Community Care Centers, Inc. v. Indiana Dept. of Public Welfare, 2-484A94

• Decision Date: 27 September 1984
• Docket Number: No. 2-484A94,2-484A94
• Citation: 468 N.E.2d 602
• Parties: COMMUNITY CARE CENTERS, INC., Appellant (Plaintiff Below), v. INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, Appellee (Defendant Below).
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

Page 602

468 N.E.2d 602

COMMUNITY CARE CENTERS, INC., Appellant (Plaintiff Below), v. INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, Appellee (Defendant Below).

No. 2-484A94.

Court of Appeals of Indiana Third District.

Sept. 27, 1984.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 9, 1984.

David F. McNamar, John H. Sharpe, Steers, Sullivan, McNamar & Rogers, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Gordon E. White, Jr., Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

HOFFMAN, Judge.

Appellant Community Care Centers, Inc. (Community) is an Indiana corporation which owns and operates nursing care facilities. On November 24, 1980, Community requested an increase in Medicaid payments from the Indiana Department of Public Welfare (DPW). DPW denied this request, and Community filed a verified petition for judicial review. DPW filed a motion to dismiss, contending that Community's petition was improperly verified. The trial court granted this motion, and Community timely perfected its appeal.

The sole issue on appeal is whether Community's petition was properly verified by the "person or party aggrieved." The relevant facts indicate the petition was prepared, signed, and attested by Community's attorney. The petition indicated that counsel possessed personal knowledge of all matters asserted, and that those facts were true. Community maintains that corporate counsel was empowered to verify this petition under the Indiana Administrative Adjudication Act (Act).

The Act provides that the right to petition for review of an administrative decision rests with the "party or person aggrieved." IND.CODE Sec. 4-22-1-14. The section specifically provides that:

"[a]ny party or person aggrieved by an order or determination made by any such agency shall be entitled to a judicial review thereof in accordance with the provisions of this act. Such review may be had by filing with the circuit or superior court of the county in which such person resides, or in any county in which such order or determination is to be carried out or enforced, a verified petition setting out such order, decision or determination so made by said agency, and alleging specifically wherein said order, decision or determination is: ..."

Under this section, Community's corporate entity is the party or person aggrieved. However, the Act does not specifically indicate who may verify a petition for judicial review on behalf of a corporation.

Verification is defined as a confirmation of the truth or authenticity of a pleading by affidavit, oath, or deposition. Bader v. State, (1911) 176 Ind. 268, 94 N.E. 1009; Indiana Civil Rights Com'n v. City of Muncie, (1984) Ind.App., 459 N.E.2d 411; Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed. (1979). The term "verified," refers to an affidavit attached to a pleading or other document which certifies the truth of facts therein set forth. Bader, supra; City of Muncie, supra.

Generally, verification may be made on behalf of a corporation by an officer, authorized agent, or attorney for the corporation. 19 C.J.S. Corporations Sec. 1336(2) (1940). However, where statute requires verification by a party, a corporation must be represented by its executive or administrative officers. Fidelity, etc., Co. v. Carroll, (1917) 186 Ind. 633, 117 N.E. 858; Southern Surety Co. v. Kinney, (1920) 74 Ind.App. 205, 127 N.E. 575. As stated in Fidelity, 186 Ind. at 635-636, 117 N.E. at 859:

"The inquiry then arises, How may the affidavit of a corporation be executed by the party? It is true that in a broad sense a corporation always acts through an agent, and can act in no other way, but a 'distinction must be noted between a corporate act, performed through the intermediation of a person specially empowered to act as its agent, and a like act done immediately by the corporation through its executive or administrative officers, which may be termed its inherent agencies. A corporation may...