Engle v. Miller

STANLEY, Commissioner. The General Assembly, at its 1946 Session, amended several sections of Chapter 81 of the Revised Statutes relating to the incorporation of cities and towns. Chapter 42, Acts of 1946. But the provision of many years standing that a Circuit Court should declare the establishment of a municipality when certain facts were shown was re-enacted. James R. Engle and two others, for themselves and 1,001 other residents of the St. Matthews community, which is contiguous to Louisville, instituted proceedings to have it incorporated. Three different groups filed answers in objection and challenged the constitutionality of the Act upon several grounds. The court expressed the opinion that Section 4, which authorizes a proceeding for incorporation to be maintained either by 500 or a majority of the voters residing within the boundary of the proposed city, whichever is the less, violates Section 2 of the Constitution prohibiting the exercise of arbitrary power by the Legislature. The court, therefore, declined to set the case for a hearing on the merits. The defendants tendered a draft of a consistent judgment, and moved that it be entered. Upon objection, the court directed that it be endorsed as tendered; but stated that the tendered judgment would not be signed until a certain date in order to enable the petitioners to seek a writ of prohibition or mandamus in this court.