Sharp County v. Northeast Arkansas Planning and Consulting Co., 80-75

• Decision Date: 23 June 1980
• Docket Number: No. 80-75,80-75
• Citation: 269 Ark. 336,602 S.W.2d 627
• Parties: SHARP COUNTY Arkansas, Appellant, v. NORTHEAST ARKANSAS PLANNING AND CONSULTING COMPANY, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 627

602 S.W.2d 627

269 Ark. 336

SHARP COUNTY Arkansas, Appellant, v. NORTHEAST ARKANSAS PLANNING AND CONSULTING COMPANY, Appellee.

No. 80-75.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

June 23, 1980.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 25, 1980.

James Stallcup, Walnut Ridge, Stewart K. Lambert, Cherokee Village, Coop & Hopper by Paul E. Hopper, Jonesboro, for appellant.

William R. Hass, Thayer, Mo., H. David Blair, Batesville, for appellee.

STROUD, Justice.

This is a suit to determine the enforceability of an agreement made by the county judge of Sharp County with a professional consulting firm to obtain federal funds for the county. We agree with the finding of the trial court awarding judgment to appellee under the terms of their contingent fee arrangement.

In 1975 appellee and Sharp County Judge Les Anderson entered into an agreement whereby appellee would prepare and submit a preapplication and "do other things that might be required" to qualify appellant for funds under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The agreement was embodied in an order of the court dated February 9, 1975, which also provided that appellee's compensation for these services was conditioned upon appellant's receipt of the funds sought. The order further provided that appellee was to receive $750 or 10% of the total grant, whichever was larger. In September of 1976, appellant received $150,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to construct a solid waste disposal facility and other local projects as a result of appellee's efforts. On August 1, 1977, appellee filed a claim with appellant for $15,000 for services rendered in connection with the grant, but later that month the County Court of Sharp County denied the claim. On January 25, 1978, the Sharp County Circuit Court entered an order allowing appellee's appeal from that decision, whereupon the matter was submitted to the circuit judge, sitting as a jury, and tried upon an agreed statement of facts together with the pleadings and briefs of the parties. On August 21, 1979, the trial court issued a judgment for $15,000 plus accrued interest in favor of appellee. Appellant subsequently filed a motion for a new trial, and this was denied by the trial court. Alleging that the finding of the trial court was clearly erroneous and that the trial court erred in denying its motion for a new trial, appellant brings this appeal.

The agreement sued upon, as evidenced by the county court order, provided, in pertinent part, as follows:

It is therefore ordered that Sharp County, Arkansas, employ the Northeast Arkansas Planning and Consulting Company of Paragould, Arkansas, to prepare a preapplication for Federal Assistance under Title I of the Housing and Development Act of 1974. It is further ordered that Sharp County shall pay a minimum fee of Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00) or 10% of the total grant, whichever is larger for the work necessary in completing the application and requirements under said Act. It is further ordered that this employment is on the contingent basis of receiving the Community Development Block Grant Funds.

The parties stipulated that appellee conducted hearings, studies and other matters necessary in connection with the preparation of the preapplication and full application and that Sharp County received the $150,000 grant as a result of appellee's efforts. However, appellant contended at trial that appellee was not entitled to any compensation for its services inasmuch as the county court order of February 9, 1975, was not filed in the record book. The trial court pointed out in its written findings of fact that the order was not entered because the county judge kept it from being entered. The entry of a court order is a ministerial act, and the failure to file such order in the record book does not void the order as it can be subsequently filed. American Investment Co. v. Hill, 173 Ark. 468, 292 S.W. 675 (1927). Appellant raised other arguments at trial which were addressed by specific findings of the court, but inasmuch as they are not argued by appellant on appeal, we will not discuss them here. The trial court also found that appellant should be estopped from denying the claim of appellee. We agree that appellant cannot remain mute for a year while appellee furnishes its services and then upon receipt of the fruits of the service, repudiate the contract on the basis of the county judge having withheld, unbeknownst to appellee, the filing of the court order of record. Pursuant to Rule 52 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, we will not reverse a trial court's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous, and we do not find them to be clearly erroneous in this case. ¹

Appellant also contends the trial court erred in denying its motion for a new trial. After the trial court ruled in favor of appellee, appellant changed tactics and filed a motion for a new trial...