Denver County Court v. Lee

• Decision Date: 22 April 1968
• Docket Number: No. 22848,22848
• Citation: 439 P.2d 737,165 Colo. 455
• Parties: . Burnett, County Judge Presiding, and the Honorable John F. Sanchez, Plaintiffs in Error, v. Robert Harrison LEE, Defendant in Error. Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 737

439 P.2d 737

165 Colo. 455

The DENVER COUNTY COURT, the Honorable William H. Burnett,

County Judge Presiding, and the Honorable John F.

Sanchez, Plaintiffs in Error, v. Robert Harrison LEE, Defendant in Error.

No. 22848.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

April 22, 1968.

James D. McKevitt, Dist. Atty., Gregory A. Mueller, Asst. Dist. Atty., Douglas M. Kerr, Deputy Dist. Atty., Denver, for plaintiffs in error.

Edward H. Sherman, Public Defender, David G. Manter, Asst. Public Defender, Denver, for defendant in error.

PRINGLE, Justice.

This writ of error presents for our consideration one question only, namely: Does the Superior Court of the City and County of Denver have jurisdiction to issue a remedial writ to prohibit proceedings in an action brought in the County Court of the City and County of Denver? Our answer is in the negative.

The Superior Court of the City and County of Denver is purely a creature of the statute, C.R.S.1953, Chapter 37, as amended. The legislature had authority to create such a court by reason of Article VI, Section 1, of the Colorado constitution which vested the judicial power of the state in certain named courts together with such other courts as the General Assembly might from time to time establish. The jurisdiction of each of the courts specifically created by the Colorado constitution was specifically set out in the constitution. The jurisdiction allocated to the courts created by the General Assembly pursuant to constitutional authority is a matter for the legislature to determine.

The statute creating the Superior Court gives it jurisdiction in matters on appeal from the County Court, and original jurisdiction in civil actions, suits and proceedings where the debt, damage, or claim, or value of the proprty involved in such actions is more than five hundred dollars, and does not exceed five thousand dollars. Such a grant of jurisdiction does not give the Superior Court the power to issue what are traditionally known as the original or remedial writs. Such writs are not appellate procedures, but are rather new actions. These writs cannot be used in connection with or in aid of appellate procedures. See People v. Richmond, 16 Colo. 274, 283, 26 P. 929, 932. Nor are such writs civil actions, suits, or proceedings where the debt, damage, or claim, or value of property involved in such civil actions is more than five hundred dollars but does not exceed five thousand dollars. It is clear that the civil actions contemplated by the statute are suits dealing with the recovery of...