Title: Board of Education of Vil. of Cimarron v. Maloney
Citation: 477 P.2d 605
Docket Number: 9160
State: new-mexico
Issuer: new-mexico Supreme Court
Date: December 7, 1970

477 P.2d 605 (1970) BOARD OF EDUCATION of the VILLAGE OF CIMARRON, New Mexico, and J. Leslie Davis, W.C. Littrell, William D. Hickman, Lawrence Rosso, and Eloy Sanchez, Members of its governing board, Relators, v. James A. MALONEY, Attorney General of the State of New Mexico, Respondent. No. 9160. Supreme Court of New Mexico. December 7, 1970. *606 Thomas A. Donnelly, Catron, Catron &amp; Donnelly, Santa Fe, for relators. James A. Maloney, Atty. Gen., Mark B. Thompson, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Santa Fe, for respondent. Kegel &amp; McCulloh, Santa Fe, amicus curiae. TACKETT, Justice. Relators, Board of Education of the Village of Cimarron, New Mexico, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Supreme Court on November 12, 1970. An alternative writ was issued, directed to the respondent James A. Maloney, Attorney General, ordering him to approve the bond transcript submitted by relators or, in the alternative, to respond to the writ. The Attorney General filed a response. Relators, on September 29, 1970, held a special school bond election for the purpose of voting on the question of whether Cimarron Municipal School District No. 3, Colfax County, New Mexico, should create a debt by issuing its general obligation bonds in the total sum of $97,000 for the purpose of erecting, furnishing, remodeling and making additions to school buildings, and purchasing and improving school grounds in the district. At the time of the election, relators did not maintain separate ballot boxes during the balloting, so as to segregate the votes of qualified electors of the school district, who were the owners of real estate within the district, from the votes of those qualified electors who did not own real estate within the district. This "dual ballot box procedure" was provided for by § 11-6-38, N.M.S.A., 1953 Comp. (1970 Supp.). The vote was in favor of the issuance of the school bonds. Relators submitted a complete transcript of the bond election proceedings to respondent, seeking his certification of approval of the bond issue as to form and legality. Respondent refused to approve the legality of the bond issue, for the reason that there was no showing that a majority of the then owners of real estate within the school district had voted in favor of creating the general obligation bond debt as required by Art. IX, § 11, New Mexico Constitution, and because the election was not conducted with dual ballot boxes as provided for by § 11-6-38, supra. The issue before us is that part of Art. IX, § 11, Constitution of New Mexico, which provides inter alia that: The Constitutions of several states, notably Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana and *607 Utah, had statutes similar to our constitutional provision that only allowed "owners of real estate" to vote on the question of creating debt through the issuance of general obligation bonds. The Supreme Court of the United States has considered the very same question now before this court and has declared that a provision in a state constitution, which only allows owners of real estate to vote on the question of creating a debt through the issuance of bonds, is unconstitutional as violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. City of Phoenix, Ariz. v. Kolodziejski, 399 U.S. 204, 90 S. Ct. 1990, 26 L. Ed. 2d 523 (1970); Stewart v. Parish School Board of Parish of St. Charles, 310 F. Supp. 1172 (E.D.La. 1970); Pike v. School District No. 11 in El Paso County, Colorado, Colo., 474 P.2d 162 (1970); Cypert v. Washington County School District, Utah, 473 P.2d 887 (1970). This court is totally in agreement with the statement contained in the Utah case, supra, as follows: In City of Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, supra, the majority opinion states: Our applicable statute, § 77-15-10, N.M.S.A., 1953 Comp. (ch. 16, § 237, N.M.S.L. 1967), provides: In the instant case, the election was held after June 23, 1970, the date of the decision in Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, supra. This is the controlling date and our decision here is retrospective only as to elections held after that date, or to elections *608 held prior to that date which were challenged within ten days of the publication of the certificate of results, the proceedings of which were still pending on June 23, 1970. Mandamus is a proper remedy in the instant case. See, Taos County Board of Education v. Sedillo, 44 N.M. 300, 101 P.2d 1027 (1940); Board of Education of Gallup Municipal School District v. Robinson, 57 N.M. 445, 259 P.2d 1028 (1953); Board of Education of City of Aztec v. Hartley, 74 N.M. 469, 394 P.2d 985 (1964). In the Sedillo case, supra, the court said: We agree. The amicus curiae brief is noted. The alternative writ of mandamus will be made permanent. It is so ordered. COMPTON, C.J., and WATSON, J., concur.