Rose v. State

497 S.W.2d 444, 16 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 400, 1973 Tex. LEXIS 273
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJune 27, 1973
DocketB-3503
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 497 S.W.2d 444 (Rose v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rose v. State, 497 S.W.2d 444, 16 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 400, 1973 Tex. LEXIS 273 (Tex. 1973).

Opinions

[445]*445POPE, Justice.

The question presented is whether the county court of Kendall County had jurisdiction to entertain an action in equity to reform its earlier ministerial judgment rendered on an award in condemnation to which there were no objections. The court of civil appeals ruled that the failure by either party to the original condemnation proceedings to object to the award of the commissioners defeated the jurisdiction of the court of civil appeals and it dismissed the appeal by Rose, the condemnee. 482 S.W.2d 703. Rose contends that the effect of the dismissal is to leave standing the judgment of the county court which reformed the original judgment by adding an additional tract of land to the property described in the statement in condemnation, the award, and the ministerial judgment of the county court. Rose attacks both the judgment of the court of civil appeals which dismissed his appeal and the judgment of the county court which corrected its earlier judgment for condemnation. We reverse the judgment of the court of civil appeals which dismissed Rose’s appeal; we affirm the judgment of the county court which reformed its earlier ministerial judgment.

In 1968 the State of Texas and Kendall County, hereafter called State, commenced negotiations with Rose and his wife to acquire two tracts of land out of the Rose ranch. One tract consisted of slightly more than 6.8 acres and another tract consisted of about .9 acre. The negotiations were unsuccessful, and on October 20, 1970, the State instituted condemnation proceedings. The statement in condemnation mistakenly described only the .9-acre tract. The commissioners’ award was in the amount of $7,300 and it, too, described only the ,9-acre tract. Neither Rose not the State filed objections to the award, so the county court rendered judgment on February 9, 1971, for that sum of money. The judgment again described only the .9-acre tract. The State deposited $7,300 in the registry of the court and Rose drew it down on March 10, 1971. Rose later advised the county attorney that only one tract of land was described in the county court judgment. On June 17, 1971, the State and Kendall County instituted this suit for the purpose of reforming the county court’s judgment of February 9, 1971, alleging that the 6.8-acre tract was mistakenly omitted from the statement in condemnation, the award and the judgment of the county court. Citation was issued and served upon the Roses in this new proceeding. The county court, after a trial, rendered judgment on October 26, 1971, reforming the original judgment to include both the .9-acre tract and the 6.8-acre tract.

Two questions are posed for consideration: (1) Did the county court have jurisdiction to entertain the action which the State instituted to reform the earlier ministerial judgment of the county court? (2) Did the State’s proof support the judgment of the county court which reformed the earlier judgment of February 9, 1971 ? We answer both questions in the affirmative.

The nature of this action is of controlling significance. A judgment which a county court renders upon the basis of an award to which there have been no objections is the judgment of a special tribunal. Such a judgment is ministerial in nature and is the judgment of an administrative agency. It is not a judgment from which an appeal will lie. Pearson v. State, 159 Tex. 66, 315 S.W.2d 935 (1958). It is not a judgment in a civil suit, because the proceedings did not reach the stage of “a case in court.” Sinclair v. City of Dallas, 44 S. W.2d 465, 466 (Tex.Civ.App.1931, writ ref’d). In State v. Nelson, 160 Tex. 515, 334 S.W.2d 788 (1960), we recognized this difference, holding that once a condemnation proceeding becomes “a case in court” the trial becomes subject to the usual rules of civil procedure and the judgment [446]*446may be appealed. See Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Kerfoot, 85 Tex. 267, 20 S.W. 59 (1892). We held in Nelson that a mandamus proceeding to compel the entry of a judgment in accordance with an award is a case in court. We also ruled that a suit by way of a direct action to set aside a judgment may also be entertained.

This action is one in the nature of a bill of review, and it is a civil suit. Such an action will lie to correct a judgment upon proof of fraud, accident, or mistake; Love v. State Bank & Trust Co. of San Antonio, 126 Tex. 591, 90 S.W.2d 819 (1936); Petty v. Mitchell, 187 S.W.2d 138 (Tex.Civ.App.1945, writ ref’d). The county court in this case grounded its judgment of October 26, 1971, correcting the earlier judgment, on mistake. See, Ramsey v. McKamey, 137 Tex. 91, 152 S.W.2d 322 (1941); San Antonio Nat. Bank v. Mc-Lane, 96 Tex. 48, 70 S.W. 201 (1902); Kelley v. Ward, 94 Tex. 289, 60 S.W. 311 (1901).

An example of a direct action to reform a ministerial judgment of the county court which was rendered upon an award to which there were no objections and to make it speak the truth of what all parties understood, is found in Getzendaner v. Trinity & B. V. Ry. Co., 43 Tex.Civ.App. 66, 102 S.W. 161 (1907, no writ). As in this case, one tract was mistakenly omitted from the statement in condemnation, but all parties and the commissioners proceeded upon the assumption that two tracts instead of one tract were involved. There was no objection to the award, but the award, was, in fact, based upon proof of damages to two tracts. The county court, as in this case, wrote its ministerial judgment to include only one tract under the mistaken belief of the parties that the statement and award included both tracts. The condemnor later brought an action in the nature of an equitable proceeding to reform the judgment, which omitted one tract from the description in the judgment. The court reformed the judgment to make it conform to the true facts. The power of the court to reform the mistake in the former judgment of condemnation was reaffirmed in Getzendaner v. Trinity & B. V. Ry. Co., 59 Tex.Civ.App. 486, 126 S.W. 328 (1910, writ ref’d).

Rose relies upon State v. Nelson, 160 Tex. 515, 334 S.W.2d 788 (1960), and Stubblefield v. State, 425 S.W.2d 699 (Tex.Civ.App.1968, writ ref’d n. r. e.), for their statements and holdings that a county court may not enlarge the subject matter of condemnation by allowing amendments to pleadings which would include lands which were not described in the statement for condemnation. There are controlling differences between those cases and the present case. We have here a direct action in which the State as condemnor seeks relief from the county court in the exercise of its equitable powers, the reformation of a judgment which resulted from mutual mistake. This action concerns the power of the court to make a ministerial judgment speak what everyone thought it said from the beginning.

Nelson holds to the contrary of Rose’s contention that a county court is wholly without jurisdiction over property which is omitted from the statement in condemnation. The statement for condemnation in that case correctly described a 6.7-acre tract. Following an award and objections to the award, the case was heard on appeal in the county court.

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Bluebook (online)
497 S.W.2d 444, 16 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 400, 1973 Tex. LEXIS 273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rose-v-state-tex-1973.