State ex rel. Haywood v. Superintendent, Davidson County Workhouse

• Decision Date: 06 March 1953
• Citation: 195 Tenn. 265,31 Beeler 265,259 S.W.2d 159
• Parties: , 195 Tenn. 265 STATE ex rel. HAYWOOD v. SUPERINTENDENT, DAVIDSON COUNTY WORKHOUSE.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 159

259 S.W.2d 159

31 Beeler 265, 195 Tenn. 265

STATE ex rel. HAYWOOD v. SUPERINTENDENT, DAVIDSON COUNTY WORKHOUSE.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

March 6, 1953.

Rehearing Denied June 5, 1953.

Z. T. Osborn, Jr., City Atty., Benson Trimble, Asst. City Atty., Nashville, for appellant.

Z. Alexander Looby, Nashville, for appellee.

NEIL, Chief Justice.

The relator filed a petition for the writ of habeas corpus, seeking his discharge from the custody of the Superintendent of the Davidson County Workhouse upon the ground that the order committing and sentencing him to the said penal institution for 11 months and 29 days is void, the penalty being imposed by the Judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. It is alleged in the petition Article 51 of Chapter 246 of the Private Acts of 1947 (Charter of the City of Nashville) which provided for a 'Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court' is in violation of Article 6, section 1, of the Constitution of Tennessee.

Contention is made by the relator that the aforesaid provision of the Act is repugnant to the constitution for three reasons:

(1) 'It delegates to the Mayor and City Council the power and duty to establish a Court '* * * all of the powers and jurisdiction conferred upon Juvenile Courts by law.'

(2) 'It denies the people of the district or circuit in which the Court operates the right to elect the Judge.

(3) 'It limits the choice of the people by imposing certain requirements not prescribed by the State constitution.'

The trial judge sustained the petition and entered an order discharging the relator from custody, from which order defendant appealed and assigned the following errors:

(1) 'The Trial Court erred in permitting the constitutionality of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Nashville and Article 51 of Chapter 246 of the Private Acts of 1947 to be collaterally attacked in a habeas corpus proceedings as to its constitutionality.

(2) 'The Trial Court erred in holding that Article 51 of Chapter 246 of the Private Acts of 1947 was unconstitutional in that it violated Article 6, sections 1 and 4 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, said Act being constitutional in all respects.'

Article 51 provides 'That the Mayor and City Council shall by ordinance provide for a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

'The Judge of said Court shall have been a member of the Bar of Tennessee for not less than seven (7) years and a resident of Davidson County for not less than two (2) years, and shall be appointed by the Mayor from a list of five (5) eligible names certified by the Nashville Bar Association. His salary shall be fixed by the City Council. The term of office of said Judge shall be the same as that of the Mayor making the appointment. In the event a vacancy should occur in said office by reason of death, resignation, removal, inability to serve, or any other reason, it shall be filled in like manner for the unexpired term. In case of his temporary absence, incompetency, or inability to serve in any case, said Judge shall designate some member of the Nashville Bar filling the qualifications above described, to act as Special Judge of said Court, during his said absence, incompetency or inability to serve, with all powers incident to the office of Judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

'The Mayor and City Council shall by ordinance provide for a Clerk of said Court, a staff of probation officers, including a chief probation officer, investigators and other necessary employees, shall define the training and experience required for their qualification and shall fix their salaries. The Judge shall be empowered to appoint said Clerk, officers, and employees, subject to the approval of the Mayor. Said ordinance shall also set forth rules of procedure to be followed by said Court in the filing and hearing of complaints against dependent, delinquent and neglected juveniles, as well as rules governing all questions relating to their custody, probation and commitment, and generally such other rules as may be considered by said Council to be necessary or advisable for the aid, training, guidance and welfare of such dependent, delinquent and neglected juveniles.'

Other sections provide that the court is vested with jurisdiction to 'try and determine and render final judgment in all misdemeanor cases brought before said Court by warrant charging a violation of Section 11370 of the Code', the same being a misdemeanor for any husband wilfully and without good cause to neglect or fail to provide for his wife according to his means, or leaves her destitute, etc., and for the neglect of children. Code § 11379.

Article 6, § 1 of the Constitution reads as follows:

'The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such Circuit, Chancery and other inferior courts as the Legislature shall, from time to time, ordain and establish, in the Judges thereof, and in Justices of the Peace. The Legislature may also vest such jurisdiction in Corporation Courts as may be deemed necessary. Courts to be holden by the Justices of the Peace may also be established.'

Article 6, § 4, of the Constitution provides:

'The Judges of the Circuit and Chancery Courts, and of other inferior courts, shall be elected by the qualified voters of the district or circuit to which they are to be assigned. Every Judge of such courts shall be thirty years of age, and shall, before his election, have been a resident of the State five years, and of the circuit or district one year. His term of service shall be eight years.'

We readily agree with the insistence that the Legislature may establish, as a part of the governmental machinery of a municipality, 'a corporation court' with limited jurisdiction and which would not be a delegation of judicial power within the meaning of the...