Atchison, T. & S. F. RY. CO. v. Drayton

292 F. 15, 1923 U.S. App. LEXIS 2934
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 3, 1923
DocketNo. 6323
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 292 F. 15 (Atchison, T. & S. F. RY. CO. v. Drayton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atchison, T. & S. F. RY. CO. v. Drayton, 292 F. 15, 1923 U.S. App. LEXIS 2934 (8th Cir. 1923).

Opinion

STONE, Circuit Judge.

On the ground of diversity of citizenship this case was removed to the federal court and from a judgment for $17,306, this writ of error is sued out by the railway. At the close of all the evidence, each party requested a peremptory charge. The [16]*16action of the court in denying the request of the railway and giving that of Drayton has, under the pleadings and evidence in this case and the long-established federal practice, removed from our consideration all errors which are here sought to be presented except the attack upon the jurisdiction of the court.

The petition was filed in Holt county, Neb., and was for the recovery of $5,000 damages because of the negligent handling of a live stock shipment. At the same time, an affidavit in attachment and in garnishment and a praecipe for order of attachment and garnishment and also for personal summons, directed to the sheriff of Nuckolls county, Neb., were filed. Property'was seized under the attachment, credits were impounded under the garnishment, and service of summons made upon a proper agent of the railway in Nuckolls county. Thereafter, the amount of damages sought was increased by ampndment of the petition. The railway, by motion, attacks the jurisdiction of the court on the ground that it could not be sued, except in Nuckolls county. This position it maintained in subsequent pleadings. The court proceeded on the theory that the action was properly brought in Holt county and that the service of summons in Nuckolls county gave it jurisdiction over the person of plaintiff in error. The judgment entered was in personam, the attachment and garnishment proceedings being, apparently, abandoned. The question thus presented is: Could this suit be properly brought in Holt county (where property and credits of the railway were located) and such personal service be secured in Nuckolls county as to support a judgment in personam?

The material facts are that the railway is a foreign corporation (having its principal office outside the state), which had a line and was doing business nowhere in Nebraska except in Nuckolls county,, and that-it had property (freight Cars) and credits in Holt county. There are no fundamental legal objections to the venue of an action in a state court being in a county, of the same state, different from the county where the defendant resides or may be properly found for personal service. Neither the national nor the Nebraska Constitution contains such inhibition. It is a matter purely and solely for the determination-of the state Legislature. Both parties agree that the Nebraska statutes must govern. The Code of Civil Procedure of Nebraska (Compiled Statutes of Nebraska 1922, §§ 8503-9528) sets forth, completely,' the procedure in civil cases required in that state. This Code contains 22 chapters. Chapter 4 (sections 8555-8566) contains the venue provisions. Chapter. 5, article 1 (sections 8567-8570)) governs “Petition and Summons.” Chapter 10, entitled “Provisional Remedies,” governs attachments and garnishments (seCtiofis 8676-8728). The provisions ■ respecting attachments and garnishments need not be examined, because those proceedings were clearly here no’basis for jurisdiction of the person, were abandoned and can have, no influence or effect upon the question before us. ’ Had the personal service been insufficient and the court attempted to enter a judgment in form and on the basis of the attachment and garnishment, another' situation, not present here, would have existed.' The statutory provisions with which we :are- immediately concerned are contained in sections 8560, 8562 [17]*17and 8670. However, it will aid in construing those sections to bear in mind certain other related provisions.

The first section (section 8555) of chapter 4 provides that actions affecting real estate “shall” be brought in the county where the land is located, except that such actions for trespass or injury thereto “may” be brought against a railway owning or operating a line in the state “in any county where service of summons can be had.” The second section (section 8556) deals with the same subject where the land is located in more than one county. The third section (section 8557) provides that specific performance of real estate sale contracts “may” be brought where a defendant resides or, if all defendants are nonresidents, where some part of the land is situated. The fourth section (section 8558) provides that actions for statutory penalties, against public officers and on official bonds “must” be brought in the county “where the cause or some part thereof arose.” The fifth section (section 8559), as it existed at the time this suit was filed, provided that action “may” be brought against domestic insurance companies—

“in the county where the cause of action, or some part thereof arose, or in the county where any contract or portion of a contract entered into by such insurance corporation has been violated or is to be performed.”

The sixth section (section 8560) provides that:

“An action against a railroad company, or an owner of a line of mail stages or other coaches, for an injury to person or property upon the road or line, or upon a liability as a carrier may be brought in any county through or into which the road or line passes.”

The seventh section (section 8561) provides that:

“An action other than one of those mentioned in the first three sections of this chapter against a turnpike road company may be brought in any county in which any part of the road lies.”

The eighth section (section 8562) provides that:

“An action other than one of those mentioned in the first three sections of this chapter, against a nonresident of this state or a foreign corporation may be brought in any county in which there may be property of, or debts owing to said defendant, or' where said defendant may be found; but if such defendant be a foreign insurance company, the action may be brought in any county where the cause, or some part thereof, arose.”

The ninth section (section 8563) is the general venue section and provides:

“Every other action must be brought in the county in which the defendant or some one of the defendants, resides or may be summoned.”

The remaining three sections of this chapter on venue relate to changes of venue and filing of certain judgments. Chapter 5, article 1, governing petition and summons, contains four sections. The first (section 8567) defines commencement of an action to be filing of a petition and issuance of summons. The second section (section 8568) requires, also, filing of prsecipe stating names of parties and a demand for issuance of summons. The third section (section 8569) defines the requisites of a -summons. The fourth section (section 8570) is that:

[18]*18“When the action is rightly brought in any county, according to the provisions of this Code a summons shall be issued to any other county, against any one or more of the defendants at the plaintiff's request.”

From the above sections concerning venue and section 8570 concerning service, the general plan of venue provided by these statutes seems to be that actions generally must be brought in the county where the defendant, or one of them, “resides or may be summoned” (section 8563); that certain actions must

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
292 F. 15, 1923 U.S. App. LEXIS 2934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atchison-t-s-f-ry-co-v-drayton-ca8-1923.