Briley v. Cumberland Water Co.

389 S.W.2d 278, 215 Tenn. 718, 19 McCanless 718, 1965 Tenn. LEXIS 644
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 30, 1965
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 389 S.W.2d 278 (Briley v. Cumberland Water Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Briley v. Cumberland Water Co., 389 S.W.2d 278, 215 Tenn. 718, 19 McCanless 718, 1965 Tenn. LEXIS 644 (Tenn. 1965).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from the decree of the Chancery Court of Davidson County dismissing, after a hearing, the petition for certiorari filed by the appellant in that Court, pursuant to T.C.A. sec. 65-220, to review the order of the Tennessee Public Service Commission, entered May 9, 1963, extending the certificate of convenience and necessity of the Cumberland Water Company to operate as a water utility in Davidson County in an area in addition to its former operating area.

The appellees have filed in this Court a motion to strike the transcript of evidence before the Commission and dismiss the appeal because:

“The record contains, (a) no motion for a new trial, (b) no bill of exceptions approved, authenticated and filed as required by law, and (c) no order of the lower court directing that the transcript of the hearing before the Public Service Commission be sent up to this Court as apart of the record, and (d) no identification of said transcript and no showing that said transcript contains all of the evidence heard by the lower court in this cause.”

This motion is predicated primarily upon the holding of this Court in City of Whitwell v. Fowler, 208 Tenn. 80, 343 S.W.2d 897, and Shelton v. Mooneyhan, 205 Tenn. 425, 326 S.W.2d 825. The grounds of the motion are in substance those stated in Shelton.

[721]*721In City of WMtwell, the Court was dealing with the scope of judicial review of the action of the Tennessee Public Service Commission by writ of certiorari issued out of the Chancery Court of Davidson County, in accordance with the provisions of T.C.A. sec. 65-220. In that case there was a motion to dismiss the appeal because of the failure of the appellants to file a motion for a new trial and procure the action of the Chancellor thereon as a condition precedent to prosecuting the appeal. In sustaining this motion, the Court stated:

‘ ‘ Since this is a proceeding under the rules applicable to a common-law writ of certiorari suit the question is whether the rules under such proceedings require the making of a motion for a new trial and the action of the Trial Court thereon a condition precedent to the right of prosecuting an appeal.” 208 Tenn. at 84, 343 S.W.2d at 899.
* m # # * *
“The fact that the statute gives the Chancery Court jurisdiction of proceedings under the common-law writ of certiorari with reference to the Tennessee Public Service Commission does not have the effect of enlarging that Court’s jurisdiction as to the limit of the review of the actions of this legislative and administrative Board. It could not constitutionally authorize such encroachment by the Court in the field of this legislative or administrative body.
“The foregoing rule reiterated and applied in Board of Equalization case, supra, has been repeated and applied many times, and as late as the 1959 decision in Shelton v. Mooneyhan, 205 Tenn. 425, 326 S.W.2d 825.

‘ ‘ Such being the rule, the motion to dismiss the appeal is well taken.” 208 Tenn. at 85, 343 S.W.2d at 899, 900.

[722]*722In Shelton and City of Whitwell, as well as in Memphis v. Sherwood Building Corp., 208 Tenn. 17, 348 S.W.2d 869, it was held that T.C.A. secs. 27-303 and 27-304, which provide for a hearing de novo, do not embrace proceedings under the common law writ of certiorari, and in common law certiorari cases only errors apparent upon the face of the technical record are subject to review on appeal in the absence of a motion for a new trial.

The brief of appellant filed in response to the appel-lees’ motion to dismiss recognizes the applicability of the foregoing rules. In this brief, appellant states:

“In response to the appellees’ motion to dismiss, the appellant asserts that two errors of law were committed by the Chancellor in his decree and opinion; that these are evident from the technical record. Therefore, this appellant stands before the Supreme Court on his first and second assignments of error which are purely questions of law and are based on errors apparent from the technical record and are subject to review by the Supreme Court without a motion for a new trial.”

The petition for writ of certiorari filed in the Chancery Court alleges, and the answer of the appellees admits, that the:

“* * * Cumberland Water Company is a Tennessee corporation chartered under the Quasi Public Corporation Act of Tennessee authorized to do business as a water utility by order of the Tennessee Public Service Commission issued January 14, 1959 as amended January 6,1960, June 2, 1960, and May 9, 1963. ’ ’
“On February 25, 1963, the Cumberland Water Company filed with the Tennessee Public Service Com[723]*723mission a petition requesting an extension to its then existing certificate of convenience and necessity to operate a water ntility in Davidson County seeking to expand into a vast area of undeveloped farm land in the northeast portion of Davidson County. The area for which Cumberland Water Company requested a new certificate of convenience and necessity is roughly, hounded on the east by the Wilson County line, on the South by Stones River, on the west by its existing certified area and on the north by Old Hickory Lake. ’ ’

It is further averred in the petition-for certiorari and admitted by the answer that on March 7, 1963, the appellant, as County Judge of Davidson County and as Mayor-elect of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, filed an intervening petition opposing the granting of the extension requested by the Water Company. A public hearing was held before the Public Service Commission on March 14, 1963, in which appellant participated as an intervenor. On May 9, 1963, the Public Service Commission entered an order granting the Water Company a certificate to serve all except the southerly portion of the area originally requested by it. A petition to rehear in accordance with T.C.A. sec. 65-214 was filed by the appellant, which was overruled by the Public Service Commission, and the petition for certiorari was filed in the Chancery Court within the time allowed by law.

In the Chancery Court, and on this appeal, it is the contention of the appellant that the Cumberland Water Company had to have permission from Davidson County or from the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, which government became effective April 1, 1963, as a condition precedent to the [724]*724Tennessee Public Service Commission having jurisdiction to hear the petition of the Cumberland Water Company to extend its services in Davidson County. This contention of appellant presents purely a question of law which appears on the face of the technical record. The Chancellor found this contention to be without merit and dismissed the petition for writ of certiorari. To the extent just stated, the action of the Chancery Court is properly before this Court for review.

The jurisdiction and authority of the Tennessee Public Service Commission are derived from Chapters 1 through 5 of Title 65, of the Tennessee Code Annotated.

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442 S.W.2d 612 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
389 S.W.2d 278, 215 Tenn. 718, 19 McCanless 718, 1965 Tenn. LEXIS 644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/briley-v-cumberland-water-co-tenn-1965.