12 N.W.2d 769 | Minn. | 1943
Lead Opinion
Service of the summons in the main action was made on the secretary of state at his office in St. Paul under §
Defendant appeared specially and moved to set aside the service of process upon the grounds (1) that it is "located" in the village of Hector, Renville county, Minnesota, wherein all its officers reside, and that it has no place of business outside said county; and (2) that service of the summons upon the secretary of state was unauthorized by law. The justice of the peace overruled the challenges to his jurisdiction and to the validity of the service of the summons on the secretary of state and rendered judgment against defendant. On appeal from the judgment of the justice, the municipal court of the city of St. Paul also overruled the challenges to the jurisdiction and the validity of the service of the summons and made findings against defendant. Defendant appeals.
1. Jurisdiction of justices of the peace is defined by §
"The jurisdiction of justices of the peace is coextensive with the *210 limits of the county in which they reside, except in the following cases:
"(1) Writs of attachment may be directed to the proper officer in any county for the purpose of causing an attachment of property therein;
"(2) Garnishee process may run into, and be served on the garnishee in, any county.
"This section shall not affect the jurisdiction of any city justice or justice of the peace under the charter of any city or village situated in two or more counties."
The last sentence of the section has no application here, because the city of St. Paul is not situated in two or more counties. Jurisdiction of actions is governed by the provision that the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace is coextensive with the limits of the county in which he resides. The statute plainly territorially limits jurisdiction of a justice of the peace to the county of his residence. A justice of the peace cannot exercise his power beyond the territorial limits of his county. A summons issued by a justice of the peace is without force or effect outside the county in which he resides. Perkins v. Meilicke,
2. The exceptions authorizing attachments to be made and garnishment process to be served in other counties relate to attachments and garnishments in actions of which the justice of the peace issuing them has jurisdiction. The plain purpose of these provisions is to provide procedures for the enforcement of the judgments of justices of the peace in counties other than the one in which they were recovered. It is not the purpose thereby otherwise to enlarge the jurisdiction of justices of the peace of actions. In Perkins v. Meilicke,supra, we held that, where the defendant resides in a different county than the justice of the peace, the justice of the *211 peace could not obtain jurisdiction of the defendant by an attachment, for the obvious reasons that a valid attachment can be issued only in an action of which the justice has jurisdiction, and that the justice had no jurisdiction of the action because the defendant was outside his territorial jurisdiction.
Likewise, jurisdiction of a defendant residing in another county cannot be acquired by the institution of garnishment proceedings impounding defendant's property within the county. A garnishment is not an independent action but is a proceeding ancillary to an action. Jurisdiction of a garnishment proceeding depends on jurisdiction of the main action. It is necessary for a court to have jurisdiction of the main action in order to have jurisdiction of a garnishment proceeding ancillary thereto. Willson v. Pennoyer,
3. Jurisdiction outside his county is not conferred on a justice of the peace by the part of § 530.07 (§ 8999), which provides that "actions shall in all cases be brought in the town, village, or city where the plaintiff or defendant, or one of several plaintiffs or defendants, resides, or where an attorney at law licensed to practice in courts of record, representing plaintiff in the action, resides, or at the county seat." The quoted language was adopted as part of an amendment enacted subsequent to the enactment of §
4. The special appearance stated that the defendant is "located" in Renville county. A corporation is located where it exercises its corporate powers. Van Tassel (Carter) v. Spring Perch Co.
5. A corporation is deemed to be a "resident" within the purpose and intent of statutes defining the jurisdiction of courts and venue of actions. State ex rel. Oakland M. C. Co. v. District Court,
Because it has its principal and only place of business there and no office or resident agent elsewhere, defendant is a resident of Renville county. It is outside the territorial jurisdiction of the justice of the peace below. A justice of the peace whose jurisdiction is limited territorially to a county has no jurisdiction of a corporation whose place of business is in another county. Chevrolet Motor Co. v. Landers Chevrolet Co.
6. The provisions of §
"If such domestic corporation have no officer within the state upon whom service can be so made, of which fact the return of the sheriff that none can be found in his county shall be conclusive evidence, service of the summons upon it may be made by depositing two copies thereof with the secretary of state, which shall be deemed personal service upon such corporation. One of such copies shall be filed by such secretary, and the other forthwith mailed by him to the corporation, if the place of its main office be known to him or be disclosed by the files of his office."
While the statute provides that the sheriff's return that no officer of the defendant corporation can be found upon whom service can be made is conclusive evidence that the corporation has no officer in the state upon whom service can be made, we are confronted with the undisputed, actual fact that defendant had officers in Renville county upon whom service could have been made. The constitutionality of the statute so far as it makes the sheriff's return conclusive evidence was questioned in Town of Hinckley v. Kettle River R. Co.
At the outset it should be borne in mind that a domestic corporation is not required to appoint the secretary of state its agent for service of process. Here, so far as appears, there was no such appointment. Consequently, there could be no actual or implied consent to service of process against defendant upon the secretary of state. Neirbo Co. v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Ltd. *214
Likewise, it should be observed that a corporation not assenting to service of process upon it by service upon a public officer is not in fact present at the place where a statute authorizes service upon the officer. The actualities of the case — that the corporation is where it has its principal place of business and that the public officer is at his official office — are to be respected. Garber v. Bancamerica-Blair Corp.
The statute authorizes service upon the secretary of state as a "substitute" for personal service upon private domestic corporations in cases where such corporations have no officers who can be found in the state upon whom service can be made. Such service is justified upon the ground that it is the most appropriate and likely means of communicating to the corporation notice of the commencement of the action. Town of Hinckley v. Kettle River R. Co.
"Personal service" ordinarily means actual delivery of the process to the defendant in person. It is the ordinary method of obtaining jurisdiction over the person of the defendant. "Substituted service," as the term implies, is a substitute for service on the defendant by delivering to him personally a copy of the summons. It is just as good as personal service, but it is, nevertheless, a substitute. Bardwell v. Collins,
Statutes providing for substituted service relate simply to service of process as a means of obtaining jurisdiction of the defendant and are not construed as extending or restricting the places where by law an action may be brought. Eickhoff v. Fidelity Cas. Co.
Section
The statute authorizing substituted service on corporations (§
Territorial limitation of jurisdiction of justices of the peace is based upon a deep-seated public policy requiring actions involving small amounts to be tried in the locality where the defendant resides, to protect him against undue expense and the hardship of such litigation. This public policy is underscored by the provisions of § 530.07 (§ 8999), supra, further limiting the jurisdiction of justices of the peace by requiring actions to be brought in certain specified localities in the county, to prevent, as we held in Union Stoneware Co. v. Lang,
We think that it was not the intention of the legislature, by adopting the provisions of the statute authorizing substituted service, to enlarge the jurisdiction of justices of the peace in such cases so as to extend it beyond the boundaries of the county wherein they reside. In other words, the substituted service was intended to be only a substitute in fact for personal service. In that view, the substituted service can have no different scope and effect than personal service. It can be resorted to only where personal service, if it could be had, would be permissible. It was not intended thereby to enable a justice of the peace to obtain jurisdiction of corporations beyond the boundaries of his county.
If a justice of the peace could obtain jurisdiction over a corporation regardless of its location by such a facile procedure as a sheriff's "Not found," a justice of the peace could obtain jurisdiction of every corporation in the state, regardless of its principal place of business, simply by serving the summons upon the secretary of state, although he could not obtain such jurisdiction if personal service were made upon the corporation. To adopt the analogy used in Perkins v. Meilicke,
The reasonable construction of the statute is that substituted service is authorized only in cases where a justice of the peace otherwise could obtain jurisdiction by personal service. Adoption of a process statute insofar as it conforms with a court's jurisdiction as defined by statute should not be construed as enlarging the court's jurisdiction as thus defined. Toland v. Sprague, 37 U.S. (Pet.) 300,
The service of the summons should have been set aside when challenged, and the action should have been dismissed. The dismissal of the main action would have carried with it the garnishment. Defendant is entitled to judgment to that effect.
Reversed with directions to dismiss the action, including the ancillary garnishment proceeding.
MR. JUSTICE LORING, absent because of accidental injuries, took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. *218
Addendum
On petition for reargument plaintiff raises the point, for the first time, that the justice of the peace had jurisdiction under § 532.25 (5), (§ 9080[5]), which provides that an attachment may issue against the defendant's property within the county where the defendant "resides in another county and more than one hundred miles from the residence of the justice." This statute is part of the "chapter" or "subdivision" as it is called in Minn. St. 1941, §§ 532.24 to 532.36, and in Mason St. 1927, §§ 9079 to 9091, respectively, relating to attachments in justice courts. Section 532.24 (§ 9079) shows that the proceedings are "against the property" of the debtor. In order to obtain the writ, the plaintiff must file the affidavit required by § 532.25 (§ 9080) and give a bond as security as required by § 532.27 (§ 9082). Where property has been attached within the county and the defendant cannot be found therein and resides in another county in the state, § 532.29 (§ 9084) provides for service of the summons upon him in the same manner as a district court summons.
Plaintiff did not proceed under this chapter or subdivision. He did not file the requisite affidavit, without which any proceedings, thereunder would be void. Curtis v. Moore,
The petition for reargument is denied.
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE LORING took no part.
MR. JUSTICE STREISSGUTH took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. *219