Title: Voth v. Fisher
Citation: 241 Or. 590, 407 P.2d 848
Docket Number: N/A
State: Oregon
Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court
Date: November 17, 1965

Affirmed November 17, 1965.
*591 Kenneth E. Shetterly, Dallas, argued the cause for appellants. On the brief were Hayter &amp; Shetterly and Jerome L. Noble.
Cecil H. Quesseth, Salem, Special Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief was Robert Y. Thornton, Attorney General.
Before McALLISTER, Chief Justice, and PERRY, O'CONNELL,[*] DENECKE and LUSK, Justices.
AFFIRMED.
LUSK, J.
This is a mandamus action brought by the members of the Polk County Intermediate Education District Board (hereinafter referred to as the Polk County Board) against the members of the State Board of Education (hereinafter referred to as the State Board) to compel the State Board to act upon a plan for the formation of an administrative school district. The circuit court entered a judgment disallowing the writ and plaintiffs have appealed.
ORS 330.530 and succeeding sections provide for *592 the reorganization of school districts into "administrative school districts." ORS 330.530 (1) reads:
The "committee" referred to in the foregoing section is synonymous with Intermediate Education District Board: ORS 330.505 (2).
Subsection (2) of ORS 330.530 reads in part:
There follow detailed provisions regarding boundaries, location of schools, adjustments of property, assets and debts of each school district affected by the reorganization plan, etc., and, if the proposed administrative school district will have a population of not more than 40,000 (applicable here), this provision:
Provision is made for public hearings on the reorganization plan (ORS 330.550), revisions or modifications thereof, and public hearings on any revised or modified plan and, after adoption of the final plan, its submission to the State Board of Education (ORS 330.555). The State Board, after public hearing, may approve the plan (ORS 330.565) or, if it finds it unsatisfactory, the District Board is required to submit a revised plan within 90 days from the date of notification of nonapproval (ORS 330.570). After the State Board has approved a plan it must be submitted to the legal school voters of the proposed administrative school district at a special election, except that no election is required where no change in boundary is involved.
ORS 330.552 provides:
In 1962 the Polk County Board proposed to the Yamhill County Intermediate Education District Board that it join in the organization of an administrative district which would include several school districts wholly in Polk County and, in addition, the Amity Union High School District which is partly in Polk County and partly in Yamhill County. A part of the proposal was that the school district which would exercise the powers contemplated by ORS 330.530 (2) (j), would be in Polk County. The proposal was agreeable to the Yamhill County Board except for the feature just mentioned, and, as the two boards were unable to resolve their differences upon this question, the Polk County Board invoked the arbitration statute above quoted. Arbitrators were duly appointed to determine that question and no other. The parties agree that ORS 330.552 is applicable to such a dispute. The arbitrators met and rendered a purported decision which reads as follows:
The pronouncement of the arbitrators was ignored by the Yamhill County Board and, after expiration of the 120 days, the Polk County Board put its plan for the administrative school district into final form and submitted it, together with a copy of the report of the arbitrators, to the State Board of Education. The State Board, relying upon an opinion of the Attorney General (31 Opinions of the Attorney General 305), declined to act upon the proposed plan and so notified the Polk County Board. This action followed.
1, 2. We think the State Board was clearly right. Both that body and the arbitration board had duties and powers limited by the law of their creation. The authority of the arbitrators was to decide the question submitted to them. Instead, they abdicated their function by attempting to delegate the making of this decision to the voters, in contravention of the fundamental principle that a delegated power cannot be delegated. This principle is applied to arbitrators: Twin Lake Co. v. Platt Rogers, 105 Colo 49, 54, 94 P2d 1090; 5 Am Jur 2d 590, Arbitration and Award § 93, and, generally, to administrative officials when exercising discretionary or quasi judicial functions: 2 Am Jur 2d 52, Administrative Law § 222. See Gregor et al v. City of Portland, 126 Or 49, 54, 268 P 743; Camp Crook Ind. Dist. v. Shevling, 65 SD 14, 31-32, 270 NW 518; School Dist. v. Callahan, 237 Wis 560, 576, 297 NW 407, 135 ALR 1081. Moreover, the arbitrators had no authority to call an election, since providing for elections is the exclusive prerogative of the legislative assembly: School District v. Gleason, 178 Or 577, 579-580, 168 P2d 347, and cases there cited.
*596 3, 4. The State Board was not required to, and could not, lawfully either approve or disapprove the plan submitted to it by the Polk County Board without first having properly determined that the jurisdictional requirements of the statute had been complied with: State ex rel v. Fendall, 135 Or 145, 150, 295 P 191; State v. Evans, 82 Or 46, 53, 160 P 140; State v. Hall, 73 Or 231, 237, 144 P 475. Here, in the absence of agreement by the two county boards concerned, a valid decision by the arbitration board was a prerequisite to official action upon the plan by the State Board. Lacking such a decision, action by the State Board could not be compelled by mandamus.
In view of this disposition of the substantive question presented, consideration of other objections urged by the defendants is unnecessary.
The judgment is affirmed.
[*]  Did not participate in this decision.
[1]  The peculiar language of this section is translated in the testimony as, "which particular rural school district shall thereafter exercise jurisdiction over the new administrative district," which "Intermediate School Board was to have jurisdiction of the territory," "the tax receiving district," "the county to which the proposed school district should report."