This case was a dispute between the Commissioners of Johnson County and a man named January. The Commissioners of Johnson County had issued a tax deed to January for a piece of land in the county. January had paid the taxes on the land for several years, but the Commissioners refused to issue a deed to him. January then brought a suit against the Commissioners, claiming that he was entitled to a deed for the land. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of January, finding that the Commissioners had acted unlawfully in refusing to issue a deed to him. The Court held that the Commissioners had a duty to issue a deed to January, as he had paid the taxes on the land for several years. The Court also held that the Commissioners had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in refusing to issue a deed to January. The Court ordered the Commissioners to issue a deed to January for the land in question.

In the case of Commissioners of Johnson County v. January, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a county board had authority to issue bonds for railroad purposes without an election. The majority opinion held that such power did not exist and thus the bonds were invalid. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision on two grounds: firstly, he argued that it was within the scope of legislative powers granted by state law; secondly, he noted that there had been no showing or proof of any fraud or illegality in connection with issuing these bonds. He concluded by stating his belief that "the validity and binding force" of these obligations should be upheld as they were issued in good faith and with full knowledge on behalf of all parties involved.