Schreifels v. Kottke Trucking
Decision Date | 11 July 2001 |
Docket Number | No. 21495.,21495. |
Citation | 2001 SD 90,631 N.W.2d 186 |
Parties | Cyril W. SCHREIFELS, Employee, Claimant and Appellant, v. KOTTKE TRUCKING, Employer and Appellee, and Dakota Truck Underwriters, Insurer and Appellee. |
Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Bret C. Merkle of Merkle Law Firm, Sioux Falls, SD, Attorneys for appellant.
Susan Brunick Simons of Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith, Sioux Falls, SD, Attorneys for appellees.
[¶ 1.] Cyril W. Schreifels appeals from an order granting Kottke Trucking (Employer) and Dakota Truck Underwriters' (Insurer) motion to dismiss for want of jurisdiction. The matter was dismissed with prejudice due to Schreifels' failure to comply with SDCL 1-26-31. We affirm.
[¶ 2.] Schreifels filed a petition for hearing with the South Dakota Department of Labor. Schreifels, a truck driver, claimed that his three heart attacks and resulting bypass surgery were caused by stress from loading Employer's truck and trailer. The Department ultimately concluded that Schreifels failed to sustain his burden of proving that his coronary artery disease arose out of and in the course of his employment. Employer and Insurer's motion for summary judgment was granted.
[¶ 3.] Schreifels, a resident of Big Stone City in Grant County, filed a notice of appeal in the circuit court of the Second Judicial Circuit, Minnehaha County. Employer and Insurer moved to dismiss, arguing that Schreifels failed, within the prescribed time period, to file the appeal in Grant County or Hughes County as required by SDCL 1-26-31. In the alternative, they moved to change venue to Hughes County in accord with SDCL 1-26-31.3. Schreifels responded with a motion for relief pursuant to SDCL 1-26-30.5, seeking an order "curing any irregularity in venue by changing venue in this matter to Grant County, South Dakota."
[¶ 4.] The circuit court dismissed the appeal with prejudice and denied Schreifels' later motion for reconsideration. The court reasoned that the matter was an administrative appeal where the notice provisions of SDCL 1-26-31 had to be specifically followed for the court to obtain jurisdiction.
[¶ 5.] Did Schreifels' failure to file his worker's compensation appeal in Grant County or Hughes County mandate dismissal of the appeal?
[¶ 6.] Appeals from Department worker's compensation final orders or decisions are taken pursuant to SDCL 1-26. SDCL 62-7-19. According to SDCL 1-26-31:
An appeal shall be taken by serving a copy of a notice of appeal upon the adverse party, upon the agency, and upon the hearing examiner, if any, who rendered the decision, and by filing the original with proof of such service in the office of the clerk of courts of the county in which the venue of the appeal is set, within thirty days after the agency served notice of the final decision, or, if a rehearing is authorized by law and is requested, within thirty days after notice has been served of the decision thereon.
[¶ 7.] "SDCL 1-26-31 provides the basis for the circuit court to exercise jurisdiction." Oberle v. City of Aberdeen, 470 N.W.2d 238, 242 (S.D.1991). It is clear and uses mandatory language. Stark v. Munce Bros. Transfer & Storage, 461 N.W.2d 587, 588 (S.D.1990). Consequently, under SDCL 1-26-31 a circuit court acquires subject matter jurisdiction of an appeal if within thirty days after the agency served notice of a final decision:
a) a copy of the notice of appeal is served upon the adverse party, the agency and the hearing examiner, and,
b) the notice of appeal is filed in the office of the clerk of courts in the county in which the venue of the appeal is set.
[¶ 8.] In accord with SDCL 1-26-31, the "county in which the venue of the appeal is set" is established by SDCL 1-26-31.1:
The venue of the appeal is as follows:
Since the parties had not stipulated for venue, Schreifels was required to file original notice of appeal in the county of his residence, Grant County, or in Hughes County. SDCL 1-26-31, SDCL 1-26-31.1(1). He concedes that he did neither, electing to file the notice of appeal in Minnehaha County, where he found it convenient and he believed the case's significant contacts were.
[¶ 9.] This Court has clearly held that "[w]hen the legislature provides for appeal to circuit court from an administrative agency, the circuit court's appellate jurisdiction depends on compliance with conditions precedent set by the legislature." Claggett v. Department of Revenue, 464 N.W.2d 212, 214 (S.D.1990). The failure to comply with a statutory condition precedent deprives the circuit court of subject matter jurisdiction.1 Id.
[¶ 10.] Claggett, 464 N.W.2d at 212, construed a condition precedent found in the appeal provision of SDCL 10-59-9. Stark, 461 N.W.2d at 588, however, considered whether the subject matter jurisdiction of the circuit court was invoked under SDCL 1-26-31 when the Department of Labor was not served. This Court held:
Stark, 461 N.W.2d at 588-589. So, too, Schreifels' failure to file the notice of appeal in the proper county does not invoke the circuit court's subject matter jurisdiction.
[¶ 11.] Schreifels contends, however, that circuit courts and their judges have jurisdiction coextensive with the state's boundaries. Consequently, any judge can simply transfer a case to a different venue under the rules of civil procedure. This ignores the Court's recent decision in State v. Wilson, 2000 SD 133, 618 N.W.2d 513, which rejected the contention that circuit courts have statewide jurisdiction. In addition, worker's compensation proceedings are generally not governed by the rules of civil procedure and their venue provisions.2 Sowards v. Hills Materials Co., 521 N.W.2d 649, 652 (S.D.1994). Sudbeck v. Dale Electronics, Inc., 519 N.W.2d 63, 67 (S.D.1994).
[¶ 12.] SDCL 1-26-31 clearly delineates who must be served with a notice of appeal and when and where it must be filed in order to transfer jurisdiction from the executive to the judicial branch. Because Schreifels ignored the plain language of the statute and instead chose to file in a county convenient to him but not statutorily mandated, the circuit court for Minnehaha County did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the appeal and correctly ordered it dismissed.
[¶ 13.] Affirmed. [¶ 14.] MILLER, Chief Justice, AMUNDSON and GILBERTSON, Justices, concur.
[¶ 15.] SABERS, Justice, dissents.
[¶ 16.] The majority opinion concludes that the trial court acted properly in dismissing the appeal instead of simply changing venue. In so doing, the majority opinion states that "worker's compensation proceedings are not governed by the rules of civil procedure and their venue provisions." In support of this proposition, the majority opinion cites Sowards v. Hills Materials Co., 521 N.W.2d 649, 652 (S.D. 1994) which indicates:
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