National Surety Corporation v. Boney
National Surety Corporation v. Boney
Opinion of the Court
This case is here upon the grant of certiorari to the Court of Appeals in National Surety Corp. v. Boney, 99 Ga. App. 280 (108 S. E. 2d 342), in which the facts will be found. The applicant for certiorari' assigns error upon each of the rulings of the Court of Appeals.
1. The ruling that “The act of March 4, 1958 (Ga. L. 1958, pp. 114, 116), amending Code § 56-601, changing the venue in certain actions against insurance companies, and vesting jurisdiction of actions on bonds of sheriffs or other law-enforcement officers exclusively in the county where the officer resides does not apply to suits then pending,” follows the decision of this court in Sharpe v. Lowe, 214 Ga. 513 (1) (106 S. E. 2d 28), in which the precise question was ruled on, and is correct.
2. The ruling that “The Civil Court of Pulton County has jurisdiction to entertain an action brought on the bonds of officers of Fulton County, though the breach of the bond may arise out of wrongful, personal injury inflicted upon the plaintiff,” is erroneous. Section 10 of the act of 1925 (Ga. L. 1925, p. 372), amending the act creating the Municipal Court of Atlanta, provided that such jurisdiction be concurrent with
■ the construction of this statute by this court in the Cantrell case, a full-bench decision, is in our opinion binding upon this court in this case. The Court of Appeals erred in holding that the Civil Court of Fulton County had jurisdiction of this case.
3. The Court of Appeals correctly ruled that, the bond being joint and several, the sheriff was not a necessary party to the.suit on the bond. Jefferson v. Hartley, 81 Ga. 716 (2) (9 S. E. 174); Masters v. Pardue, 91 Ga. App. 684 (86 S. E. 2d 704), affirmed, 211 Ga. 772 (88 S. E. 2d 385).
4. There is no merit in the complaint as to the ruling in headnote four and division four of the opinion of the Court of Appeals.
Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I dissent from the ruling that the Civil Court of Fulton County did not have jurisdiction to entertain the action.
Under Code §§ 89-418, 89-419, and 89-421, a surety on the official bond of a sheriff is liable to every person who is injured by any wrongful act committed under color of his office. The
The case of Cantrell v. Davis, 176 Ga. 745 (169 S. E. 38), relied on by the defendants is not controlling. In that case a mother sought to recover damages because of the negligent homicide, of her minor child. There the action was ex delicto against the person who committed the tort. Here the action is against the surety on the tortfeasor’s bond, on a cause of action which arose out of the breach of the bond, and is therefore an action ex contractu.
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