Ryals v. Bd. of Supervisors of Pike County
| Docket Number: | 2009-CA-00243-SCT Linked Case(s): 2009-CA-00243-SCT2009-CA-00243-SCT |
|
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 08-19-2010 Opinion Author: Kitchens, J. Holding: Affirmed in part, reversed and rendered in part. |
|
| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Ordinance prohibiting possession and consumption of alcohol - Sections 67-1-7 - Section 67-3-5 - Section 19-3-40(1) Judge(s) Concurring: Graves, P.J., Dickinson, Lamar and Chandler, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Randolph, J. Dissenting Author : Carlson, P.J., Dissents With Separate Written Opinion Dissent Joined By : Waller, C.J., and Pierce, J. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER |
|
| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 08-18-2008 Appealed from: PIKE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: David H. Strong Disposition: Appellants Wendy Ryals and Ronald Perry each own inner tube, canoe, and kayak rental businesses on the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek in Pike County. After the Pike County Board of Supervisors enacted an ordinance prohibiting the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on portions of the two waterways, Ryals and Perry filed a bill of exceptions in the Pike County Circuit Court. The trial court dismissed the plaintiff's bill of exceptions. Case Number: 2008-202-PCS |
|
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Wendy Ryals and Ronald Perry |
ALFRED L. FELDER |
|
|
| Appellee: | Board of Supervisors of Pike County, Mississippi | WAYNE DOWDY, DUNBAR DOWDY WATT | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
|
| Topic: | Ordinance prohibiting possession and consumption of alcohol - Sections 67-1-7 - Section 67-3-5 - Section 19-3-40(1) |
| Summary of the Facts: | Wendy Ryals and Ronald Perry each own inner tube, canoe, and kayak rental businesses on the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek in Pike County. After the Pike County Board of Supervisors enacted an ordinance prohibiting the possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on portions of the two waterways, Ryals and Perry filed a bill of exceptions in circuit court. The court dismissed the bill of exceptions, and they appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | If a county or municipality passes an ordinance which stands in opposition to the law as pronounced by the legislature, the ordinance, to the extent that it contradicts state law, will be found void, as the laws of this state supersede any and all local ordinances which contradict legislative enactments. Mississippi statutes explicitly provide for the lawful possession of alcoholic beverages in this state. If a majority of the qualified electors votes in favor of legalizing the possession of alcoholic beverages containing more than five percent of alcohol by weight, section 67-1-7(1) makes it lawful to possess those beverages in that county or municipality. In this case, the record reveals that the residents of Pike County have not voted to prohibit the sale and possession of beer and light wines, and that the possession of those beverages has been legal there since 1934. The record also establishes that, in 1966, following the effective date of the Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, a majority of the electors in Pike County voted to legalize the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession, and transportation of alcoholic beverages containing more than five percent alcohol by weight. Because the Pike County ordinance makes it unlawful to possess alcoholic beverages on portions of the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek, the ordinance stands in opposition to sections 67-1-7 and 67-3-5. Accordingly, the possession provision is void. However, the provision of the ordinance prohibiting consumption of alcoholic beverages on portions of the two specified waterways is a different creature. Sections 67-1-7 and 67-3-65 expressly make it legal to possess alcoholic beverages within Pike County; however, these statutes are silent on the issue of consumption. Moreover, no other Mississippi statute announces the legislature’s will to regulate the matter of consumption of alcoholic beverages in wet counties. Therefore, the Pike County Board of Supervisors was within the power granted to it by section 19-3-40(1) to enact and enforce that provision of the ordinance. The record shows that, prior to enacting the ordinance, the Pike County Board of Supervisors had been confronted with a plague of illegal activity and public nuisances on the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek, including littering, drug possession, public profanity, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, trespassing, minors in possession of alcohol, and public drunkenness. During a relatively brief number of years, numerous alcohol-related arrests had been made. Other Pike County residents and land owners testified at the board’s hearing and at the circuit court hearing that intoxicated river and creek goers commonly had trespassed on their land, and that lewd verbal and sexual conduct frequently had been committed by drunk patrons of the waterways. Given the evidence with which it was presented, it cannot be said that the board’s decision to prohibit the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the Bogue Chitto River and Topisaw Creek was without reason. Thus, the adoption of the disputed ordinance was not arbitrary or capricious. |
Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court
