Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. v. Public Service Commission of Indiana

• Decision Date: 31 August 1981
• Docket Number: No. 3-1180A348,3-1180A348
• Citation: 425 N.E.2d 178
• Parties: CITIZENS ACTION COALITION OF INDIANA, INC. and Candice Walker, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF INDIANA and Larry J. Wallace, William B. Powers and James M. Plaskett, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

Page 178

425 N.E.2d 178

CITIZENS ACTION COALITION OF INDIANA, INC. and Candice Walker, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF INDIANA and Larry J. Wallace William B. Powers and James M. Plaskett Defendants-Appellees.

No. 3-1180A348.

Court of Appeals of Indiana, Third District.

Aug. 31, 1981.

Jay Lauer and Wendell Walsh, South Bend, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Robert B. Wente, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for defendants-appellees.

HOFFMAN, Presiding Judge.

Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. and Candice Walker (CAC) appeal from a summary judgment in favor of the Public Service Commission of Indiana (PSC). Essentially, the issue raised is whether the provisions of the Indiana Open Door Law, Ind.Code 1971, 5-14-1.5-1 et seq. (Supp.1977) apply to meetings between two PSC commissioners in which they discuss and deliberate upon evidence gathered at hearings on a proposed rate increase.

On December 15, 1977 Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc. filed a petition with the PSC seeking approval for increases in rates, tolls and charges for intrastate message toll telephone service furnished by Indiana Bell and all other telephone companies in Indiana. The petition also requested the PSC to approve increases in Indiana Bell's rates and charges for general exchange telephone service, and for authority for Indiana Bell and 39 other intervening telephone companies to implement a directory assistance charging program. At a pre-hearing conference, the PSC granted CAC's petition to intervene. The case was assigned Cause No. 35222.

Indiana Bell presented its case-in-chief on July 10 and 11, 1978. Indiana Bell's witnesses were cross-examined by the public counselor and intervening parties, including CAC. Testimony and exhibits on behalf of the public counselor and intervenors were presented at a hearing on August 23, 1978. Notice of all hearings was published in accordance with the Public Service Commission Act. Additionally, the PSC mailed written notice of the hearings to other interested parties. These hearings were presided over by Commissioner Powers. Field hearings were also conducted in various cities. With the exception of one hearing which was presided over by Commissioner Powers, these hearings were all presided over by administrative law judges.

After all the hearings were completed CAC filed a motion, pursuant to the Indiana Open Door Law, requesting the PSC to provide public notices of any and all meetings where the PSC would deliberate or take final action in the case. CAC also requested that it receive actual written notice of such meetings and furthermore, that the PSC comply with all requirements of the Open Door Law. This motion was denied on December 13, 1978 at the same time the PSC entered its order in Cause No. 35222.

On January 2, 1979 CAC filed a petition for reconsideration with the PSC in which the Open Door Law was not an issue. ¹ The denial of this petition gave rise to an appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals. The appeal was dismissed however as being untimely filed.

The present action arises from a complaint filed by CAC in the St. Joseph Circuit Court on January 11, 1979. The complaint alleged that the PSC violated the Open Door Law by: 1) failing to conduct its deliberations and discussions of Indiana Bell's rate petition at meetings open to the public; 2) failing to post an agenda and keep memoranda of such meetings; and 3) failing to provide sufficient public notice of such meetings. CAC requested that the PSC's order on Indiana Bell's rate petition be declared null and void and that the PSC be ordered to comply with the Open Door Law.

The PSC filed a motion to dismiss which was denied by the trial court. After a change of venue, the parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. PSC's motion was granted. The trial court entered detailed findings and conclusions which essentially stated that: 1) exclusive original jurisdiction of the case is vested in the Indiana Court of Appeals pursuant to Ind.Code 1971, 8-1-3-1; 2) the Open Door Law is not applicable to the quasi-judicial proceedings of the PSC; 3) the Public Service Commission Act and the Open Door Law are in conflict and cannot be reconciled; and 4) the Legislature did not intend to repeal the specific provisions of the Public Service Commission Act by the general provisions of the Open Door Law.

CAC initially challenges the conclusion of the trial court that, pursuant to IC 8-1-3-1 and IC 8-1-3-6, the Indiana Court of Appeals has exclusive original jurisdiction in this case. CAC contends that this is not an action to challenge the PSC's order increasing rates, but rather, an independent cause of action pursuant to IC 5-14-1.5-7.

IC 8-1-3-1 provides for an appeal by "(a)ny person, firm, association, corporation, city, town or public utility adversely affected by any final decision, ruling, or order of the public service commission of Indiana (.)" (Emphasis added.) In such an appeal, "(a)n assignment of errors that the decision, ruling or order of the commission is contrary to law shall be sufficient to present both the sufficiency of the facts found to sustain the decision, ruling or order, and the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the finding of facts upon which it was rendered." This "appeal" is not an appeal in fact, but rather a judicial review of the decision or order of the PSC by the Court of Appeals. Sizemore v. Public Service Commission of Ind. (1960), 240 Ind. 513, 167 N.E.2d 343. The statutory procedure for appeal to the Court of Appeals provides "the exclusive remedy for parties agrieved by the Commission's orders, and trial courts have no subject-matter jurisdiction over disputes arising from such orders." (Emphasis added.) Schenkel Enterprises v. Ind. & Mich. Elec. Co. (1979), Ind.App., 393 N.E.2d 268, at 270-271. See also, Haste v. Indianapolis Power & Light Co. (1978), Ind.App., 382 N.E.2d 989. It is clear from the statutes and cases that the Court of Appeals has exclusive original jurisdiction over a challenge to a final decision, ruling or order of the PSC. In accordance with the law, CAC filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals challenging the PSC's order. The present case is a separate action filed pursuant to the Open Door Law.

IC 5-14-1.5-7 provides in part:

"(a) An action may be filed by any citizen of this state in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin continuing, threatened of future violations of this chapter, or to declare void any action taken at an executive session in violation of section 3(a) (5-14-1.5-3(a)) of this chapter or at any meeting of which notice is not given in accordance with section 5(5-14-1.5-5) of this chapter. The plaintiff in such suit need not allege or prove special damage different from that suffered by the public at large."

The differences between the statutes are clear. IC 8-1-3-1 allows an appeal only by those adversely affected by an order of the PSC, while the Open Door Law does not require any special damage be alleged or proven. Most importantly for the purpose of this case, IC 8-1-3-1 gives the Court of Appeals exclusive original jurisdiction to review a "final decision, ruling or order" of the PSC. The Open Door Law on the other hand is aimed at proceedings which necessarily occur prior to reaching a final decision. In fact, IC 5-14-1.5-7 provides for a suit for an injunction against any threatened of future violations in addition to any continuing violations. Because the Open Door Law does not provide for a challenge to the merits of a final decision, ruling or order, original jurisdiction lies with the trial court and not with the Court of Appeals.

The PSC asserts that in reality this action is nothing more than a collateral attack on the PSC's order and should therefore be barred. The PSC fails to recognize however that the Public Service Commission Act and the Open Door Law are vastly different in their purposes. The Public Service Commission Act provides generally for the regulation of utilities, while the Open Door Law guarantees the public's right to be fully informed. The fact that the Open Door Law provides a remedy by which actions taken in violation of its provisions may be nullified does not make a suit brought under the Open Door Law a collateral attack on those actions. Rather, it is a method by which a public agency's compliance with the law can be assured.

CAC next challenges the trial court's findings and conclusions that the PSC is not subject to the Open Door Law. The contention is that the PSC is a public agency within the meaning of the statute and therefore meetings of its governing body are required to be open to the public.

The pertinent statutes are as follows:

"IC 5-14-1.5-1. Intent of chapter Construction. In enacting this chapter (5-14-1-1.5-1 5-14-1.5-7), the general assembly finds and declares that this state and its political subdivisions exist only to aid in the conduct of the business of the citizens of this state. It is the intent of this chapter that the deliberations and actions of public agencies be conducted and taken openly, unless otherwise expressly provided by statute, in order that the citizens may be fully informed. The purposes of this chapter are hereby declared to be remedial, and its provisions are to be liberally construed with the view of carrying out its policy.

"IC 5-14-1.5-2. Definitions

Sec. 2. For the purposes of this chapter:

(a) 'Public agency' means: (1) any board, commission, department, agency or authority, by whatever name designated, exercising a portion of the executive, administrative, or legislative power of the state; (2) any county, township, school corporation, city, town, political subdivision or other entity, by whatever name designated, exercising in a limited geographical area the executive, administrative, or legislative power of the state or a delegated local governmental power; (3) any entity which is...