Glass v. NEB. DEPT. OF MOTOR VEHICLES

536 N.W.2d 344, 248 Neb. 501
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 25, 1995
DocketS-93-542
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 536 N.W.2d 344 (Glass v. NEB. DEPT. OF MOTOR VEHICLES) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Glass v. NEB. DEPT. OF MOTOR VEHICLES, 536 N.W.2d 344, 248 Neb. 501 (Neb. 1995).

Opinion

536 N.W.2d 344 (1995)
248 Neb. 501

Darren M. GLASS, Appellee,
v.
NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, Appellant.

No. S-93-542.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

August 25, 1995.

*345 Don Stenberg, Atty. Gen., and Lauren L. Hill, Lincoln, for appellant.

Arthur S. Wetzel, Grand Island, for appellee.

WHITE, C.J., CAPORALE, FAHRNBRUCH, LANPHIER, and WRIGHT, JJ., and GRANT, J., Retired.

PER CURIAM.

The appellee, Darren M. Glass, was arrested for driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Through an administrative hearing, the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles revoked Glass' license for 90 days.

Glass then sought review by the district court, which reversed the department's order and directed that Glass' driving privileges be restored. The department thereupon appealed to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. On our own motion, we removed the case to this court in order to regulate the caseloads of the two appellate courts.

The department assigns and argues but a single claim of error, the district court's determination that "it had subject matter jurisdiction over" the proceeding. (Emphasis supplied.) Thus, the merits of the district court's decision are not before us.

The record shows that after the department suspended Glass' license, he filed a "Petition for Review of Administrative Agency's Decision" in the district court, naming as defendant "Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles, Administrative License Revocation Hearing Agency/Respondent." The summons *346 on this district court petition was served only on the director of the department.

The department filed a special appearance, contending that the district court lacked "personal jurisdiction" over the agency because Glass failed to serve a copy of the summons on the Attorney General. (Emphasis supplied.) Glass successfully moved to strike the special appearance on the ground that it was not timely filed, whereupon the department unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the petition "on the same grounds alleged in the Special Appearance."

At the relevant time, Neb.Rev.Stat. § 39-669.18 (Reissue 1988) provided, as Neb.Rev. Stat. § 60-6,208 (Reissue 1993) now provides, that one aggrieved by the department's revocation may "appeal ... in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act." The Administrative Procedure Act, Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 84-901 through 84-920 (Reissue 1994), grants persons aggrieved by certain nonjudicial determinations the right to obtain judicial review of those decisions. §§ 84-901 and 84-917. It further provides that such a

review shall be instituted by filing a petition in the district court.... All parties of record shall be made parties to the proceedings for review. If an agency's only role in a contested case is to act as a neutral factfinding body, the agency shall not be a party of record. In all other cases, the agency shall be a party of record. Summons shall be served within thirty days of the filing of the petition in the manner provided for service of a summons in a civil action.

§ 84-917(2)(a).

Neb.Rev.Stat. § 25-510.02 (Reissue 1989) states that the "State of Nebraska [and] any state agency ... may be served by leaving the summons at the office of the Attorney General" in a specified variety of ways. Thus, when § 25-510.02 applies, as by its terms it does here, in order to institute judicial review under the act, a summons must be served on the Attorney General. Twiss v. Trautwein, 247 Neb. 535, 529 N.W.2d 24 (1995).

Although, as noted earlier, in the court below the department thought it was dealing with an issue of personal jurisdiction, it now urges that because the Attorney General was not served with summons as required by § 84-917(2)(a), the district court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of Glass' district court petition.

The two types of jurisdiction are far different. Personal jurisdiction is the power of a tribunal to subject and bind a particular entity to its decisions. See Stone's Farm Supply, Inc. v. Deacon, 805 P.2d 1109 (Colo.1991). Subject matter jurisdiction, on the other hand, is the power of a tribunal to hear and determine a case of the general class or category to which the proceedings in question belong and to deal with the general subject matter involved. See In re Interest of J.T.B. and H.J.T., 245 Neb. 624, 514 N.W.2d 635 (1994). While the lack of subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived nor the existence of subject matter jurisdiction conferred by the consent or conduct of the parties, Scherbak v. Kissler, 245 Neb. 10, 510 N.W.2d 318 (1994), lack of personal jurisdiction may be waived and such jurisdiction conferred by the conduct of the party, see Egan v. Bunner, 155 Neb. 611, 52 N.W.2d 820 (1952).

In taking its present position, the department relies on two of our prior decisions: McCorison v. City of Lincoln, 218 Neb. 827, 359 N.W.2d 775 (1984), and Norris P.P. Dist. v. State ex rel. Jones, 183 Neb. 489, 161 N.W.2d 869 (1968). In McCorison, we ruled that where the aggrieved party failed to file a so-called notice of appeal from the decision of a city board within the time set by the relevant statute, the district court acquired no jurisdiction to entertain the matter. In so ruling, we wrote that if "statutory requirements are not met, the district court acquires no jurisdiction and may not enter any order other than an order of dismissal." Id. at 828-29, 359 N.W.2d at 776. Although we did not therein specify the type of jurisdiction involved, it is clear that we were not dealing with personal jurisdiction, for without the timely filing of the so-called notice of appeal, the district court did not acquire the power to hear and determine the board's decision.

*347 In Norris P.P. Dist., without specifying the type of jurisdiction involved, we held that the district court lacked jurisdiction because of the failure to serve a summons within 30 days as required. However, it must be remembered that this holding was made under a statute providing that "without the issuance of a summons" there was no "commencement of an action." Id. at 493, 161 N.W.2d at 872. Thus, for the same reason that without a timely filing of the document invoking judicial review there could be no jurisdiction in McCorison to consider the matter, neither without the service of summons in Norris P.P. Dist. did the district court acquire power to consider the matter. In each case, the situation was as if nothing had been filed in the district court.

Although this case was not cited by either party, we also declared in Nebraska Dept.

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Bluebook (online)
536 N.W.2d 344, 248 Neb. 501, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glass-v-neb-dept-of-motor-vehicles-neb-1995.