Corsicana Independent School Dist. v. Corsicana Venetian Blind Co.
| Decision Date | 24 June 1954 |
| Docket Number | No. 3194,3194 |
| Citation | 270 S.W.2d 296 |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
| Parties | CORSICANA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. v. CORSICANA VENETIAN BLIND CO. et al. |
William J. McKie, Corsicana, for appellant.
J. S. Simkins, Corsicana, for appellees.
This is a case involving the jurisdiction of the District Court of Navarro County. Parties will be referred to as in the Trial Court. Plaintiff School District sued defendant for $37.79 delinquent ad valorem personal property taxes, and to foreclose its tax lien against personal property described in its petition alleged to be of a value of $500 or more. Defendant filed a plea to the jurisdiction of the court and alleged that the suit was an attempted fraud upon the jurisdiction of the court.
The record reflects that the Trial Court overruled defendant's plea to the jurisdiction of the court and entered a judgment for the plaintiff; but that thereafter the defendant filed a Motion for New Trial, which was by the Trial Court granted. The Trial Court subsequently entered judgment dismissing plaintiff's law suit. The order of dismissal contained Findings of Fact to the effect that the property upon which lien was asserted had a value at the time of trial of $150 and that the allegation in plaintiff's petition that the property had a value of $500 was fraudulently made for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction on the court. The judgment then sustained the defendant's plea to the jurisdiction of the court and dismissed the case. Plaintiff appeals from the judgment of dismissal.
The sole question for determination is: Did the District Court have jurisdiction of this controversy?
The facts above related are almost without dispute. The plaintiff sued for $37.79 delinquent taxes and for foreclosure of tax lien on personal property alleged to be worth $500. The Defendant alleged a fraudulent allegation by plaintiff that the property was worth $500, to confer jurisdiction. The proof showed the property to be worth only $150, but there is not one line of testimony in the entire record to support the charge of fraudulent allegation on plaintiff's part for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction.
The rule is that when it is sought in the District Court to foreclose a lien on personal property the pleadings must show that either the amount of the debt or the value of the property is within the jurisdiction of the court-and whichever is greater will determine the jurisdiction of the court. (11 T.J. 743 et seq.). Jurisdiction, insofar as the amount in value in controversy is concerned, is determined by the petition insofar as it states facts in relation to the thing in controversy. (11 T.J. 739). The petition will be accepted as true for purposes of...
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...as true for the purpose of determining jurisdiction, regardless of the truth of such allegations. See Corsicana Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Corsicana Venetian Blind Co., 270 S.W.2d 296, 297 (Tex. App.-Waco 1954, no writ). Accordingly, we conclude the trial court did not err in denying appellants' ......
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