Opinion ID: 2582226
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Burks, 1909 OK 317, 109 P. at 549.

Text: ¶ 15 Thus, in Burks, the Court created a two-part, rational-relationship test to determine whether a population-based classification was a special or general law. The Court has used this test in numerous cases involving constitutional challenges to population-based legislation under Okla. Const., art. 5, §§ 46 and 59. [7] It is the appropriate test for today's inquiry, as well. ¶ 16 The Act at issue herein concerns the class of municipalities in the state of Oklahoma with populations greater than 35,000. Before we can deem this legislation unconstitutional, we must determine that the classification of municipalities by population for purposes of municipal employees' collective bargaining rights is clearly capricious, arbitrary, and wholly unrelated to the object of the Act. As stated above, the burden was and is on the City of Enid to show that such is the case. The City of Enid has failed to make such a showing. In contrast, the evidence in this summary judgment record supports the reasonableness of the classification. This evidence includes experts' affidavits regarding the following: 1. Smaller municipalities typically have fewer layers of management. Employees thus have a greater opportunity to deal with management directly. Larger municipalities have a more intricate upper management structure, and employees seldom have contact with bosses. Employees of the larger municipalities have a greater need for an intermediary group to act on their behalf. 2. Smaller municipalities have fewer necessary resources to engage effectively in collective bargaining, whereas larger ones are more likely to have a critical mass of employees from which to find individuals to speak in their behalf. 3. Smaller municipalities have smaller budgets, creating special pressure to oppose collective bargaining and avoid demands for higher wages. 4. Larger municipalities are more likely to have personnel departments and legal staff at their disposal to facilitate the negotiation process, a process that requires a certain level of competence, knowledge, and time to learn about issues and options involved in collective action. Smaller municipalities often lack these personnel departments and legal staff. Accordingly, any bargaining would be less manageable and more cumbersome for smaller municipalities and their employees. ¶ 17 Oklahoma's first legislature contained members who knew the Constitution. [8] At this time, it was common to classify cities based upon population, and many statutes of the first legislature exemplify this. Cities of the First Class had a population of 2,000 or more. See, Oklahoma General Statutes 1908, § 699. Legislation determined the salaries of city officials based upon population, such as the city attorney, police judge, and treasurer. See, e.g., Oklahoma General Statutes 1908, § 839, concerning salaries for those officials in cities with a population in excess of 25,000. Statutes also concerned public contracts of cities with a population in excess of 25,000. See, e.g., Oklahoma General Statutes 1908, §§ 844-847. More recently, this Court upheld the constitutionality of urban renewal laws that applied to municipalities with populations in excess of 100,000, in Isaacs v. City of Oklahoma City, 1966 OK 267, 437 P.2d 229, cert. denied, 389 U.S. 825, 88 S.Ct. 63, 19 L.Ed.2d 79 (1967). Classification of municipalities by population is one of those classifications historically recognized as necessary and appropriate in the state of Oklahoma, for purposes of legislation. ¶ 18 In the case at bar, we cannot say that the legislature's population classification of 35,000 is arbitrary or capricious. We determine that a municipality's population is closely related to the object sought to be obtained by the Act. The Act does not violate Oklahoma Const. art. 5, § 46.
¶ 19 Regarding Oklahoma Const. art. 5, § 59, we must determine whether any part of the class, (municipalities with a population greater than 35,000) is separated for different treatment in violation of that constitutional provision. Section 59 provides: Laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation throughout the State, and where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted. We find no such evidence. The Act grants the same privileges to all municipalities of the same class; it does not violate Oklahoma Const. art. 5, § 59.
¶ 20 Oklahoma Const. art. 18, § 3(a) allows charter cities autonomous self-governance under the home rule doctrine. The issue that the Act is unconstitutional under art. 18, § 3(a), is not included in the Issues Raised on Appeal filed with the Court by the appellants in their respective petitions in error. The trial court based its decision that the Act was unconstitutional on art. 5, §§ 46 and 59, and therefore the appellants addressed those issues. The appellee did, however, observe in its response to the petition in error of PERB, that the constitutionality of the Act under art. 18, §§ 1-3 was raised before the trial court, and the City of Enid asserted in its response that the Act was unconstitutional under art. 18 because it violates the home rule doctrine. If this Court fails to address this issue the trial court would have to determine the constitutionality of the Act based on the home rule doctrine when this cause is remanded. ¶ 21 This Court is generally free to grant corrective relief on any applicable legal theory dispositive of the case and supported by the record when the issue is one of public law. State v. Torres, 2004 OK 12, ¶ 7, 87 P.3d 572, 578. [W]here questions of public policy or widespread public interest are involved an appellate court may review a cause on a theory not presented in the trial tribunal. Barks v. Young, 1977 OK 81, ¶ 7, 564 P.2d 228, 229, citing Special Indemnity Fund v. Reynolds, 1948 OK 14, 188 P.2d 841. In the context of the case now before this Court, a public law issue relates to the organization of the state in its political or sovereign capacity. The laws concerning the balance of the power between the legislature and the municipalities fall within the body of law known as public law. Accordingly, we will decide the home rule issue. ¶ 22 Provisions of a city charter that relate to merely municipal matters, and which are adopted and approved in accordance with constitutional provision, supersede all conflicting laws of the state. Pitts v. Allen, 1928 OK 275, ¶ 49, 281 P. 126, 132. The test of whether or not an act of the legislature impermissibly interferes with the charter of a municipality is resolved by determining if the act relates to purely a matter of municipal and local concern or if it involves matters of the state at large, or affects its people generally. Lackey v. State, 1911 OK 270, ¶ 20, 116 P. 913, 918. ¶ 23 In Midwest City v. Cravens, 1975 OK 22, 532 P.2d 829, Midwest City sought injunctive relief against the Public Employees Relation Board to prevent the Board from exercising jurisdiction over the City. The City had refused to negotiate the salary portion of the employment contract with the Midwest City Police Department on the grounds that it called for a reclassification of police personnel, which the City claimed was its sole responsibility under the City's charter. The Fraternal Order of Police, bargaining agent for the Midwest City Police Department, filed a charge with the Public Employees Relation Board against the City, asserting that the City had engaged in unfair labor practices contrary to the Firefighters' and Policemen's Arbitration Law. This Court held that the Legislature had created a vehicle by which the firefighters and police officers could discuss their grievances and terms and conditions of their employment with municipal authorities, but the municipal authorities, under the home rule doctrine, retained the right to make the final decision on all issues presented and discussed. See Midwest City, 1975 OK 22, ¶ 30, 532 P.2d at 833. ¶ 24 This Court cited 11 O.S.1971, § 548.2, which provided that the legislature had declared to be the public policy of this state to accord the firefighters and police officers of any city, town or municipality all the rights of labor, and then the Court cited § 548.4 that specifically referred to the right to bargain collectively. Midwest City, 1975 OK 22, ¶ 6, 532 P.2d at 831. The Court observed that the Legislature had determined it was of state-wide concern that the firefighters and police officers be accorded the privilege of communicating with their respective employers with a collective voice. The Court agreed and held the Firefighters' and Policemen's Arbitration Law, as construed by the Court, did not contravene Art. 18, § 3 of our Constitution. Midwest City, 1975 OK 22, ¶¶ 35, 36, 532 P.2d at 834. ¶ 25 This Court observed in City of Tulsa v. Public Employees Relations Bd., 1990 OK 114, ¶ 11, 845 P.2d 872, 875, that Midwest City declared Art. 18, § 3 was not offended by the statutory requirement of collective bargaining because it was a matter of statewide, rather than purely municipal, concern. Although the City of Enid would have this Court distinguish these cases from this present cause, we note, as we did in Midwest City, that the Legislature has determined promoting orderly and constructive collective bargaining between municipal employers and their employees is a matter of public policy. 11 O.S.Supp.2005, § 51-201, 2004 Okla.Sess. Laws, ch. 62, § 2. We agree and hold the matter is one of state-wide concern and does not contravene Art. 18, § 3.