Board of Trustees of Town (Now City) of New Haven v. City of Fort Wayne

• Citation: 268 Ind. 415,375 N.E.2d 1112
• Decision Date: 19 May 1978
• Docket Number: No. 578S91,578S91
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court
• Parties: BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the TOWN (NOW CITY) OF NEW HAVEN, International Harvester Company, United States Rubber Company, Cleveland Graphite Bronze, New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, et al., Appellants, v. CITY OF FORT WAYNE, Appellees.

Page 1112

375 N.E.2d 1112

268 Ind. 415

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the TOWN (NOW CITY) OF NEW HAVEN International Harvester Company, United States Rubber Company, Cleveland Graphite Bronze, New York, Chicago & St Louis Railroad, et al., Appellants, v. CITY OF FORT WAYNE, Appellees.

No. 578S91.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

May 19, 1978.

Arthur H. Fruechtenicht and Arthur W. Fruechtenicht, Robert J. Parrish, Milford M. Miller, Fort Wayne, for appellants.

David B. Keller, Lawrence E. Shine, Fort Wayne, for appellees.

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER

PIVARNIK, Justice.

This cause comes to us on a transfer petition by appellant, the Board of Trustees of the Town (now City) of New Haven, and others, following an adverse ruling by the Court of Appeals, Third District. Board of Trustees of the Town (Now City) of New Haven, et al. v. City of Fort Wayne (1977), Ind.App., 362 N.E.2d 855, reh. denied (1977) Ind.App., 367 N.E.2d 1. That ruling followed a remand to the Allen Circuit Court after an earlier opinion in this cause by the Court of Appeals. City of Fort Wayne v. Board of Trustees of the Town of New Haven (1971), 150 Ind.App. 519, 277 N.E.2d 38, trans. denied. The cause before us can be traced back to January, 1951, when New Haven filed an annexation petition with the Allen County Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners granted this petition and the City of Fort Wayne, appellee herein, then appealed to the Allen Circuit Court.

Our decision here turns on two basic jurisdictional issues, both of which have become more complex in the hearings and reviews that have been had in numerous courts for over twenty-six years. It appears that neither issue is yet put to rest. These issues are: (1) did Fort Wayne have standing to bring an appeal to the Allen Circuit Court, so that a case or controversy existed at all?, and; (2) did the Board of Commissioners of Allen County have subject matter jurisdiction? All other issues raised in this appeal depend on a resolution of these jurisdictional issues for their value. If Fort Wayne indeed had standing to bring the appeal, and the board had subject matter jurisdiction to make its determination, then all other issues require resolution. Finding a lack of such jurisdiction in either area, however, puts the entire cause to rest regardless of the potential resolution of many of the remaining issues.

In order to understand the two jurisdictional issues upon which our decision turns, a detailed examination of the history of this cause is necessary.

On January 5, 1951, the Board of Trustees for the Town of New Haven filed its petition to annex certain territory described therein with the Allen County Board of Commissioners. This annexation petition was granted by said board on May 9, 1951, following the presentation of extensive oral and written testimony.

Fort Wayne later attempted to appeal the board's annexation order to the Allen Circuit Court. On December 5, 1968, the Allen Circuit Court granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of New Haven and against Fort Wayne, and dismissed this attempted appeal. Next, the summary judgment order by the Allen Circuit Court was reversed by the Court of Appeals. That opinion in City of Fort Wayne, supra, 150 Ind.App. at 524, 277 N.E.2d at 42, stated as follows:

"At the very least, there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the City of Fort Wayne had sufficient interest and sufficient aggrievement to permit it to appeal. Therefore, the trial court committed error in sustaining the motion for summary judgment and in dismissing the 'appeal.' The judgment must be reversed and the cause remanded.

"On remand the court will be faced with many procedural and substantive problems some of which have been discussed in the briefs and oral argument."

Apparently to aid the trial court in its proceeding with this cause on remand, the Court of Appeals then went into a lengthy discussion of the procedural and substantive problems apparent in the cause. It is agreed by all the parties that the statements made by the Court of Appeals in this regard were dicta, as its decision had already been entered in regard to the summary judgment issue. In commenting on the question as to whether the land involved in the annexation by New Haven was platted or unplatted, the Court of Appeals made the following statement: "The Board of Commissioners of the County of Allen had no jurisdiction to grant the petition for annexation filed by the Town of New Haven." City of Fort Wayne, id., 150 Ind.App. at 534, 277 N.E.2d at 48.

Very shortly after receiving the above opinion from the Court of Appeals, the Allen Circuit Court on June 1, 1972, entered an order, without notice or hearing, declaring the order of the Board of Commissioners of Allen County null, void, and of no effect. The court then set aside the annexation petition of the New Haven Board of Trustees. The order of the Allen Circuit Court provides that the reason for his ruling is that he read the Court of Appeals opinion, and interpreted that opinion to provide that the Board of Commissioners in the County of Allen had no jurisdiction to grant the petition for annexation filed by the town of New Haven. The significant part of the trial court's decision was as follows:

"(T)his Court having carefully read said Decision finds that said Court of Appeals decided (1) 'The Board of Commissioners of the County of Allen had no jurisdiction to grant the Petition for Annexation filed by the Town of New Haven' and (2) 'The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the Cause remanded with instructions to deny Appellee's motion for summary judgment and for further proceedings not inconsistent with the views expressed herein.'

"Now in obedience to the instructions contained in the Decision of said Court of Appeals, this Court overrules the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the City of New Haven and sustains the Petition of the City of Fort Wayne for the Court to find and declare the decision of the Board of Commissioners to be null and void."

On June 8, 1972, the City of New Haven filed its motion and petition to review, modify, amend and correct the judgment entered on June 1, 1972. New Haven's application for change of venue was also granted at this time, and this cause was venued to the Noble Circuit Court. New Haven titled its motion for review, modification, amendment, and correction of judgment as an Ind.R.Tr.P. 60 motion for relief from judgment, raising twenty points for correction. Various hearings were scheduled and rescheduled before the Noble Circuit Court, and numerous briefs and memorandums were filed by all parties, during the next eight months. Briefs were essentially efforts on the part of all parties to inform the Noble Circuit Court of what kind of proceedings were required to take place, and of the issues to be considered in said proceedings. Among the hearings were attempts at holding a pre-trial conference, at which time additional legal questions would arise and the court would continue the pre-trial and request briefs from the parties in regard to the additional legal issue.

Fort Wayne then filed with the Court of Appeals a document entitled, "Verified Petition for Clarification and Enforcement of the Mandate Contained in the Court's Opinion Rendered, or in the Alternative, for a Writ of Mandate or Prohibition." Pursuant to this petition, the Court of Appeals issued an order on July 22, 1974, which was filed with the Noble Circuit Court on July 24, 1974, and which directed:

"The parties are entitled to a hearing on the T.R. 60, supra, motion now pending before the Noble Circuit Court as provided in said rule.

"The parties and the Noble Circuit Court, as was the Allen Circuit Court, are bound by the law of the case upon all questions decided by the Appellate Court in any subsequent stages of this cause after the rendering of the opinion of the Appellate Court and denial of transfer by our Supreme Court.

"The Noble Circuit Court is therefore directed to conduct a hearing upon the T.R. 60, supra, motion now pending, as provided under said rule, and in such hearing, or any subsequent hearing, the same should be consistent and in conformity with the opinion of this court in City of Fort Wayne v. Board of Trustees, etc., supra (1971), 150 Ind.App. 519, 277 N.E.2d 38, 28 Ind.Dec. 473 (transfer denied)."

There were further attempts at holding and completing a pre-trial in this matter before the Noble Circuit Court. New Haven then filed its motion for amendment, in which it sought to amend the petition for annexation by excluding certain parcels of real estate located in the original annexation area. This motion was overruled on the date of filing. On the same date, December 13, 1974, the Noble Circuit Court overruled the Ind.R.Tr.P. 60 motion of the City of New Haven. New Haven timely filed its motion to correct errors, which motion was overruled by the Noble Circuit Court. In support of the motion to correct errors, filed by the City of New Haven, affidavits were submitted presenting evidence outside the record. Included in these affidavits was one by the Honorable John C. Hagen, Judge of the Noble Circuit Court, which provided in part as follows:

"That on December 13, 1974, the Court without further proceedings or hearing overruled said Trial Rule 60 Motion and at the same time, denied and overruled the motion to amend the original petition for annexation filed by the Trustees of the Town of New Haven, now City of New Haven.

"That affiant further says that during the Pre-Trial Conference held on October 16, 1974 and also on November 1, 1974, the Pre-Trial Conference was limited to a discussion of the contentions of the parties and the necessity of ordering the City of Fort Wayne to answer the Interrogatories submitted by the City of New Haven and amendment of the original annexation petition; no Pre-Trial Order was suggested, prepared or signed; no Court Reporter was...