Kolb v. Monroe

1998 SD 64, 581 N.W.2d 149, 1998 S.D. LEXIS 63
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJune 24, 1998
DocketNone
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1998 SD 64 (Kolb v. Monroe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kolb v. Monroe, 1998 SD 64, 581 N.W.2d 149, 1998 S.D. LEXIS 63 (S.D. 1998).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

[¶ 1.] Defendants, Todd R. Monroe, M.D. and Northern Plains Family Foot Clinic (collectively referred to as Monroe), appeal from an order denying their motion for a change of venue. We affirm.

FACTS

[¶ 2.] Dr. Monroe, a podiatrist in Aberdeen, Brown County, South Dakota, performed surgery on Plaintiff Herbert Kolb’s right heel at the Northern Plains Family Foot Clinic in Aberdeen on December 28, 1994. As a result of complications arising from this surgery and post-operative care, Kolb, a resident of Brown County, filed a medical malpractice action against Monroe in Minnehaha County.

[¶ 3.] Kolb filed his action on October 3, 1996. Monroe admitted service of the summons and complaint on October 9, 1996. Two days later, Monroe sent Kolb a demand for change of venue to Brown County by consent pursuant to SDCL 15-5-10. This demand was filed with the trial court on October 15, 1996. The final two paragraphs of the demand read:

Pursuant to SDCL 15-5-10, defendant hereby demands that the trial in this action be held in the proper county, to wit, Brown County, South Dakota, and hereby makes demand upon the plaintiff for a change of venue by consent of the parties which is provided by SDCL 15-5-10.
In the event plaintiff wrongfully withholds such consent to a transfer of venue, then defendant will thereafter seek' the change of venue by order of the Court on such terms as may' be ordered pursuant to SDCL 15-5-13.

[¶4.] By stipulation, the parties extended the time for Monroe’s answer to Kolb’s complaint after expiration of the thirty-day period provided by SDCL 15-6-12(a). On January 17, 1997, Monroe served Kolb with a motion to dismiss the action and answer to the complaint. Monroe filed this document with the trial court five months later, on June 20,1997.

[¶ 5.] On June 16, 1997, Monroe filed a notice of hearing on their demand for a change of venue, notifying Kolb that a hearing on the matter would be held August 8, 1997. This notice provided, in relevant part:

*150 Defendants, by- and through their counsel of record, hereby move the Court for transfer of venue pursuant to SDCL 15 — 5— 6 or 15-5-8. This motion is based upon the pleadings, and upon all of the file materials, entitling these Defendants to a transfer of venue.

Following the hearing, the trial court denied Monroe’s motion for venue change on grounds that it was not filed within the statutory period allowing a change of venue as a matter of right. Monroe petitioned this Court for intermediate appeal of the trial court’s order, which we granted.

ANALYSIS AND DECISION

[¶ 6.] SDCL 15-5-10 provides:

If the county designated for that purpose in the complaint is not the proper county, the action may, notwithstanding, be tried therein unless the defendant, before the time for answering expires, demands in writing that the trial be had in the proper county, and the place of trial thereupon changed by the consent of the parties or by order of the court, as provided in § 15-5-11.

(emphasis added). SDCL 15-5-11 permits a trial court to change the place of trial where the county designated in the complaint is not the proper county, where there is reason to believe an impartial trial cannot be had in the designated county, or where the convenience of witnesses and ends of justice would be promoted by such a change. “Upon a'timely motion ... courts possess no discretion to deny a change to the only county where venue correctly lies.” Nielsen v. Boos, 1997 SD 117, ¶ 4, 571 N.W.2d 658, 654 (citations omitted).

[¶ 7.] It is well settled that the parties’ stipulated extension of time for Monroe to file an answer to Kolb’s complaint does not alter the time within which application for a change of venue is required to be made pursuant to SDCL 15-5-10. Williams Ins. v. Bear Butte Farms Partnership, 392 N.W.2d 831, 833 (S.D.1986); Blair v. Scherle Irrigation Sales, Inc., 252 N.W.2d 320, 322 (S.D.1977); Midwest Oil Co. v. Olson, 66 S.D. 90, 278 N.W. 544 (1938); Irwin v. Taubman, 26 S.D. 450, 128 N.W. 617, 619 (1910). In this case, the time fixed by statute for Monroe to apply for venue change was November 4,1996, a Monday. *

[¶ 8.] This Court’s precedent establishes that Monroe had until this date to make demand for venue change, and, failing to obtain plaintiffs consent, make application to the court. Both requirements must have been met by the November 4, 1996 deadline. In Barbour v. Fidler, 31 S.D. 351, 356, 141 N.W. 88, 89 (1913), this Court instructed that:

If plaintiff consents to the change, he may indorse such consent on the demand or sign a stipulation to that effect, and the court will direct the change without further proceeding. On the other hand, if plaintiff refuses to give such consent, it then becomes incumbent upon the defendant, and before the time for answering expires, to make his application to the court. But this must be made in the regular way, either by motion or order to show cause, and after due and timely notice thereof to the plaintiff. There is nothing in the language of the statute to take the case out of the general rule, or to indicate that the proceeding in this matter is to be different from that governing ordinary motions or orders to show cause, and, in order to give the court jurisdiction, it is necessary that the plaintiff be given timely notice and an opportunity to be heard and rebut defendant’s showing, if he can.

(applying the statutory precedent of SDCL 15-5-10 with nearly identical language, in relevant part). Barbour further instructed that, although application for a change of venue must be made with the court before the time for answering expires, “[i]t is not necessary that the application for a change of venue be heard or disposed of within thé time for answering.” 31 S.D. at 357, 141 N.W. at 89. In Midwest Oil, 278 N.W.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1998 SD 64, 581 N.W.2d 149, 1998 S.D. LEXIS 63, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kolb-v-monroe-sd-1998.