Leonard v. Sparks

63 Mo. App. 585, 1890 Mo. App. LEXIS 565
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 19, 1890
StatusPublished

This text of 63 Mo. App. 585 (Leonard v. Sparks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leonard v. Sparks, 63 Mo. App. 585, 1890 Mo. App. LEXIS 565 (Mo. Ct. App. 1890).

Opinions

Ellison, J.

A perusal of the statement of this cause will disclose that the question for solution here is that of the validity of the proceedings had in the matter of the condemnation of property for a public street; in other words, the taking of private property for public use, where such proceedings originated before an inferior tribunal of limited statutory power only. "Where such is the case, we merely assert common, learning when we say that a strict construction must be applied and that every statutory requirement must appear to have been performed in order to validate the proceedings. State ex rel. Greely v. City of St. Louis, 67 Mo. 113; Ells v. Railroad, 51 Mo. 200.

This strict and close adherence to the statutory requirement must be followed until jurisdiction be fully obtained; after having acquired jurisdiction there are doubtless some irregularities which would not subject the proceedings to collateral attack. And in this connection plaintiff made one of his principal points in argument. He contends that jurisdiction of the subject-matter was obtained by the mayor’s court upon the passage of the ordinance prescribing the limits in which private property may be benefited, and also, [595]*595perhaps, the filing with the mayor the engineer’s statement; that jurisdiction of the person of Bouton, who then owned the property, was obtained by service of the notice upon him, however erroneous or defective such service may have been; that defective service, unlike no service, causes jurisdiction over the person to attach, and that the defect can only be reached directly and not collaterally. These are his contentions and he has cited strong authority which maintains that irregular or defective service of notice secures jurisdiction of the person and will not defeat .jurisdiction of the cause. Freeman on Judg., sec. 26; Harrington v. Wofford, 46 Miss. 31; Isaacs v. Price, 2 Dillon C. C. 347; Ballinger v. Tarbell, 16 Iowa, 491. The latter ease was where the statute required five days for service and only four were given.

But in these authorities it appears, or is assumed, •or it is shown, that the court had jurisdiction of the subject-matter regardless of notice, and the distinction between jurisdiction of the subject-matter and the person is in the mind of those courts.

The case at bar belongs to a different class. It is of that class where the tribunal can only act conditionally ; where the notice required by the statute is a prerequisite to jurisdiction of the subject-matter. Wright v. Wilson, 95 Ind. 408; Doody v. Vaughn 7 Neb. 28; Van Auken v. Highway Com. 27 Mich. 414; Leavitt v. Eastman, 77 Maine, 117; Mills on Eminent Domain, sec. 95.

Notice, as prescribed by the statute, must be given before jurisdiction can by acquired to act at all in oases involving a special statutory proceeding for taking the property of the citizen for public use. Whether such notice be personal or constructive can make no difference in the principle. And, if not so given, the whole proceeding is void (at least as to the [596]*596party affected) and may be attacked collaterally. Authorities supra, and Frizzel v. Rogers, 82 Ill. 109; Hull v. Railroad, 21 Neb. 371; Commissioners v. Harper, 38 Ill. 103; Brazee v. Raymond, 59 Mich. 548; Odle v. Knisken, 54 N. Y. 52; Fravent v. Frinfrock, 43 Ohio St. 335; Platt v. Highway Com. 38 Mich. 247; Morgan v. Railroad, 36 Mich. 428; Stanford v. Worn, 27 Cal. 171.

The case last cited was a defective or irregular service, in that the publication of the notice was for a shorter period than that prescribed. The case of Morgan v. Railroad was where the notice was mailed to the wrong post office. In each, the proceedings were held void for lack of jurisdiction. In Leavitt v. Eastman, 77 Maine, 117, it is declared that, ‘‘under statute authority, all the statute requirements must be fully and strictly complied with. In the procedure, no step, however unimportant, seemingly, must be omitted, nor will the substitution of other steps, in the place of those named in the statute, be sufficient. To deprive the citizen of his property requires the whole statute, and nothing in the place of the statute. If there be' any degree in the importance of the requirements, that of notice of the intended proceedings, would be the' chief.”

In all the foregoing authorities the proceedings were held not merely erroneous, but void. Most of the cases, were a collateral attack on the proceedings, and in several there was a notice, but not of the character or for the time prescribed by the statute conferring .the jurisdiction.

But we need not confine ourselves to the investigation of cases in other states. The supreme court of this state, in our opinion, has passed upon kindred questions in accord with the foregoing views. The case of State ex rel. Greely v. City of St. Louis, 67 Mo. [597]*597113, was a case of defective service, though it was a direct and not a collateral attack on the proceedings, but the court says that: “Notice to relators was a jurisdictional fact and is an essential prerequisite to be complied with before their property could be assessed with benefits.” Chicago, R. I. & P. Railway Co. v. Young, 96 Mo. 39, was a direct attack upon proceedings had to open a public road and the court held: “The fact of notice having' been given in the mode pointed out by the statute, is as much a jurisdictional prerequisite as is the residence of the statutory number of petitioners. If either be lacking, the jurisdiction fails, and for the obvious reason that such proceedings, being in invitum, in derogation of the common law and common right, are always regarded as strictissimi juris, and receive no aid from intendments or implication.” Zimmerman v. Snowden, 88 Mo. 218, and Doughtery v. Brown, 91 Mo. 26, were collateral attacks upon proceedings opening public roads, and it was held that notice of the intended application for the roads should be put up for twenty days as required by statute and that such was a jurisdictional fact. The case of Whitely v. Platte Co., 73 Mo. 30, though a direct appeal to reverse the order laying out a new road, is quite applicable to this case. There was a notice, but it was defective and irregular in that it did not comply with the statute, and the court held that notice for twenty days was jurisdictional and an indispensable prerequisite.

II. It is, however, further insisted that, as the record of the mayor’s court recites that “the court ■adjudged that all parties have been duly notified and all persons interested duly served,” that this is an adjudication of service and conclusive in a collateral proceeding. This is not tenable. An inferior court with special limited jurisdiction will not be permitted to give itself jurisdiction by a mere recital that it had such. [598]*598The matters showing the jurisdiction must affirmatively appear. The service which the court recites was due-service, should have been stated affirmatively.

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Bluebook (online)
63 Mo. App. 585, 1890 Mo. App. LEXIS 565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leonard-v-sparks-moctapp-1890.