Opinion ID: 2360355
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Vagueness & Due Process

Text: For their first point on appeal, Appellants argue that the trial court erred in finding that Act 779 is not unconstitutionally vague and does not violate procedural due-process rights. Appellants allege that Act 779 impairs the fundamental rights of a municipality, and that they may be considered persons for purposes of challenging Act 779 on due-process grounds. We reject this argument, as it is premised on Appellants' erroneous notion that a municipality, such as Cave Springs, is afforded such constitutional protections. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a city cannot invoke the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment against the state. See City of Newark v. State of New Jersey, 262 U.S. 192, 43 S.Ct. 539, 67 L.Ed. 943 (1923). Similarly, this court has held that a political subdivision of the state cannot invoke the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment against the state itself. Arkansas State Hosp. v. Goslee, 274 Ark. 168, 623 S.W.2d 513 (1981). Furthermore, in Stilley v. Henson, 342 Ark. 346, 355, 28 S.W.3d 274, 279 (2000), this court recognized the limited powers bestowed on municipal corporations: Municipal corporations are creatures of the legislature and as such have only the power bestowed upon them by statute or the Arkansas Constitution. Jones v. American Home Life Ins. Co., 293 Ark. 330, 738 S.W.2d 387 (1987). It is well settled that municipal corporations have no inherent powers and can exercise only (1) those expressly given to them by state statute or the Arkansas Constitution, (2) those necessarily implied for the purposes of, or incident to, the express powers, and (3) those indispensable, not merely convenient, to their objects and purposes. Cosgrove v. City of West Memphis, 327 Ark. 324, 938 S.W.2d 827 (1997). Finally, any substantial doubt about the existence of a power in a municipal corporation must be resolved against it. Id.; City of Little Rock v. Cash, 277 Ark. 494, 644 S.W.2d 229 (1982); Town of Dyess v. Williams, 247 Ark. 155, 444 S.W.2d 701 (1969). Clearly, under Arkansas law, Cave Springs is a municipal corporation. As far back as 1878, this court has held that counties, cities, and towns are municipal corporations. See Roberts v. Watts, 263 Ark. 822, 568 S.W.2d 1 (1978); Eagle v. Beard, 33 Ark. 497 (1878). This holding was reiterated in City of Hot Springs v. Gray, 215 Ark. 243, 219 S.W.2d 930 (1949). As a municipal corporation, Cave Springs is a creature of the legislature, not a person, and may not assert the Fourteenth Amendment protections against the State. Accordingly, we need not address Appellants' argument that Act 779 is unconstitutionally vague under procedural due-process standards. Even though Appellants are not persons for purposes of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the trial court was correct in ruling that they have standing to challenge the constitutionality of Act 779. Arkansas's law on declaratory judgments provides that a municipal corporation may be a person for purposes of obtaining declaratory relief. See Ark.Code Ann. § 16-111-101 (1987). Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-111-104 (1987) further provides: Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract, or other writings constituting a contract or whose rights, status or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the instrument, statute, ordinance, contract, or franchise and obtain a declaration of rights, status, or other legal relations thereunder. Clearly, Cave Springs's rights are affected by Act 779. Land that was once a part of its borders has now been annexed by a neighboring city, pursuant to the Act. Thus, Appellants' standing is not derived from the Fourteenth Amendment, but from section 16-111-104.