Board of Levee Com'rs v. Foote Davis & Co.

Citations

• 111 Miss. 10
• 71 So. 163

Syllabus

<p>1. Levees. Levee boards. Authority of members and officers. Contracts. Estoppel.</p> <p>The board of levee commissioners in an agency created by the state for administering the affairs of the levee district, and those ' who deal with public officers must look to the statutes for their duties and powers and unless the statutes of the state confer upon the secretary of the levee board the power to bind the board of levee commissioners in contracts for stationery, he is without power to do so, and since there is no statute conferring such power the board is not bound by a contract of its secretary for such purpose. «</p> <p>2. Levee Boabds. Liability on contracts. Estoppel.</p> <p>A board of levee Commissioners, which accepted' and paid part of an account for stationery and office supplies ordered by'its secretary without authority, was not thereby estopped to deny its-liability for the balance of the account.</p> <p>3. Same.</p> <p>In a suit for such balance of account, the court had no power to-go into the question as to the motive of the board of levee commissioners in rejecting the balance of the account, since it might have refused to pay. any part of the claim, and when it paid a part of the account, plaintiff received more than he could have collected by law.</p>