State ex rel. City of Charleston v. Coghill
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
156 W. Va. 877, 207 S.E.2d 113 (1973)
- Written by Tammy Boggs, JD
Facts
The State of West Virginia’s legislature passed a statute that authorized municipal corporations to construct parking facilities, which would alleviate the problem of lack of adequate parking for motor vehicles driven by both private parties and public workers in urban areas. Pursuant to the statute, the City of Charleston (plaintiff), which was a municipal corporation of West Virginia, passed a resolution to plan and finance a public parking facility. The city council instructed the city clerk, Kenneth Coghill (defendant) to publish a notice. The notice invited proposals from anyone who would be interested in purchasing or leasing space from the parking facility. Coghill refused to publish the notice based on his contention that the statute was unconstitutional. Coghill asserted that the legislature had improperly delegated to a municipal corporation the legislative power to determine an appropriate mix of public and private use of a public parking facility. The city sought a writ of mandamus to compel Coghill to perform his legal duty.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Neely, J.)
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