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Docket Number

No. 309.

Attorney(S)

Marvin J. Sternberg, of Jamestown, Ky., and Guy C. Shearer, of Louisville, Ky., for heirs. Lilburn Phelps of Jamestown, Ky., for Russell County Board of Education.

Judges

Shackelford Miller

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Smart Summary

Case Summary: UNITED STATES v. 1846.77 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, IN RUSSELL AND CLINTON COUNTIES, KY.

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Date: September 8, 1942. Judge: Miller, District Judge.

Factual and Procedural Background

This is a condemnation proceeding by the United States to take 1,846.77 acres of land in Russell and Clinton counties, Kentucky. Parcel No. 2 consists of approximately 1.4 acres in Russell County. The Russell County Board of Education moved for judgment awarding it the sum of $1,412, the amount paid by the United States for Parcel No. 2. Other claimants, identified in the record as heirs of James Warriner and Mourning Warriner, filed exceptions to the Commissioners' report with respect to Parcel No. 2. The core dispute is whether the purchase money paid by the United States for Parcel No. 2 should be paid to the Russell County Board of Education or to the heirs of James and Mourning Warriner.

Legal Issues Presented

Whether, under a deed executed January 5, 1874, containing a condition subsequent that the land be held "so long as there are any of them using said lands for School purposes or Religious worship thereon" with a reverter if not so used, title reverted to the heirs when the land ceased to be used for school purposes.
If a breach of the condition subsequent occurred, whether the reversion can be enforced when the discontinuance of school use resulted from the United States' condemnation and seizure of the property.
Whether the sum paid by the United States for Parcel No. 2 should be paid to the Russell County Board of Education or to the heirs of James and Mourning Warriner.

Arguments of the Parties

Heirs' Arguments

The heirs of James and Mourning Warriner contend that the condition subsequent in the 1874 deed has not been complied with (i.e., the land was not used for school purposes for a time), and therefore the property reverted to them under the deed's reverter clause.

Russell County Board of Education's Arguments

The Board of Education asserted that it had used the land continuously for school purposes until the Government took the property in June 1941, that the Board would have continued use but for the Government's taking, and that such governmental seizure does not constitute a breach of the deed's condition subsequent. The Board therefore sought payment of the condemnation award to continue the school elsewhere.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent	Rule or Principle Cited For	Application by the Court
Louisville N.R. Co. v. Mottley, 219 U.S. 467, 31 S.Ct. 265, 55 L.Ed. 297, 34 L.R.A., N.S., 671	That valid provisions contained in contractual obligations can be nullified and rendered inoperative by acts of the Federal Government under its constitutional power.	The court relied on this principle to conclude that the deed's condition subsequent was rendered inoperative by the Government's seizure of the land, preventing the reverter from taking effect.
Louisville N.R. Co. v. Crowe, 156 Ky. 27, 160 S.W. 759, 49 L.R.A., N.S., 848	Support for the proposition that federal action can render contractual provisions inoperative.	Used as a supporting authority for the court's conclusion that the condition subsequent could not be enforced due to the Government's exercise of its dominant power.
Roxford Knitting Co. v. Moore Tierney, 2 Cir., 265 F. 177, 11 A.L.R. 1415	Another authority recognizing that federal governmental acts may nullify private contractual provisions.	Relied on by the court as additional precedent for holding the deed condition inoperative in the face of governmental taking.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court began with construction of the deed provision executed January 5, 1874, which contained a condition subsequent providing that the land was to be held "by the parties of the second part their heirs and assigns so long as there are any of them using said lands for School purposes or Religious worship thereon" and that if the land should not be so used "they shall revert to the parties of the first part," subject to certain privileges for the parties of the second part regarding sale or removal of the schoolhouse.

The court interpreted the grantors' intent as intending to prevent voluntary discontinuance or abandonment of the local school by the County Board of Education. It found it unlikely the grantors contemplated a compulsory governmental taking. The Board of Education had used the land continuously for school purposes until the Government's condemnation in June 1941 and intended to continue the school elsewhere; thus, the Board had not voluntarily breached the condition subsequent.

Citing authorities establishing that acts of the Federal Government under its constitutional powers can nullify otherwise valid contractual provisions, the court concluded that the condition subsequent was rendered inoperative by the Government's seizure of the property. On that basis, the court held that the Board should not be penalized by the Government's actions, and the purchase money should be paid to the Board of Education.

The court expressly declined to decide whether the deed provision would attach to any land subsequently purchased by the County Board of Education with the funds received from this condemnation.

Holding and Implications

Judgment in favor of the Russell County Board of Education was entered; the Board is entitled to the $1,412 paid by the United States for Parcel No. 2, and the exceptions of the heirs to the Commissioners' report with respect to Parcel No. 2 were overruled.

Implications:

The direct effect is that the condemnation award for Parcel No. 2 is payable to the Russell County Board of Education rather than to the heirs of James and Mourning Warriner.
The court held that the deed's condition subsequent was rendered inoperative by the United States' taking; therefore the heirs' asserted reversion did not take effect as a result of the governmental seizure.
The court did not rule on whether the deed provisions might attach to any replacement land the County Board of Education could purchase with the funds; that question was left undecided.

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UNITED STATES v. 1846.77 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, IN RUSSELL AND CLINTON COUNTIES, KY. et al.

Condemnation proceeding by the United States of America to take 1846.77 Acres of Land, more or less, in Russell and Clinton counties, Kentucky. On motion by the Russell County Board of Education, Jamestown, Kentucky, for judgment in its behalf for the amount paid by the United States for Parcel 2 consisting of 1.4 acres of land, more or less, in Russell county, Kentucky, and on exceptions of other claimants to Commissioner's Report dealing with Parcel 2.

Motion for judgment sustained and exceptions of other claimants overruled.

MILLER, District Judge.

The Russell County Board of Education has filed a motion that judgment be entered in its behalf for the sum of $1412, being the amount paid by the United States Government for Parcel No. 2. The question presented by this motion and also by the exceptions of other claimants to the Commissioners' report dealing with Parcel No. 2 is whether the money so paid for this 1.4 acres of land should be paid to the Board of Education or to the heirs of James Warriner and Mourning Warriner, his wife.

The ruling depends upon the construction to be given to a provision in a deed executed on January 5, 1874, by James Warriner and Mourning Warriner, his wife, conveying the property in question to Aaron McClure and others. This part of the deed provides as follows: "To Have and To Hold by the parties of the second part their heirs and assigns so long as there are any of them using said lands for School purposes or Religious worship thereon. If said lands should not be used for a time for the above mentioned purposes they shall revert to the parties of the first part, provided the parties of the second part have the privilege of selling or moving the School House thereon, * * *."

The land has been used continuously for school purposes by the Russell County Board of Education until it was taken over by the Government in June 1941 under the condemnation proceedings being instituted in this action. The heirs of James and Mourning Warriner contend that the condition subsequent in the deed has not been complied with and that the property accordingly reverts to them. The Russell County Board of Education claim alleges that it would continue to use the property for school purposes except for the fact that the Government has prevented it from so doing, and that it intends to continue on other property the school heretofore conducted on the property in question, and that such a situation does not constitute a breach of the condition subsequent in the deed.

It is the fundamental rule in the construction of written instruments that the court should construe the language under consideration in accordance with the intent of the parties, which rule very often gives a different result from the one which would be reached by a strict interpretation of the specific words used. It seems to me that the intent of the grantors in the present case was to guard against a discontinuance of the school in that community and a voluntary abandonment of the school by the County Board of Education. I do not believe they had in mind or contemplated the possible acquisition of the property by the Government without the consent of the school authorities. The taking of the property in this proceeding is something which the Board of Education can not prevent; it has done nothing to breach the condition subsequent; it intends to continue to comply with the purposes of that condition insofar as it is able; it should not be penalized by reason of the acts of the United States Government in pursuance of its dominant power in the matter. It is well settled that valid provisions contained in contractual obligations can be nullified and rendered inoperative by acts of the Federal Government under its constitutional power. Louisville N.R. Co. v. Mottley, 219 U.S. 467, 31 S.Ct. 265, 55 L.Ed. 297, 34 L.R.A., N.S., 671; Louisville N.R. Co. v. Crowe, 156 Ky. 27, 160 S.W. 759, 49 L.R.A., N.S., 848; Roxford Knitting Co. v. Moore Tierney, 2 Cir., 265 F. 177, 11 A.L.R. 1415. The provisions of the condition subsequent are accordingly rendered inoperative by the action of the Government in seizing this land. The court does not attempt to rule as to whether or not the provisions in question will hereafter attach to land that might be purchased by the County Board of Education with the funds herein received for the purpose of continuing the school in question.

The motion of the Russell County Board of Education for the payment of the purchase price to it is accordingly sustained, and the exceptions by the other claimants to the commissioners' report insofar as it deals with the title to Parcel No. 2 are overruled.

UNITED STATES v. 1846.77 ACRES OF LAND, ETC., (W.D.Ky. 1942)