Arkansas Real Estate Co. v. Arkansas State Highway Commission

• Decision Date: 07 October 1963
• Docket Number: No. 5-3031,5-3031
• Parties: ARKANSAS REAL ESTATE COMPANY, Inc., Appellant, v. ARKANSAS STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION et al., Appellees.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 1

371 S.W.2d 1

237 Ark. 1

ARKANSAS REAL ESTATE COMPANY, Inc., Appellant, v. ARKANSAS STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION et al., Appellees.

No. 5-3031.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Oct. 7, 1963.

Moses, McClellan, Arnold, Owen & McDermott, Little Rock, for appellant.

Dowell Anders, H. Clay Robinson and Bill Demmer, Little Rock, Walter H. Laney, Camden, for appellees.

McFADDIN, Justice.

This appeal results from the fact that the Arkansas State Highway Commission named the wrong party as owner of a tract of land in an eminent domain proceeding. The said party erroneously named as landowner received the amount deposited in the Court, which amount the Highway Commission now seeks to recover. At the same time, the true owner of the land seeks to recover from the Arkansas State Highway Commission the value of the land taken in the eminent domain proceedings. From a judgment on the issues there is this direct appeal and cross appeal.

On April 6, 1959 the Arkansas State Highway Commission (hereinafter called 'Highway Commission') filed this eminent domain proceeding involving a number of parcels, one of which was Tract No. 62 containing 31.7 acres. The complaint alleged that the value of the said Tract No. 62 was $9400.00; and that amount was deposited in the Registry of the Court so that immediate possession could be taken. The complaint of the Highway Commission named the appellant, Arkansas Real Estate Company, Inc. (hereinafter called 'Real Estate Company') as the owner of said tract; the Real Estate Company by answer admitted its ownership of the tract and claimed a greater amount as damages; and by order of the Circuit Court on August 3, 1959, the Real Estate Company received the said amount of $9400.00 from the Registry of the Court.

Then on August 10, 1959, the appellees, W. H. Laney et al., intervened in the said eminent domain proceedings, asserted their ownership and actual possession of the 31.7 acres, and claimed damages for said taking. With the status of affairs in the condition recited, this eminent domain case remained in abeyance in the Circuit Court until the Supreme Court decided the case of Laney v. Arkansas Real Estate Company, 234 Ark. 187, 350 S.W.2d 911 (opinion of November 20, 1961), which held that the Laneys were the owners of the 31.7 acres here involved, as well as other lands. The Laneys called the said opinion of this Court to the attention of the Circuit Court in the present eminent domain proceedings and, as a result, recovered judgment against the Highway Commission for the $9400.00, which was the amount the Highway Commission had stated to be the value of the 31.7 acres. From that judgment in favor of the Laneys, the Highway Commission brings the present appeal.

In this same eminent domain proceeding, the Highway Commission, after the judgment in favor of the Laneys, sought and obtained judgment against the Real Estate Company for the $9400.00 which the Real Estate Company had withdrawn from the Registry of the Court on August 3, 1959, as aforesaid; and from that judgment against it, the Real Estate Company prosecutes the present appeal.

I. The Judgment In Favor Of The Laneys And Against The Highway Commission. The affirmance of this judgment is a reasonably simple matter. The Arkansas Constitution (Art. 2, § 22) says: '* * * private property shall not be taken, appropriated or damaged for public use, without just compensation therefor.' The eminent domain statute under which the Highway Commission proceeded was Ark.Stat.Ann. § 76-533 et seq. (Repl.1957). But the Highway Commission did not list the Laneys as the owners of the said land; so we have a situation--insofar as the Laneys are concerned--in which the Highway Commission admits the taking of the Laney land and admits the damages to be $9400.00. The Laneys cannot be held responsible for the failure of the Highway Commission to name the correct owner of the title and party in possession of the land. It was through no fault of the Laneys that an erroneously named owner received the money from the Highway Commission seven days before the Laneys intervened in the case. The Laneys have been guilty of no laches, negligence, or delay, and are entitled to the protection of the Constitution for the value of their land taken and damaged. There is nothing in Arkansas State Highway Comm. v. Kincannon, 193 Ark. 450, 100 S.W.2d 969, in conflict with our present holding. The Circuit Court was correct in awarding the Laneys the judgment ¹ rendered in their favor.

II. The Judgment In Favor Of The Highway Commission Against The Real Estate Company. The decision on this issue is not so easy, because the Highway Commission alleged in the original complaint that the Real Estate Company was plaint that the Real Estate Company was the owner of the 31.7 acres, and the Highway Commission consented and agreed that the Real Estate Company could withdraw the $9400.00 deposited in the Registry of the Court, and this withdrawal was done by Circuit Court Order. The Real Estate Company claims: (a) that the eminent domain proceeding was a matter in rem; (b) that the Highway Commission is bound by its allegations as to ownership; and (c) that the payment of the money from the Registry of the Court is...