Senelick v. Mann

239 Ill. App. 589, 1926 Ill. App. LEXIS 201
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 2, 1926
DocketGen. No. 30,054
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 239 Ill. App. 589 (Senelick v. Mann) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Senelick v. Mann, 239 Ill. App. 589, 1926 Ill. App. LEXIS 201 (Ill. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Johnston

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal by Leslie Seneliek for the use of the Home Bank and Trust Company, a corporation, the plaintiff, from an order of the superior court of Cook county, overruling the general demurrer of the plaintiff to the plea of the Great Northern Produce Company, a corporation, Arthur C. Schneider and Victor H. Hodupp, garnishees, in a garnishment proceeding brought by the, Home Bank and Trust Company, after it had obtained a judgment against Seneliek.

The plea of the garnishees, which was to the jurisdiction of the court, was, as follows:

“And now come Great Northern Produce Co., a corporation, Arthur C. Schneider and Victor H. Hodupp, heretofore served as garnishees, under a special and limited appearance for the purpose of objecting to the jurisdiction of the court, and they thereupon say that there is no authority in the statutes of Illinois for the filing of a garnishee affidavit as a part of the record of the above entitled cause and that the summons issued herein and the interrogatories filed herein do not confer jurisdiction of the subject matter upon the court and over the persons of these garnishee defendants, wherefore they aver such want of jurisdiction and that the summons issued herein should be quashed and these defendants discharged and dismissed, and this they pray may be inquired into by the court, with their costs to be taxed herein, etc.”

In addition to the above plea the garnishees filed the following answer in the garnishment proceeding:

“Under a special and limited appearance, as above stated, these garnishee defendants, above named,' say for answer to the interrogatories filed, that they have no property of the said Leslie Seneliek, and do not owe him any moneys, and say ‘No’ to each of such interrogatories.”

The court overruled the plaintiff’s demurrer to the garnishees’ plea, struck the plaintiff’s affidavit in support of garnishment from the files, and quashed the summons issued against the garnishees.

The plaintiff elected to stand by its demurrer.

The Act providing for garnishment after judgment does not prescribe that the affidavit in support of garnishment shall not be filed as part of the record of the principal action on which the garnishment proceeding is based; nor does the Act direct that the garnishment proceeding shall be begun as a separate new action. On the contrary, section 1 of the Act [Cahill’s St. ch. 62, fí 1], by implication, intends that the garnishment proceeding shall be ancillary to the principal action, and a continuation of that action. Section 1 provides as follows:

“Whenever a judgment shall be rendered by any court of record, or any justice of the peace in this State, and an execution against the defendant or defendants in such judgment shall be returned by the proper officer ‘No property found,’ on the affidavit of the plaintiff, or other credible person, being filed with the clerk of such court or justice of the peace, that said defendant or defendants has or have no property within the knowledge of such affiant, in his or their possession, liable to execution, and that such affiant hath just reason to believe that any other person is indebted to such defendant, or defendants, or to either or any of such defendants, or hath any effects or estate of such defendant, or defendants, or of either or any of such defendants, in his possession, custody or charge, it shall be lawful for such clerk or justice of the peace to issue a summons against the person supposed to be indebted to, or supposed to have any of the effects or estate of the said defendant, or defendants, or of either or any of such defendants, commanding him to appear before said court or justice, as a garnishee; and said court or justice of the peace shall examine and proceed against such garnishee or garnishees, in the same manner as. is required by law against garnishees in original attachments. If the garnishee is indebted to or has any effects or estate of a part only of such defendants, judgment shall be against the garnishee in favor of such part of the defendants for the use of the plaintiff.”

It will be observed that section 1 directs that after the return of an execution on the judgment of no property found, the affidavit is to be filed with the clerk of “such” court; that “such” clerk shall issue the summons commanding the garnishee to appear before “said” court; and that the judgment shall be against the garnishee for the use of “the plaintiff.” In using the term1 ‘plaintiff, ’ ’ section 1 does not mean the plaintiff in a new action, but evidently refers to the plaintiff in the principal action, who occupies the position of plaintiff in relation to the principal action, and also to the garnishment proceeding itself. 28 Corpus Juris, p. 16.

In some jurisdictions the garnishment proceeding is considered a separate, distinct action. 28 Corpus Juris, pp. 22, 23. But generally the principal action and garnishment proceeding are regarded as constituting a single action. 28 Corpus. Juris, p. 22.

In the Encyclopedia of Law and Procedure (vol. 20, p. 979) it is stated that: “Garnishment is in no sense a new suit, but is a special auxiliary remedy for more effectually reaching defendant’s credits, and is always ancillary to the main action under which it is brought.”

The Supreme Court of Illinois has not decided in precise terms the question whether the garnishment proceeding is a new suit, but on referring to the garnishment proceeding the expressions of the Supreme Court indicate clearly that the court regards the garnishment proceeding as ancillary to the principal action, and, in effect, a continuation of the principal action.

In the case of Chanute v. Martin, 25 Ill. 63, the court ,said (p. 65): “This whole proceeding is in the nature of process to obtain satisfaction of a judgment.”

In the case of Bear v. Hays, 36 Ill. 280, the court said (p. 281): “We are of opinion that process against a garnishee, in aid of a suit at law, wherein an execution has been returned ‘milla bona,’ is not original process.”

In the case of Dennison v. Taylor, 142 Ill. 45, in discussing the question whether the judgment in an attachment proceeding could be attacked in a garnishment proceeding, the court said (p. 56): “Now, the suit against the garnishee by the defendant in attachment, for the use of the plaintiff in attachment, is ancillary to the controversy between such plaintiff and defendant, but both controversies are parts of one and the same statutory proceeding by attachment, and the suit against the garnishee grows out of and is based upon, and dependent upon, the suit against the principal debtor. Much that is in the record of the attachment proceeding is alike a part and parcel of the record in each of these suits, and of this kind are the judgment rendered against the defendant in attachment and all portions of the record that have a bearing on the matter of the jurisdiction of the court in rendering such judgment. ’ ’

In the case of LaSalle Opera House Co. v. LaSalle Amusement Co., 289 Ill. 194, the court said (p. 198): “Garnishment is a statutory proceeding, in which no presumption,1 of jurisdiction is indulged but a compliance with the statutory requirements must appear.

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Bluebook (online)
239 Ill. App. 589, 1926 Ill. App. LEXIS 201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/senelick-v-mann-illappct-1926.