Opinion ID: 1734385
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The July 28 referendum

Text: By its adoption of Act No. 98-634, the Legislature expressly authorized the referendum that was later conducted on July 28. As this Court has held, [t]he legislature's power, with regard to municipalities, is plenary, except as limited by the Alabama Constitution. Town of Vance v. City of Tuscaloosa, 661 So.2d 739, 742 (Ala.1995). That plenary power includes the power to establish and adjust municipal boundaries. Opinion of the Justices, 277 Ala. 630, 173 So.2d 793 (1965). When considering whether that power has been exercised in accordance with the Constitution, courts must apply the following well-settled standard: [I]n passing upon the constitutionality of a legislative act, the courts uniformly approach the question with every presumption and intendment in favor of its validity, and seek to sustain rather than strike down the enactment of a coordinate branch of the government. All these principles are embraced in the simple statement that it is the recognized duty of the court to sustain the act unless it is clear beyond reasonable doubt that it is violative of the fundamental law. Alabama State Fed'n of Labor v. McAdory, 246 Ala. 1, 9, 18 So.2d 810, 815 (1944). Daphne argues that the Legislature's adoption of Act No. 98-634 violated Art. IV, § 106, of the Alabama Constitution, as amended by Amendment No. 341, which prohibits the adoption of a local act, such as Act No. 98-634, [2] unless notice of the intention to apply therefor shall have been published. We conclude, for the reasons discussed below, that it is clear beyond reasonable doubt that the Act was adopted in violation of § 106.