City of Mineral Wells v. McDonald, 8037.
Decision Date | 07 April 1943 |
Docket Number | No. 8037.,8037. |
Citation | 170 S.W.2d 466 |
Parties | CITY OF MINERAL WELLS v. McDONALD, Chief Justice, et al. |
Court | Texas Supreme Court |
W. O. Gross, of Mineral Wells, for relator.
Grindstaff, Zellers & Hutcheson, of Weatherford, for respondents.
This is an application by the City of Mineral Wells, a municipal corporation, located in Palo Pinto County, Texas, for a writ of mandamus to compel the Court of Civil Appeals at Fort Worth to certify the following question of venue: "Did the District Court of Parker County err in overruling the plea of privilege of the City of Mineral Wells in this suit which is based upon a trespass claimed to have been committed by officers of the United States Government in Parker County when the undisputed proof showed that no officer or agent of the city participated in the acts of trespass and that the city did no more than to obtain at the instance of the Government a lease upon said land?"
The pertinent facts in the case are these: Ralph K. Alexander, Miss Maida Alexander, a feme sole, and H. H. Chambers, plaintiffs, filed suit in Parker County, Texas, against the City of Mineral Wells, a municipal corporation, located in Palo Pinto County, Texas, for trespass upon property belonging to plaintiffs in Parker County, and for damages to plaintiffs' peach orchard occasioned by such trespass. We quote from the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals the following statement:
At the hearing on the plea of privilege the various leases were introduced in evidence, as well as a letter from the United States Army representative, answering certain questions that might arise in the minds of owners of the land on which the Government desired a lease, and stating that because of the emergency and lack of time and sufficient personnel the Government needed the assistance of the City of Mineral Wells in procuring the leases. We quote from the letter the following pertinent statements:
There was no evidence to the effect that the City of Mineral Wells did anything more than take the leases from the various landowners of the land desired by the Government, and make the master lease to the United States Government covering all the acreage. The City of Mineral Wells carried out the demands of the United States Government, obtained the leases as requested and executed to the United States Government a master lease covering some 7,780 acres of land, which included the Spurgeon tract. The master lease contained the following provision:
The trial court overruled the plea of privilege. On appeal the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 163 S.W.2d 721.
Our courts have repeatedly held that the dominant purpose of the venue statutes is to give a person who has been sued the right to defend such suit in the county of his domicile, except under well-defined exceptions. Meredith v. McClendon, 130 Tex. 527, 111 S.W.2d 1062, and cases cited. Among the exceptions authorizing the filing of a suit against a person outside the county of his domicile are found Subdivisions 9 and 14 of Article 1995, which read as follows:
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