Dallas County Community College v. Bolton

• Decision Date: 17 October 2002
• Docket Number: No. 05-01-00116-CV.,05-01-00116-CV.
• Citation: 89 S.W.3d 707
• Parties: DALLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, et al., Appellants, v. William H. BOLTON, II, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

89 S.W.3d 707

DALLAS COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT, et al., Appellants, v. William H. BOLTON, II, et al., Appellees.

No. 05-01-00116-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas.

October 17, 2002.

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P. Michael Jung, Strasburger & Price, L.L.P., Dallas, Bruce A. Griggs, Locke, Liddell & Sapp, Austin, for appellants.

Roger L. Mandel, Stanley, Mandel & Iola, P.C., Dallas, for appellees.

Before Justices KINKEADE, WRIGHT, and FITZGERALD.

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

Opinion By Justice WRIGHT.

We deny the motion for rehearing filed by Dallas County Community College District, the Chancellor of the District, and the members of the board of trustees in their official capacities (collectively referred to as the "District"). We deny the motion for rehearing filed by William H. Bolton, II, Helen Bolton, Bruce Albright, Jason Grimes, and Daniel Martinez, individually and on behalf of a certified class, (the "Class"). We withdraw our opinion of August 15, 2002 and vacate our judgment of that date. This is now the opinion of the Court.

The District appeals the trial court's judgment in this class action lawsuit. The Class sued the District for declaratory relief, damages, and attorney's fees arising out of claims that the District illegally collected certain student fees. The trial court rendered two partial summary judgments. After trial of the remaining issues, the trial court rendered its final judgment.

The District contends: (1) this Court lacks jurisdiction of this appeal; (2) the trial court erred in granting summary judgment that the technology fee and the increase in the student services fee were unlawful; (3) the trial court committed charge error; (4) the trial court erred in granting summary judgment that the Class paid the challenged fees under duress; (5) the trial court erred in ruling that the Class's claims were not barred by sovereign immunity; (6) the trial court erred in applying the four-year statute of limitations; (7) the trial court erred in granting a lump-sum recovery; and (8) the trial court erred in its calculation of prejudgment interest and award of attorney's fees. We affirm in part, reform in part, and reverse and remand in part.

The Class filed a cross-appeal challenging the trial court's ruling that a fee increase is proper at any campus in a multi-campus district where the majority of that campus's student government approves the increase. We overrule the Class's sole issue on cross-appeal.

BACKGROUND

The District is comprised of seven junior colleges: (1) Brookhaven; (2) Cedar Valley; (3) Eastfield; (4) El Centro; (5) Mountain View; (6) North Lake; and (7) Richland. The president of each college reports to the Chancellor of the District. The District is administered by an elected seven-member Board of Trustees.

The District has always collected a student services fee from its students. This fee is used for extra-curricular activities. Prior to the fall 1997 semester, the student services fee was $10 per student per semester.

In 1994, Bruce Albright was a member of the student government at Richland. He sought to increase the student services fee to $15. He took his proposal to Stephen Mittelstet, the president of Richland. Mittelstet said he would agree to the increase only if the other colleges agreed it was necessary. The Richland Student Advisory Council voted in favor of the increase.

Mittelstet presented the fee increase proposal to the Chancellor's cabinet. The cabinet was concerned that the flat fee increase penalized seventy percent of the student population that attended part-time. It favored a sliding scale student services fee of $2 per semester hour with a minimum of $10.

Mountain View approved an increase in the student services fee. There was disagreement, however, as to the form of that increase. Eastfield voted in favor of a sliding scale fee of $2 per semester hour with a minimum fee of $10 and a maximum fee of $40. North Lake voted to increase the student services fee with a flat fee at a range of $8 and $10. On February 4, 1997, the Board of Trustees approved a sliding scale student services fee of $2 per semester hour with a $10 minimum.

In addition to the student services fee, the District also collected a technology fee. The District has collected the technology fee since 1993. The technology fee is used to purchase technology equipment for the students' use as part of their academic instruction.

Five students in the District filed suit claiming that the technology fee was unauthorized by law and the increase in the student services fee violated section 54.503(f) of the education code. The trial court rendered two summary judgments. In the first summary judgment, the trial court found that the technology fee was not authorized by law and that Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, El Centro, and North Lake did not approve the increase in the student services fee for students taking six or more hours. In the second summary judgment, the trial court found that the Class established duress as a matter of law, the four-year statute of limitations applied, and attorney's fees were recoverable.

The remaining issues were tried before a jury. The jury found that the student governments at Richland and Mountain View had not approved the increase in the student services fee. The trial court entered final judgment on November 30, 2000. The trial court declared that both the charging of the technology fee and the increase in the student services fee were illegal. The court ordered the Class to recover $13,575, 487 for reimbursement for the technology fees. The court also awarded the Class, except Eastfield Class members, $1,469, 262.30 as reimbursement for the increased amount of the student services fee. The Eastfield Class members were excluded from the award for reimbursement for the increase in the student services fee because the parties stipulated that the Eastfield student government complied with the statutory requirement of approving the exact increase implemented. The court also awarded the Class its attorney's fees. The court also made provisions to handle the funds remaining from class members who could not be located. This appeal timely followed.

JURISDICTION

At the outset, the District asserts that this Court lacks jurisdiction because the judgment is interlocutory. Specifically, the District asserts the judgment is interlocutory because it leaves matters to be determined following distribution of the award to the Class members.¹

As a general rule, an appeal may be taken only from a final judgment. Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex.2001). To be final, a judgment must dispose of all parties and all claims except as necessary to carry out the judgment. Id. A judgment rendered after a conventional trial on the merits is presumed to be final. North East Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Aldridge, 400 S.W.2d 893, 897-98 (Tex.1966). A judgment disposing of all issues between the parties is not rendered interlocutory even though the judgment provides for further proceedings incidental to its execution. Beavers v. Beavers, 651 S.W.2d 52, 54 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1983, no writ); Medical Adm'rs, Inc. v. Koger Properties, Inc., 668 S.W.2d 719, 722 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1983, no writ). In Medical Administrators, the court held that a judgment was final despite the reservation of jurisdiction to consider additional attorney's fees incurred in execution and collection of the judgment. Medical Administrators, 668 S.W.2d at 722.

The Class relies on Hargrove v. Insurance Investment Corp., 142 Tex. 111, 176 S.W.2d 744 (1944). In Hargrove, the supreme court held that a judgment was final even though it provided for payment of the proceeds from a foreclosure upon stock certificates into the registry of the trial court for later disposition. Hargrove, 176 S.W.2d at 746-47, 142 Tex. at 117. The District asserts Hargrove is inapplicable because the trial court did not reserve a question as to the opposing party's rights and the amount adjudged remained the same. In this case, the District asserts, the judgment reserves to the trial court the right to alter the amount adjudged. Thus, the District argues, if the trial court orders that the undistributed funds revert to the District, the amount adjudged against the District would change. We disagree. The trial court ordered the District liable for all of the student fees it illegally collected. The trial court adjudged an amount of money based on the District's records. The trial court recognized, however, that Class counsel would not be able to locate all of the Class members and thus, some money would be left for distribution. The amount of money left over would not be known until the judgment was executed. Accordingly, the judgment provided for the distribution of the remaining money.

The Class also relies on Gani v. Gani, 495 S.W.2d 576 (Tex.1973). In Gani, a child custody case, the trial court reserved the right to (1) order the exact hour and dates of visitation if the parties could not agree and (2) reconsider the petition if it received a report detrimental to the best interests of the child. In holding that the trial court's judgment was final, the supreme court noted that the trial court had not reserved judgment on any aspect of the case then before it. Gani, 495 S.W.2d at 578. Rather, it "contemplated possible further action of the court upon a showing of conditions different from those existing at the time of the judgment." Id. The District contends Class counsel's inability to locate some Class members is not a condition different from those existing at the time of judgment. We disagree. At the time of judgment, the trial court awarded a lump sum based on all Class members. A reduced class membership is a condition different from that existing at the time of judgment. We conclude the provision reserving for later determination the disposal of...