Oklahoma clearly requires a proponent of a claim of estoppel to establish inter alia a false representation or concealment of facts and detrimental reliance on the misrepresentation or concealment. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59, 64 (Okla. 1980); see Allied Steel Construction Co. v. Employers Casualty Co., 422 F.2d 1369, 1371 (10th Cir. 1970); Marshak v. Blyth Eastman Dillon Co., Inc., 413 F. Supp. 377, 383 (N.D.Okla. 1975).
Last, the receiving party must have acted upon it to his detriment. State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59 (Okla. 1980). It has also been held that a person relying on estoppel must have exercised such reasonable diligence as circumstances require and he cannot invoke estoppel if he failed to avail himself of information reasonably at hand.
In the absence of a contrary definition of the common words used in the act, we must assume that the lawmaking authority intended for them to have the same meaning as that attributed to them in ordinary and usual parlance.Riffe Petroleum Co. v. Great National Corp., Inc., Okla., 614 P.2d 576, 579 (1980); State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, Okla., 614 P.2d 59, 63 (1980). A "sale" is defined as a contract between two parties, called, respectively, the "seller" (or "vendor") and the "buyer" (or purchaser), by which the former, in consideration of the payment or promise of payment of a certain price in money, transfers to the latter the title and the possession of property.
The elements necessary to establish an equitable estoppel are: (1) a false representation or concealment of facts, (2) made with actual or constructive knowledge of the facts, (3) to a person without knowledge of, or the means of knowing, those facts, (4) with the intent that it be acted upon, and (5) the person to whom it was made acted in reliance upon it to his detriment.Board of County Commissioners of Marshall County v. Snellgrove, supra note 13 at 276; State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, Okla., 614 P.2d 59, 64 [1980]. According to the evidence, when District 89 received inquiries from the public, it had long been in the practice of informing citizens whether they do reside within the district.
Plain words are to be considered in their ordinary and common use. State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59 (Okla. 1980); Webster's Third New International Dictionary defines validate as "to corroborate or support in a sound basis or authority." The intent of the legislature is found at 82 O.S. 1981 ยง 1020.2[ 82-1020.
As previously noted, the amended petition is devoid of allegations of fraud. As recently noted in State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59 (Okla. 1980), for equitable estoppel to apply to a factual situation there must be a false representation, or concealment of facts made with actual or constructive knowledge of its falsity, where the receiving party is of necessity without knowledge of the truth or the means of making that determination, and the statement must be made with the intent that it be acted upon, and the receiving party must have acted upon the representation to his detriment. Construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff it is apparent the pleading does not state facts which would bring the doctrine of equitable estoppel into play here.
Statutes are to be construed by reading their provisions with the ordinary and common definitions of the words used unless the context dictates a special or technical definition is to be utilized. State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59, 63 (Okla. 1980). To determine whether the phrase containing the word "penalty" as used in ยง 806(a) refers to "interest", an examination of that section is required.
"Statutes are to be construed by reading their provisions with the ordinary and common definitions of the words used unless the context dictates a special or technical definition is to be utilized." State ex rel. W. State Hosp. v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59, 63 (Okla. 1980). The term "applicable building official" is defined in the Act:
"Statutes are to be construed by reading their provisions with the ordinary and common definitions of the words used unless the context dictates a special or technical definition is to be utilized." State ex rel. W. State Hosp. v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59, 63 (Okla. 1980). In subsection (A) of Section 46.21b above, the Legislature uses the 2003 International Building Code to define "[all] use groups" in Section 46.21b. Because the 2003 International Building Code is a comprehensive set of technical standards for the architectural design of buildings, it appears that the Legislature intends for the code definitions of the architectural terms "basement" and "story" to be the same as its use of those terms in subsection 46.21b(C).
A fundamental rule of statutory construction is to construe statutes by reading their provisions with ordinary and common meaning of the words used. State ex rel. Western State Hospital v. Stoner, 614 P.2d 59 (Okla. 1980). The clear meaning of 68 O.S. 527(B) (1981) is that the fuel used exclusively for motor vehicles on the public roads and highways in Oklahoma that are leased or owned and being operated for the sole benefit of a county, city or town shall be exempt from state fuel taxes.