City of West Helena v. Sullivan

• Decision Date: 29 May 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-1154.,02-1154.
• Citation: 108 S.W.3d 615
• Parties: CITY OF WEST HELENA; Johnny Weaver, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Mayor of the City of West Helena, Arkansas; Ernest Simpson, Dana Flowers, Marvin Jarrett, Larry Wilson, Howard Taylor, Gail Mundt, Robert Gaston, and Louis O'Neal, Each Individually and in Their Official Capacity as City Councilmen for the City of West Helena, Arkansas, v. Connie SULLIVAN.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

108 S.W.3d 615

CITY OF WEST HELENA; Johnny Weaver, Individually and in His Official Capacity as Mayor of the City of West Helena, Arkansas; Ernest Simpson, Dana Flowers, Marvin Jarrett, Larry Wilson, Howard Taylor, Gail Mundt, Robert Gaston, and Louis O'Neal, Each Individually and in Their Official Capacity as City Councilmen for the City of West Helena, Arkansas, v. Connie SULLIVAN.

No. 02-1154.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

May 29, 2003.

Don Trimble, Little Rock, for appellants.

Etoch & Halbert Law Firm, by: Charles Halbert, Jr., Helena, for appellee.

ANNABELLE CLINTON IMBER, Justice.

The City of West Helena, along with the members of the West Helena City Council, and the City's mayor, bring this interlocutory appeal from the circuit court's grant of class certification under Rule 23 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. See Ark. R.App. P.-Civ. 2(a)(9) (2003). Because the action brought against the City is an illegal-exaction suit, it is a constitutionally created class action as a matter of law. Pursuant to our recent holding in T & T Chemical, Inc. v. Priest, 351 Ark. 537, 95 S.W.3d 750 (2003), we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

On June 7, 1999, the West Helena City Council held a special meeting to consider whether it should start its own sanitation department — a topic of some disagreement among the council members and particularly between council member Betty Jo Dial and Mayor Johnny Weaver. Mayor Weaver's attempt to call for a roll-call vote to authorize the purchase of equipment led to a heated discussion, the content of which was disputed. Following that meeting, Mayor Weaver executed an affidavit seeking a warrant for the arrest of Dial on charges of terrorist threatening, harassment, and disorderly conduct. Upon issuance of the warrant, Dial was arrested, and her trial was set for September 3, 1999. Prior to trial, the prosecutor nolle grossed the criminal charges against Dial.

On October 2, 2000, Dial filed suit against Mayor Weaver in federal court alleging that the mayor knowingly made false statements in his affidavit for an arrest warrant, and in so doing, violated her civil rights, caused her arrest without probable cause, maliciously prosecuted her for exercising her First Amendment right to free speech, and denied her due process. The federal court case proceeded to trial on November 8, 2001. After the jury returned a verdict in favor of Dial on the issue of liability, but before further proceedings on the issue of damages, the parties agreed to settle the case for the sum of $50,000. Five days later, the City Council refused to formally appropriate the money to settle the case. On December 12, 2001, Dial filed an amended complaint seeking to enforce the settlement.

On January 17, 2002, Connie Sullivan filed the instant suit against the City of West Helena; Johnny Weaver, individually and as mayor of West Helena; and the members of the West Helena City Council, individually and in their official capacity as council members. Sullivan filed the action "as a representative of a class of similarly situated taxpayers, pursuant to the provisions of Article 16, Section 13 of the Arkansas Constitution and Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure 23...." The complaint alleges that the City improperly paid Mayor Weaver's legal fees in the federal court case. Sullivan's illegal-exaction claim seeks to have Mayor Weaver repay the City the sum of $17,180.52 that the City paid to various attorneys for legal services rendered to Mayor Weaver. On August 26, 2002, the Phillips County Circuit Court entered an order granting Sullivan's motion for class certification under Rule 23. The City of West Helena, Mayor Weaver, and the members of the West Helena City Council, appellants herein, filed a timely notice of an interlocutory appeal pursuant to Ark. R.App. P.-Civ. 2(a)(9) (2003).

The appellants' sole point on appeal is that the circuit court abused its discretion in granting Sullivan's motion to certify the class under Rule 23 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure because the circuit court's order did not explain in detail the court's reasons for granting certification. As a threshold matter, we must determine whether this appeal is properly before us. We conclude that it is not.

Sullivan brought this suit as an illegal exaction under Article 16, Section 13 of the Arkansas Constitution. We recognize two types of illegal-exaction suits: "public funds" cases and "illegal tax" cases. Pledger v. Featherlite Precast Corp., 308 Ark. 124, 823 S.W.2d 852 (1992). A "public funds" case involves the prevention of a misapplication of public funds or the recovery of funds wrongfully paid to a public official, and taxpayers are entitled to broad relief. Id. We have...