THE STATE OF FLORIDA EX REL. RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS RELATOR,
v.
LOUISVILLE AND NASHVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court invalidated Rule 12 of the Railroad Commissioners, which required railroads to immediately report wrecks by telegram and provide detailed written statements. The Court held that the Railroad Commissioners lacked statutory authority to adopt such a rule, as their powers are strictly limited to those expressly conferred by statute or necessarily implied therefrom.
The Court held that the Railroad Commissioners lacked authority to prescribe Rule 12 because no express statutory provision granted them such power, nor could such power be fairly implied as incident to their expressly granted authority. Consequently, the motion to quash the alternative writ was granted and the mandamus action dismissed.
“The Railroad Commissioners are statutory officers whose powers are special and limited. They can exercise only such authority as is legally conferred by express provisions of law, or such as is by fair implication and intendment incident to and included in the authority expressly conferred for the purpose of carrying out and accomplishing the purposes for which the officers were established.”
Establishes the fundamental principle governing the scope of the commissioners' delegated authority and the strict construction rule applied to their powers.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn January 28, 1908, the Railroad Commissioners adopted Rule 12 requiring railroad companies to report any wreck on their lines immediately by telegra…
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Taylor, J.
On January 28th, 1908, the Railroad Commissioners of this State adopted and prescribed the following as Rule No. 12 of its General Rules:
“12. Every railroad company shall report to the Railroad Commissioners immediately by telegram any wreck, either of passenger or of freight train, that may occur on its line in this State, giving as nearly as possible the cause of the wreck, the extent of the damage to the equipment and the track, and the number of persons killed or wounded; and such telegram shall be followed with a full written' statement, made within five days thereafter, giving full details of the above matters, and the names and addresses of the persons killed or wounded, whether employees or others. This rule shall not apply to simple derailments of freight cars or yard engines, when switching or shifting in yards, except when some person is killed or injured, in which case, a report shall be made as in other cases.”
For an alleged refusal of the respondent railroad company to comply with this rule, the State Railroad Commissioners by this proceeding in mandamus are seeking to enforce compliance therewith.
The respondent moves to quash the alternative writ, among others, on the two following grounds:
1. Because Rule 12 of the Florida Railroad Commission set forth therein and sought to be enforced thereby is invalid, because the relators were without power to adopt it.
2. The power to adopt it is a legislative power which can not lawfully be delegated to relators.
To maintain the authority of the commission to prescribe this rule we are cited to the case of Stone v. Yazoo & M. V. R. Co., 62 Miss. 607. Upon investigation we find that such a rule was there upheld because the Railroad Commission was there duly authorized to adopt it by an express provision of the Mississippi statute.
In the case of State v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 56 Fla. 617, 47 South. Rep. 969, it is said that: “The Railroad Commissioners are statutory officers whose powers are special and limited. They can exercise only such authority as is legally conferred by express provisions of law, or such as is by fair implication and intendment incident to and included in the authority expressly conferred for the purpose of carrying out and accomplishing the purposes for which the officers were established.” It was further said in substance in that case that any reasonable doubt of the existence in said commissioners of any particular power should be resolved against their exercise of such power. We have carefully examined all of our statutes appertaining to the Railroad Commission and we fail to discover in them anywhere any express power to prescribe such a rule, nor do we find any power delegated to them which by any fair or reasonable implication or intendment could be reasonably held to include as an incident the power to adopt or prescribe such a rule. Our conclusion being that our Railroad Commission have no authority to prescribe the rule in question, it follows that the motion of the respondent to quash the alternative writ of mandamus must be, and is hereby, granted and the cause dismissed at the cost of the State.
All concur, except Parkhill, J., absent on acount of illness.
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Citator
Cited By (14 total)
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State v. Burr, 79 Fla. 290 (Fla. 1920)…ex rel. Railroad Com’rs. v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 60 Fla. 465, 54 South. Rep. [*319] 394; State ex rel. Railroad Com’rs. v. Southern Tel. & Const. Co., 65 Fla. 270, 61 South. Rep. 506; State ex rel. Railroad Com’rs. v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 57 Fla. 526, 49 South. Rep. 124. “That a city has no power to regulate rates of this character unless it has legislative authority so to do is established, and does not seem to be disputed. Indepently of a right to regulate and control the rates to be charged…
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State v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 90 Fla. 721 (Fla. 1925)…ions of the statutes. State v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 56 Fla. 617; 47 South. Rep. 387; State Public Utilities Commission of Illinois v. United States, 245 U. S. 493, 38 Sup. Ct. Rep. 170; State ex rel. Railroad Com’rs v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 57 Fla. 526, 49 South. Rep. 39. If they proceed without authority, their act is invalid and will not be enforced. State ex rel. Railroad Com’rs v. Louisville & N. R. Co., 56 Fla. 526, text 527, 49 South. Rep. 39; State ex rel. Burr v. [*752] Jacksonville Termin…
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State v. Rose, 122 Fla. 413 (Fla. 1936)…thin the power of the Commission to adopt, nevertheless, when acting within the authority expressly or impliedly conferred upon them, a wide discretion must be accorded to the Commission in the exercising of such authority. State v. A. C. L. R. Co., 57 Fla. 526, 54 So. 394. This,, is especially true of the State Racing Commission. The relators have no vested right to race their dogs for money upon the licensed tracks in this State. They are engaged in a business which would be unlawful had not the Legislat…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Atl. Coast Line R.R. Co., 56 Fla. 617 (Fla. 1908)