Eberhardt Construction Co. v. Board of County Commissioners

Citations

• 106 Kan. 410
• 186 P. 492
• 1920 Kan. LEXIS 530

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Public Official — Neglect to Perform Official Duty — Liability for Damages Resulting from Nonperformance. The neglect of a public officer to perform a public duty can constitute an individual wrong only when some person can show that the performance thereof involved a duty owing to himself as an individual and that by reason of its nonperformance he has suffered a special and peculiar injury.</p> <p>2. County Building — Illegal Contract Let — Partial Performance, — Liability of County Board and Individual Members Thereof for Damages. Previous to the making of a contact between a construction company and the board of county commissioners for the erection of a county jail, the board was required to give notice by publication for the calling of a special election and failed to give the proper notice and the election was void. Held, neither the board nor the individual members thereof owed any duty to a prospective bidder for the work contemplated in the event the taxpayers authorized the letting of the contract.</p> <p>3. Same. — Petition Fails to State Cause of Action Against County Board or the Individual Members ■Thereof for Damages. In an action by a construction company against a board of county commissioners and the individual members of the board to recover for labor in excavating for the erection of a county jail and for the cost of stone dressed and cut according to plans and specifications of a contract which was void (Construction Co. v. Sedgwick County, 100 Kan. 394, 164 Pac. 281) because of the failure of the board to publish for the full period required by the statute the notice of the special election authorizing the board to act, held,</p> <p>(a) That the petition fails to show that the county derived or retained any benefits from the part performance of the contract by the plaintiff;</p> <p>(6) That the petition fails to state a cause of action against the individual members of the board, because the construction com