be manifestly wrong by a court of competent jurisdiction. Although not necessary for a decision in this case, we deem it advisable to determine whether the opinion of July 22, 1977, is manifestly wrong in holding that Johnny Jones is not related to D.C. Mathis by virtue of the fact they married sisters. This question needs to be answered for the future guidance of supervisors so they can know if a contract violates the nepotism statute. We have never addressed the question of whether men who marry sisters are related by marriage. The Supreme Court of Louisiana considered this question in the case of State v. Foster, 112 La. 533, 36 So. 554 (1904), when it was construing its statute on judges recusing themselves in cases before them. The statute provided: "Fourth his being father-in-law, son-in-law, or brother-in-law of one of the parties." In the Louisiana case the presiding judge recused himself on the ground that he and one of the parties were brothers-in-law because they had married sisters and the Supreme Court concurred in this finding. We also note that one definition of brothers-in-law according to Webster's International Dictionary (3rd Ed.) is, "broadly, the husband of one's spouse's sister." This is simply another way of saying that men who have married sisters are brothers-in-law. We recognize there is authority to the contrary in other jurisdictions, but believe that the sounder rule is that men who marry sisters are brothers-in-law and are related within the second degree by marriage. Section 165 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 requires judges to recuse themselves in cases where the parties or either of them shall be connected with him by affinity or consanguinity. Certainly, we would not hold that a judge could preside over a trial where he and one of the parties had married sisters, without the consent of the judge and the parties. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION TO ASSESS PENAL DAMAGES AGAINST THE DEFENDANTS. PATTERSON, C.J., SMITH and ROBERTSON, P. JJ., and WALKER, BROOM, LEE, BOWLING and COFER, JJ., concur.