Smith v. Indiana State Board of Health

303 N.E.2d 50, 158 Ind. App. 445, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 934
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 7, 1973
Docket1-573A78
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 303 N.E.2d 50 (Smith v. Indiana State Board of Health) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Indiana State Board of Health, 303 N.E.2d 50, 158 Ind. App. 445, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 934 (Ind. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

Lowdermilk, J.

Oral argument in the above case was held at the Old Territorial Assembly Hall, Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana.

Plaintiffs-appellees commenced this action on August 29, 1972, by filing a complaint for injunction in the Posey Circuit Court seeking to enjoin the defendants-appellants from holding a “rock festival” (“Labor Day celebration”) in Posey County, Indiana.

On the same day, defendants-appellants filed a motion for change of judge from the Honorable Steve C. Bach, Judge of the Posey Circuit Court, which motion was granted. Later that day, plaintiffs presented a petition for a temporary restraining order to Judge Bach which was granted over the objections of the defendants-appellants.

The restraining order basically enjoined the defendants from advertising, promoting, conducting, selling or giving tickets, operating food and/or drink concessions at the Labor Day celebration and restrained the defendants from in any way holding the rock festival in Posey County, Indiana.

Judge William D. Richardson was selected and qualified as Special Judge. On September 1, 1972, plaintiffs filed the first of two informations for contempt, which information alleged that the defendants were in violation of the restraining order. The trial court issued a rule to show cause to the *451 defendants and set the same for hearing at 9:00 o’clock A.M. on September 2, 1972.

Hearing was had on the date specified over defendants’ objections and the court made findings and rendered judgment holding defendants in contempt.

Thereafter, defendants-appellants filed their affidavit for remission of a fine of $1,000 which had been assessed against them after hearing of the first citation for contempt and the relief requested was by the court denied.

On September 6, 1972, plaintiffs filed a second information for contempt, whereupon the trial court issued the second rule to the defendants to show cause and set the same for hearing on September 8, 1972. Defendants filed verified answer to the second information and the hearing was had.

On October 13, 1972, the court entered findings and judgment holding the defendants in (1) criminal and (2) civil contempt. A second affidavit for remission of fine was filed by the defendants after the court had ordered the fine paid or the defendants sent to jail, which affidavit was overruled and denied by the court.

Motions to correct errors were timely filed on the first and second contempt convictions and were overruled by the court. This is a consolidated appeal from the overruling of the two motions to correct errors.

The motions to correct errors will be discussed herein as the various specifications apply to the issues raised at the two contempt hearings, and specifications which tend to support the same issue will be treated as one. Rule AP. 8.3 (A) (7).

The first issue is common to both hearings and attacks the very basis of the cause. Defendants-appellants contend that Judge Bach, having granted the motion for change of judge, lost all jurisdiction in the cause and acted beyond the scope of his authority when he granted the temporary restraining order. Appellants argue that if Judge Bach er *452 roneously granted the restraining order, the resulting contempt convictions necessarily must be reversed, as no contempt can ensue from an invalid restraining order.

We have found no case exactly on point regarding a change of judge, but cases regarding change of venue from the county are similar and the same reasoning would apply to both changes from the county and from the judge. Our Supreme Court, in the case of Indianapolis Dairymen’s Co-op v. Bottema (1948), 226 Ind. 260, 265, 266, 79 N.E.2d 409, in which a temporary injunction was issued and a similar objection was raised, based on lack of jurisdiction, held as follows:

“. . . It is the general rule that when a proper motion for change of venue from the county is filed the court in which it was filed loses jurisdiction in the case. State ex rel. Kealing v. Clay Circuit Court (1934), 207 Ind. 259, 263, 192 N.E. 423. But jurisdiction must continue in some court, and until the court to which the venue was changed acquires jurisdiction by the receipt of transcript, the original court must retain jurisdiction to make any necessary emergency interlocutory orders. . . .
“. . . Delay pending the completion of a change of venue might in many instances deprive parties of the protection afforded by such interlocutory remedies. The rule that the filing of an affidavit for a change of venue from the county does not deprive the court of jurisdiction to make such interlocutory orders is well settled, and no indication of a recession from this rule is pointed out. . . .” (Our emphasis.)

The policy considerations for the rule enunciated in Bot-tema, supra, were set out in the case of State ex rel. Gwin v. Spencer, Judge (1942), 220 Ind. 337, 339, 43 N.E.2d 724, as follows:

“. . . Jurisdiction over the case must necessarily be in some court and some court must necessarily have jurisdiction over the action to make such orders as might be necessary for the protection of the rights of the parties litigant. To hold that the respondent judge in this case had no jurisdiction to make interlocutory orders in such a case would *453 leave the parties to the action helpless until the venue had been perfected, and jurisdiction vested in the court to which it was sent. In some cases several days or possibly weeks might intervene between the date of filing the motion for a change of venue and the date upon which the case was filed in the county to which the action was venued. In the meantime, property interests might be affected seriously and the welfare of children might be neglected. We are not persuaded that such a situation should receive the endorsement of this court.”

This court held, in the case of Mich. Mut. Liab. Co. v. Perez (1965), 137 Ind. App. 247, 256, 207 N.E.2d 368, that:

“When the application for a change of venue was filed by co-defendant, which is binding upon all defendants, the trial judge before whom the cause was filed lost jurisdiction except in matters of emergency and which matters need prompt determination. . . .”

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Bluebook (online)
303 N.E.2d 50, 158 Ind. App. 445, 1973 Ind. App. LEXIS 934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-indiana-state-board-of-health-indctapp-1973.