BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE FIREMEN'S RELIEF & PENSION FUND v. PELHAM

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE FIREMEN'S RELIEF & PENSION FUND v. PELHAM
1937 OK 272
67 P.2d 794
180 Okla. 44
Case Number: 27319
Decided: 04/27/1937
Supreme Court of Oklahoma

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE FIREMEN'S RELIEF
v.
PELHAM

Syllabus

¶0 1. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS - Laws Providing for Firemen's Pensions Liberally Construed.
The purpose of laws for firemen's pensions is beneficial, and such statutes should be liberally construed in favor of those to be benefited. In re Benson, 178 Okla. 299, 62 P.2d 962.
2. SAME - Right of Appeal to District Court From Decision of Firemen's Pension Board.
The provisions of section 6102, O. S. 1931, relating to appeal from a decision of the firemen's pension board, are applicable to the persons designated in section 6103, O. S. 1931, and may be properly invoked by them.
3. SAME - Scope of Review - Disposition of Cause.
On appeal from a decision of the firemen's pension and relief board, the district court in considering the appeal reviews the transcript of the proceedings and the evidence to ascertain whether the decision of the board is in accordance with law and whether its findings are supported by the evidence. If, upon such review, it appears that the decision of the board is contrary to law or contrary to the clear weight of the evidence, the district court may properly render such decision as should have been rendered by said board.

Appeal from District Court, Oklahoma County; G.H. Giddings, Jr., Judge.

Appeal by the Board of Trustees of the Firemen's Relief and Pension Fund and the City of Oklahoma City from a judgment of the district court which reversed a decision of such board of trustees on an application of Edith Pelham. Affirmed.

Harlan Deupree, Municipal Counselor, and Robert L. Berry, Asst. Municipal Counselor, for plaintiff in error.
J. Walker Field and Frank Field, for defendant in error.

PER CURIAM.

¶1 This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court of Oklahoma county rendered on appeal to that court from the action of the board of trustees of the firemen's relief and pension fund of Oklahoma City which denied a pension to the defendant in error. The plaintiffs in error challenge the judgment of the court below on the ground, first, that the right of appeal from the pension board to the district court does not exist; and, second, that the district court has no authority to weigh the evidence on reviewing the action of such board.

¶2 The right to appeal under the circumstances here involved has been definitely upheld by this court in the recent case of In re Benson, 178 Okla. 299, 62 P.2d 962, and requires no further discussion.

¶3 The district court in considering the appeal appears to have proceeded in the manner directed by this court. In re Application of Gruber, 89 Okla. 148, 214 P. 690. The plaintiffs in error advanced the same contentions in the court below that they do here. The defendant in error urged in the trial court that the action of the pension board in denying her application was contrary to law and to all of the evidence and was without the support of any evidence. The transcript which the trial court had under review amply supports the contentions of the defendant in error. The finding of the district court that the action of the pension board was without the support of any evidence and was contrary to all the evidence was in effect a finding that it had acted arbitrarily in the matter. After a careful review of the entire record, we are of the opinion that this conclusion of the trial court was well founded. The record presents no error, and therefore the judgment of the lower court should not be disturbed.

¶4 Judgment affirmed.