Cole v. Norborne Drainage District, 270 U.S. 45 (1926)

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Cole v. Norborne Drainage District

No. 152

Argued January 20, 1926
Decided February 1, 1926
270 U.S. 45

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

Syllabus

A state law (Ls. Mo. 1913) providing that establishment of a drainage district, with consequent liability for assessments, shall depend on the vote of the owners of the majority of the acreage included, but permitting an established district to be extended by court proceedings to adjoining lands that will be benefited by the proposed reclamation, does not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in not allowing the owners of such adjoining lands the right to vote on the inclusion of their property.

Affirmed.

Appeal from a decree of the district court dismissing a bill brought to restrain the collection of drainage assessments and entry upon the plaintiffs’ land in pursuance of a drainage plan.