City of Fostoria v. Fox
City of Fostoria v. Fox
Opinion of the Court
These two cases relate to the same. subject of litigation and present similar questions, and for these reasons are reported together.
In the case of the City of Fostoria v. Fox, the suit below was brought by Fox against the city for a mandatory injunction, requiring it to remove a dam from a stream of water, a branch of Portage river, the dam being a part of its system of works for supplying water to itself and its citizens; and for damages, on the ground that the lands of the plaintiff were thereby wrongfully overflowed and injured. The dam was on the premises owned by the city, but a short distance below the lands of the plaintiff, situated on the stream above. The defendant was served with process by the sheriff of Seneca county, on a summons issued by the clerk of the court of common pleas of Hancock county. The defendant appeared for the purpose only of objecting to the jurisdiction of the court over it, and moved to quash the summons, and set aside the service made upon it on the ground that it is a city situate within Seneca county. ' It appeared, however, that a part of the city is within Hancock county, but that its principal place of business and all of its offices, are situate within Seneca county. In other words, Fostoria is sub
Error is prosecuted here on various assignments of error, among others, that the court erred in overruling its motion to quash the summons, and set aside the service made upon it.
Evidently the court did not proceed upon the assumption that Fostoria is a city situate in Hancock county; for in such case the summons should have been issued to and served by the sheriff of that county, instead of to the sheriff of Seneca county; and the real question would seem to be, whether a city in a case like this may be sued in a county other than the one in which it is situated.
The action as brought is not a local one. This will appear from an examination of the chapter of our code of civil procedure, fixing the venue of actions, beginning with section 5022, and including section 5034, Revised Statutes. It is not an action for the recovery of real estate, or an interest therein, nor to enforce a lien of any kind upon it — it is for a consequential injury to such property, the defendant and the thing causing the injury, the dam, being both situate in another county. Nor is it within any of the eases that, under section 5025, must be brought in the county where the cause of action arose or some part thereof. This section applies
It is argued, however, that under sections 5026, 5038 and 5044, construed together, this action was rightly brought and jurisdiction obtained of the defendant in Hancock county. We are unable to
We come now to section 5026 under which the claim is principally made, that the court acquired jurisdiction in this case. It reads as follows: “An action other than one of those mentioned in the first four sections of this chapter (being the sections prescribing a local venue to certain actions) against a corporation created under the laws of this state, may be brought in the county in which such corporation is situated, or has, or had, its principal office or place of business, or in which any corporation has an office or agent.” Of course this section can be of no avail in supporting the jurisdiction of the court, unless there was a showing that Fostoria is situate within Hancock
But it is also claimed, that where a city is partly within one and partly within another county, it has a situs in each. This we think is not admissible. If this were so, it would be two cities instead of one. It would be quite as consistent with reason to say, that an individual could have two domiciles. The situs of a city is to be determined by the place where its principal seat of municipal government is located.
Again, if the above assumption were correct, then, as before pointed out, the service was bad; because it was made by the sheriff of Seneca countjq and not by the sheriff of Hancock, as it should have been, if Fostoria is a city of Hancock county.
As to the case of Fox v. Fostoria: After the determination of the previous suit, the city proceeded to make certain changes at its dam, so as to conform to suggestions of the court, whereby the injury complained of might be avoided. But
The court had jurisdiction of the subject matter, and the plaintiff having invoked it against the defendant, cannot object to an affirmance of the judgment on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction of the person of the defendant. It is an advantage a defendant jn such a case has: He may avail himself of a judgment in his favor on the merits, or set it aside for want of jurisdiction, where it is against him. .
It is proper to observe that the plaintiff in error does not ask a reversal of the judgment on the ground of a want of jurisdiction of the court over the person of the defendant, what has just been said it is to remove any appearance of inconsistency in reversing the first, and affirming the second ease on error; in as much, as the court
Judgment in the first case reversed and petition dismissed; in the second case the judgment is affi/i'med.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.