Erkman v. Carnes

Tennessee Supreme Court
Erkman v. Carnes, 101 Tenn. 136 (Tenn. 1898)
45 S.W. 1067
Wilkes

Erkman v. Carnes

Opinion of the Court

Wilkes, J.

The only question presented by the record is whether an officer is liable, on motion or *137in a summary proceeding, where he fails to execute and make due return of an attachment writ issued by a Justice of the Peace. Summary proceedings, being in derogation of the common law, only exist when authorized by statute, and such statutes muse be strictly construed. Powell v. Fowlkes, 5 Bax., 649; Williamson v. Burge, 7 Heis., 119; Voorheis v. Dickens, 1 Sneed, 348; Wingfield v. Crosby, 5 Cold., 241. There is no statute giving authority for a summary proceeding in a case like the present, and the party aggrieved can only resort to his suit or action at law, and is hot entitled to a motion, which is a cumulative remedy. The grounds for summary proceedings before Justices of the Peace are set out in the statute (Shannon, § 5979, subsecs. 1, 2, 3, 4), all of which relate to defaults made in regard to executions. Section 5368 provides a penalty for failing to execute and make return of any process, but, by the express words of the statute, it is confined to process issued from a Court of record, which a Justice’s Court is not.

We are of opinion the judgment of the trial Judge, in dismissing the action for want of jurisdiction in the Justice of the Peace to entertain a summary proceeding under the facts, is correct, and it is affirmed, with costs.

Reference

Cited By
23 cases
Status
Published