State ex rel. State Fire Marshal v. Curl

722 N.E.2d 73, 87 Ohio St. 3d 568
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided January 26, 2000·No. No. 99-1344·Published·Cited by 43 cases

Opinions

Per Curiam.

The State Fire Marshal asserts that he is entitled to the requested extraordinary relief in prohibition and mandamus. If a lower court patently and unambiguously lacks jurisdiction to proceed in a cause, prohibition and mandamus will issue to prevent any future unauthorized exercise of jurisdiction and to correct the results of prior jurisdictionally unauthorized actions. See [570]*570State ex rel. Dannaher v. Crawford (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 391, 393, 678 N.E.2d 549, 552.

Once an appeal is taken, the trial court is divested of jurisdiction except “over issues not inconsistent with that of the appellate court to review, affirm, modify or reverse the appealed judgment, such as the collateral issues like contempt * * State ex rel. Special Prosecutors v. Judges, Court of Common Pleas (1978), 55 Ohio St.2d 94, 97, 9 O.O.3d 88, 90, 378 N.E.2d 162, 165; Haller v. Borror (1995), 107 Ohio App.3d 432, 436, 669 N.E.2d 17, 19.

A trial court, however, lacks jurisdiction to execute a judgment or contempt proceedings regarding the judgment if there is a stay of the judgment, pending appeal. In re Kessler (1993), 90 Ohio App.3d 231, 236, 628 N.E.2d 153, 156; see, also, Oatey v. Oatey (1992), 83 Ohio App.3d 251, 257, 614 N.E.2d 1054, 1058, where the court of appeals held that “[t]he mere filing of a notice of appeal from the order * * * does not divest the * * * court of jurisdiction to enforce an interlocutory or final order pending appeal unless the party is granted a stay of execution of the order.” (Emphasis added.) See Dandino v. Finkbeiner (Oct. 27, 1995), Lucas App. No. 95-030, unreported, 1995 WL 628222.

As the State Fire Marshal correctly contends, he was entitled to a stay of the judgment as a matter of right pursuant to Civ.R. 62(B) and (C), which provide:

“(B) Stay upon appeal. When an appeal is taken the appellant may obtain a stay of execution of a judgment or any proceedings to enforce a judgment by giving an adequate supersedeas bond. The bond may be given at or after the time of filing the notice of appeal. The stay is effective when the supersedeas bond is approved by the court.

“(C) Stay in favor of government. When an appeal is taken by this state or political subdivision, or administrative agency of either, or by any officer thereof acting in his representative capacity and the operation or enforcement of the judgment is stayed, no bond, obligation or other security shall be required from the appellant.”

After construing Civ.R. 62(B) and (C) in pari materia,1 cf. State ex rel. Watkins v. Eighth Dist. Court of Appeals (1998), 82 Ohio St.3d 532, 535, 696 N.E.2d 1079, 1083, we find that the State Fire Marshal was manifestly entitled to a stay of Judge Curl’s judgment pending his appeal. In State ex rel. Ocasek v. Riley (1978), 54 Ohio St.2d 488, 8 O.O.3d 466, 377 N.E.2d 792, we granted a writ of prohibition to prevent a trial court from proceeding with an evidentiary hearing and ancillary proceedings on the motion of several government officers for a stay pending their appeal in a civil case. We expressly and unanimously held:

[571]*571“Pursuant to [Civ.R. 62], defendants-appellants are entitled to a stay of the judgment as a matter of right. The lone requirement of Civ.R. 62(B) is the giving of an adequate supersedeas bond. Civ.R. 62(C) makes this requirement unnecessary in this case, and respondent has no discretion to deny the stay. Therefore, the evidentiary hearing on the stay and the related depositions are inappropriate proceedings.” 54 Ohio St.2d at 490, 8 O.O.3d at 467, 377 N.E.2d at 793.

In this regard, the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, including Civ.R. 62, were patterned after the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Littleton v. Good Samaritan Hosp. & Health Ctr. (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 86, 101, 529 N.E.2d 449, 462. Fed.R.Civ.P. 62(d) and (e) contain the following language, which in pertinent part mirrors Civ.R. 62(B) and (C):

“(d) Stay Upon Appeal. When an appeal is taken the appellant by giving a supersedeas bond may obtain a stay subject to the exceptions contained in subdivision (a) of this rule. The bond may be given at or after the time of filing the notice of appeal or of procuring the order allowing the appeal, as the case may be. The stay is effective when the supersedeas bond is approved by the court.

“(e) Stay in Favor of the United States or Agency Thereof. When an appeal is taken by the United States or an officer or agency thereof or by direction of any department of the Government of the United States and the operation or enforcement of the judgment is stayed, no bond, obligation, or other security shall be required from the appellant.”

Our interpretation of Civ.R. 62(B) and (C) in Ocasek comports with the interpretation of the similarly worded Fed.R.Civ.P. 62(d) and (e) by the leading treatises and a majority of federal courts. See, generally, 11 Wright, Miller & Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure (2 Ed.1995) 520, Section 2905 (“The stay [pending appeal] issues as a matter of right in cases within Rule 62[d], and is effective when the supersedeas is approved by the court. Under Rule 62[e], no supersedeas bond is required on appeals on behalf of the United States.”) (Emphasis added.); Hoban v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth. (C.A.D.C. 1988), 841 F.2d 1157, 1159, at fn. 6, quoting 7 Moore & Lucas, Moore’s Federal Practice (2 Ed.1985) 62-36, Section 62.07 (“ ‘When an appeal is taken by the United States or an officer or agency thereof or by the direction of any department of the Government of the United States’ and a stay is authorized under other subdivisions of Rule 62, the United States is entitled to a stay without the necessity of giving bond, obligation or security.”) (Emphasis added.); see, also, Becker v. United States (1981), 451 U.S. 1306, 1308, 101 S.Ct. 3161, 3162, 68 L.Ed.2d 828, 831 (Rehnquist, C.J., as Circuit Justice), referring to the automatic stay provisions of Fed.R.Civ.P. 62(d); Am. Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co. v. [572]*572Am. Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (1966), 87 S.Ct.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State ex rel. State Fire Marshal v. Curl, 722 N.E.2d 73, 87 Ohio St. 3d 568 (Ohio 2000).

722 N.E.2d 73 (State ex rel. State Fire Marshal v. Curl) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

First Fed. S. & L. Assn. of Lorain v. Smith
2024 Ohio 5148 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
In re Estate of Taylor
2024 Ohio 1496 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
Law Office of Josh Brown, L.L.C. v. Ohio Secy. of State
2024 Ohio 1265 (Ohio Court of Claims, 2024)
Craig v. Gilchrist
2022 Ohio 4477 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
State v. Lyons
2022 Ohio 2224 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
State ex rel. Allenbaugh v. Sezon
2022 Ohio 1718 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
Setters v. Durrani
2022 Ohio 1022 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
Erzurum v. Erzurum
2021 Ohio 2014 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2021)
Lloyd v. Thornsbery
2021 Ohio 240 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2021)
Professional Solutions Ins. Co. v. Novak L.L.P.
2020 Ohio 4829 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
In re I.L.J.
2019 Ohio 5241 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
WBCMT 2007-C33 Office 7870, LLC v. Bar J Ranch-Kemper Pointe LLC
108 N.E.3d 772 (Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County, 2018)
State ex rel. Stewart v. Krueger
2017 Ohio 8048 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
State v. Smith
2017 Ohio 2684 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
Barton v. Barton
2017 Ohio 980 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
State v. Thompson
2016 Ohio 8401 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)
State v. Holmes
2015 Ohio 3672 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)
State v. Wilson
2014 Ohio 1764 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
Greene Cty. Treasurer v. Limoli
2013 Ohio 4944 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Lauharn
2012 Ohio 1572 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2012)