City of Mulvane v. Roberts

65 P.3d 544, 31 Kan. App. 2d 366, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 222
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMarch 28, 2003
DocketNo. 88,976
StatusPublished

This text of 65 P.3d 544 (City of Mulvane v. Roberts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Mulvane v. Roberts, 65 P.3d 544, 31 Kan. App. 2d 366, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 222 (kanctapp 2003).

Opinion

Johnson, J.:

Following conviction in municipal court for traffic-related violations of the Mulvane City Code, Jeffeiy T. Roberts filed a notice of appeal directly with the Sumner County District Court. The district court dismissed Roberts’ appeal, finding it lacked jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a municipal court located in Sedgwick County and, without jurisdiction, it could not transfer the appeal to Sedgwick County. We disagree with Roberts’ assertions that Sumner County had concurrent jurisdiction to hear tire appeal, or, in the alternative, that the Sumner County Court should have transferred the appeal to Sedgwick County. Accordingly, we affirm.

[367]*367The principal fact, making this case unique, is the location of the City of Mulvane astraddle the Sedgwick/Sumner Counties boundary line. Roberts’ municipal court convictions arose from two separate incidents within the corporate limits of Mulvane. The first occurred at the intersection of First and Main, which is situated in Sumner County; the second was at die intersection of Second and Helbert, in Sedgwick County. The district court found, and the parties do not contest, that the Mulvane municipal courthouse is physically located in the Sedgwick County portion of the city.

After Roberts filed his notice of appeal directly with the Sumner County District Court, Mulvane moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because Roberts failed to file a timely notice of appeal in Sedgwick County. Roberts asserted that Sumner County did have jurisdiction, but, if the court disagreed, he asked that the appeal be transferred to Sedgwick County, in lieu of dismissal. The district court issued a memorandum of opinion, finding that the applicable statutes required the appeal to be filed with the Sedgwick County District Court; the statutes governing the filing of a notice of appeal are jurisdictional; and the court could not transfer the appeal because it had never acquired jurisdiction.

JURISDICTION

Roberts first argues that Sumner County District Court did have jurisdiction to hear his appeal. Determination of the issue requires us to interpret two statutes dealing with municipal court appeals: K.S.A. 12-4601 and K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law subject to this court’s unlimited review. Hamilton v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 263 Kan. 875, 879, 953 P.2d 1027 (1998). Similarly, this court has unlimited review over the existence of jurisdiction. Cypress Media, Inc. v. City of Overland Park, 268 Kan. 407, 414, 997 P.2d 681 (2000).

K.S.A. 12-4601 provides:

“An appeal may be taken to the district court in the county in which said municipal court is located-.
“(a) By the accused person in all cases; and
“(b) By the city upon questions of law.
[368]*368“The appeal shall stay all further proceedings upon the judgment appealed from.” (Emphasis added.)

K.S.A. 12-4602 directs the aggrieved party to the procedure in K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609, which states:

“(1) The defendant shall have the right to appeal to the district court of the county from any judgment of a municipal court which adjudges the defendant guilty of a violation of the ordinances of any municipality of Kansas. The appeal shall be assigned by the chief judge to a district judge. The appeal shall stay all further proceedings upon the judgment appealed from.
“(2) An appeal to the district court shall be taken by filing, in the district court of the county in which the municipal court is located, a notice of appeal and any appearance bond required by the municipal court. Municipal court clerks are hereby authorized to accept notices of appeal and appearance bonds under this subsection and shall forward such notices and bonds to the district court. No appeal shall be taken more than 10 days after the date of the judgment appealed from.” (Emphasis added.)

Roberts argues the reference in K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609(1) to the “district court of the county” is ambiguous, especially in light of the aberrant fact that Mulvane is geographically located in both Sumner and Sedgwick Counties. He then urges us to resolve the ambiguity in favor of the accused by determining the referenced “county” can be either Sumner or Sedgwick.

While criminal statutes should be strictly construed in favor of the accused, statutory interpretation must be reasonable and sensible to legislative design and intent. State v. McGill, 271 Kan. 150, 154, 22 P.3d 597 (2001). The provisions of an act should be considered in pari materia, rather than as isolated parts, to reconcile different provisions so as to make them consistent and harmonious. State v. Hymer, 271 Kan. 716, 723, 26 P.3d 63 (2001). Likewise, “[g]eneral and special statutes should be read together and harmonized whenever possible, but to the extent a conflict between them exists, the special statute will prevail unless it appears the legislature intended to malee the general statute controlling. [Citation omitted.]” In re Estate of Antonopoulos, 268 Kan. 178, 189, 993 P.2d 637 (1999). K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609(1) addresses the right to appeal, and subsection (2) addresses the specific procedure for filing an appeal. The latter subsection clearly requires the notice of appeal from a municipal court conviction to be filed in the [369]*369county where the municipal court is located. Reading all of K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609 in conjunction with K.S.A. 12-4601 creates no ambiguity.

Roberts’ better argument is that the “county in which the municipal court is located” refers to the county in which the municipal court exercises its jurisdiction, rather than the county that contains the physical courthouse. The jurisdiction of the Mulvane Municipal Court extends into both Sumner and Sedgwick Counties; arguably, then, the municipal court is located in both counties. Intuitively, a municipal code violator whose offense occurred in Sumner County would naturally expect to appeal to the Sumner County District Court.

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Related

City of Overland Park v. Barron
672 P.2d 1100 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1983)
In Re Estate of Antonopoulos
993 P.2d 637 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1999)
Russell v. Lamoreaux Homes, Inc.
424 P.2d 561 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1967)
State v. Ortiz
640 P.2d 1255 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1982)
Cypress Media, Inc. v. City of Overland Park
997 P.2d 681 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2000)
City of Wichita v. Patterson
919 P.2d 1047 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1996)
Hamilton v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.
953 P.2d 1027 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1998)
State v. Hymer
26 P.3d 63 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2001)
State v. McGill
22 P.3d 597 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2001)
State v. Fawcett
2000 Ohio 195 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
65 P.3d 544, 31 Kan. App. 2d 366, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-mulvane-v-roberts-kanctapp-2003.