Trueman Fertilizer Co. v. Larson, 13529.
| Decision Date | 21 July 1952 |
| Docket Number | No. 13529.,13529. |
| Citation | 196 F.2d 910 |
| Parties | TRUEMAN FERTILIZER CO. v. LARSON. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Carroll Dunscombe, Stuart, Fla., for appellant.
Elizabeth Dudley, Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C., A. Devitt Vanech, Asst. Atty. Gen., Roger P. Marquis, Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C., Ernest L. Duhaime, Asst. U. S. Atty., Miami, Fla., for appellee.
Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and BORAH and STRUM, Circuit Judges.
Appellant, Trueman Fertilizer Company, for itself and all others who may be affected, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in the Southern District of Florida against "Jess Larson as General Services Administrator for the United States and Jess Larson as an individual and whose address and residence is the District of Columbia."
It appears from the complaint, that in 1942 the United States acquired by eminent domain certain lands in Palm Beach County, Florida, for war-time use, which appellant asserts was temporary, on which lands appellant held an existing judgment lien. Asserting that since the taking was for temporary use only, and such use having terminated and the land having been turned over to the defendant General Services Administrator as surplus, appellant contends that the lands should be decreed to have reverted to their former owner, and again subject to appellant's judgment lien. Appellant seeks a declaratory judgment to that effect.
An order was secured for service of process outside the State of Florida upon the defendant below. Service of said process was later quashed, and the complaint dismissed by the district court, because of improper venue; because the United States is an indispensable but absent party; and because the United States has not consented to be sued in this action. This appeal questions the correctness of those rulings.
The official residence of the General Services Administrator is in Washington, D. C. A personal action against him in that capacity must be brought there, as that is where he "resides" within the meaning of 28 U.S.C.A. § 1391(b). There is no statutory authority for instituting such a suit elsewhere. Blackmar v. Guerre, 5 Cir., 190 F.2d 427, affirmed 342 U.S. 512, 72 S.Ct. 410, 96 L.Ed. ___; Berlinsky v. Woods, 4 Cir., 178 F.2d 265; Smart v. Woods, 6 Cir., 184 F.2d 714; Putnam v. Ickes, 64 App.D.C. 339, 78 F.2d 223; U. S. Dept. of Agriculture v. Hunter, 5 Cir., 171 F.2d 793. There was no motion to transfer the cause pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1404(a) or 1406(a). Even if the service of the process in question would bind Larson individually, it is ineffectual here, because the complaint alleges that he claims title, not as an individual, but only in his official capacity as General Services Administrator. Moreover, he is not alleged to be a resident of the Southern District of Florida, so as to be individually suable there.
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King v. United States
...v. United States, 110 F.2d 586 (C.A.5, 1940) (declaration of rights under deed of land made to United States); Trueman Fertilizer Co. v. Larson, 196 F.2d 910, 911 (C.A.5, 1952) (dictum) (General Services Administration's disposal of condemned (ii). Int.Rev.Code of 1954, § 7421(a), states: "......
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Nestor v. Hershey
...(9th Cir. 1957) (Secretary of Interior and Solicitor of Department of Interior reside in District of Columbia); Trueman Fertilizer Co. v. Larson, 196 F.2d 910 (5th Cir. 1952) (General Services Administrator resides in District of Columbia); Podovinnikoff v. Miller, 179 F.2d 937 (3d Cir. 195......
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Florida Nursing Home Ass'n v. Page
...official residence. See, e. g., Ernst v. Secretary of the Interior, 244 F.2d 344, 17 Alaska 133 (9th Cir. 1957); Trueman Fertilizer Co. v. Larson, 196 F.2d 910 (5th Cir. 1952); Hartke v. Federal Aviation Administration, 369 F.Supp. 741 It has been held, however, that a state agency or offic......
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Sheffield v. State of Texas, Civ. A. No. 3-75-1065-F.
...capacities and hence that venue is properly in the state capitol, Austin, their official residence. See, e. g., Trueman Fertilizer Co. v. Larson, 196 F.2d 910 (5th Cir. 1952). That initial thrust is parried by the Plaintiffs, who argue that once an individual defendant has been alleged to h......