School Trustees Township 14 N., R. 5 W. v. People ex rel. Ball

Citations

• 71 Ill. 559

Syllabus

<p>1. Mandamus—to compel trustees of schools to form new school districts. A party petitioning for a mandamus to compel the trustees of schools to form a new school district, must show that he is a resident of the district proposed to be made, before the writ can be allowed.</p> <p>2. Where it appears that a petitioner for a writ of mandamus is presenting a matter in which he has a direct personal interest, the petition should contain the proper allegations to bring himself favorably before the court, to give him a status in court.</p> <p>3. School districts—petition for division of must show a case clearly within the law. A petition seeking to effect a division of a long established school district, should make a case within the express provisions of the statute before the trustees can be required to act.</p> <p>4. And a failure to show, in the petition, that the school district sought to be divided has no bonded debt, and that-the boundary of the new district does not come nearer than one mile to a school house, and that the petition is signed by all the voters of the new district, and that such new district contains not less than five families, is fatal to the petition, and the trustees can not be required to act upon it.</p>