In Board of Commissioners of Tippecanoe County v. Lucas, Treasurer, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a county could be held liable for a debt incurred by a former county treasurer. The case arose when the former treasurer of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, issued bonds to pay for the construction of a bridge. The bonds were issued without the approval of the county commissioners, and the county refused to pay the debt. The bondholders sued the county, arguing that the county was liable for the debt. The Supreme Court held that the county was not liable for the debt. The Court reasoned that the county had not authorized the issuance of the bonds, and that the county had not received any benefit from the bonds. The Court also noted that the county had not ratified the bonds, and that the county had not taken any action to indicate that it was responsible for the debt. The Court concluded that the county was not liable for the debt, and that the bondholders could not recover from the county.

In Board of Commissioners of Tippecanoe County v. Lucas, Treasurer, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a county could be held liable for interest on bonds issued by its board of commissioners without legislative approval. The majority opinion found that the county was not liable because it had no authority to issue such bonds in the first place and therefore could not be held responsible for any resulting debt or interest payments. Justice Field dissented from this decision, arguing that even though there may have been some irregularity in issuing these bonds, they were still valid obligations under state law and should be honored as such by holding the county accountable for payment of both principal and interest due on them. He further argued that if counties are allowed to avoid their financial responsibilities simply because they lack statutory authorization then creditors would suffer greatly since local governments would never have an incentive to pay back debts owed unless compelled by law.