Kelsey v. Carroll
Kelsey v. Carroll
Opinion of the Court
The petition of Margaret Kelsey, by W. H. Kelsey, her next friend, was presented to the Chief Justice' of this Court praying the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus to be directed to the defendant as- sheriff of the County of Platte, said petition alleging that the said Margaret Kelsey is a minor daughter of said' W. H. Kelsey; that she resides with her father and mother at the City of Casper, County of Natrona, in this state; that she is restrained of her liberty by said defendant; and that the pretense of said restraint is
The writ having been duly issued and served the defendant appeared before the court at the time fixed with the petitioner in his custody and filed an answer alleging that the petitioner was lawfully restrained of her liberty by virtue of an order of the judge of the District Court of the First Judicial District, sitting within and for the County of Platte, committing her to the Home of the Good Shepherd Industrial School for Girls of Denver, Colorado; that said District Judge and the District Court of said county had jurisdiction over the person of the plaintiff in said proceeding; and that said plaintiff was at the time thereof a legal resident of the County of Platte. A reply was filed alleging among other things that the commitment was not based upon any proper complaint. By reference to the order of commitment, which is attached to the answer and made a part thereof, it appears to have been made in a cause or proceeding then pending in the District Court, within and for the County of Platte, entitled, “The State
Upon the-hearing in this court evidence was offered and received on behalf of the plaintiff, subject to the objection of the defendant, to show that the legal residence of the plaintiff at the time of the proceeding which resulted in the order of commitment aforesaid was not in the County of Platte, but that she resided with her parents in the County of Natrona. That evidence was objected to on the ground that it was not competent on habeas corpus to enter into an investigation of the fact of petitioner’s residence. If that evidence was competent, then in our opinion it established the fact that the'plaintiff was not at the time of said proceeding and the order of commitment a legal resident of the County of Platte, but that with her parents she had removed from that county and acquired a legal residence in the County of Natrona on or about the 17th day of August of the present year.
The statute under which the plaintiff was proceeded against and committed provides that “It shall be lawful for, and in the discretion of, the District Court of any county to commit to” the house of refuge or reform-or industrial school of any state where provision has been or shall be made, “any child, being a legal resident of said county, and being between the ages of ten and sixteen years, who, upon complaint and due proof, is found to be a vagrant or so incorrigible and vicious that a due regard for the morals and welfare of such child manifestly requires that he or she shall be committed to said house of refuge, or reform or industrial school.” The statute also provides as to such a proceeding that it shall conform as nearly as practicable to the course of procedure provided for by law for the
It appears that the proceeding aforesaid was instituted against the plaintiff by a petition filed by the county and prosecuting attorney of Platte county in said District Court on September 20th, 1913, in which it was alleged that said Margaret Kelsey is fourteen years of age; that she is a resident of said Platte county, and that she is a vagrant and so incorrigible and vicious that a due regard for the morals and welfare of such child manifestly requires that she be committed to a house of refuge or reform or industrial school; that the names of her father and mother are W. Hi Kelsey, and Mrs. W. H. Kelsey, and that they are residents of said County of Platte, and are not competent and proper persons to properly care for said child and to restrain her from immoral and vicious influences, and that said minor child has no suitable home and is surrounded by vicious, corrupt and immoral influences. The petition was verified by the county and prosecuting attorney upon information and belief.
Unquestionably, we think, the jurisdiction of the District Court under section 3128 is limited to cases where the child is a legal resident of the county in which the court is sitting. Unquestionably, also, it is proper and competent for the District Court in such a proceeding to hear evidence respecting the place of the legal residence of the child and to determine the jurisdictional fact, and it may be conceded that if the case was one to be proceeded with under the general jurisdiction of the District Court and according to the course of the common law its jurisdiction would be presumed. But the proceeding in question is summary in character, is not one conducted according to the course of the common law, nor is it a proceeding -within the general jurisdiction of the District Court. (People ex rel. Van Riper v. N. Y. C. Protectory, 106 N. Y. 604, 13 N. E. 435;
Whether evidence would be admissible to contradict the fact of jurisdiction either as to the matter of legal residence or age where the order of commitment expressly shows a finding of such jurisdictional fact we do not now determine, nor whether if the evidence adduced upon the
Although the statute does not expressly provide what the commitment or the order committing the child shall contain we think clearly that in this kind of a proceeding under the statute in question, since the jurisdiction is limited, it is necessary for the order or commitment to show the case to be one within the jurisdiction of the court under the statute. We believe it to be true that a proceeding of this nature under statutes of some other states is confided to courts of inferior and limited jurisdiction. Prior to the amendment of the statute in this state the Probate Court, which was then a separate court and one of limited jurisdiction, was given the authority now conferred by the section upon the District Court. (Laws 1884, Ch. 53, sec. 2; Rev. Stat. 1887, sec. 2333; Laws 1888, Ch. 57, sec. 2). It appearing to the- court, for the reasons aforesaid, that the petitioner is unlawfully restrained of her liberty, it will be ordered that she be discharged from custody.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- KELSEY v. CARROLL, AS SHERIFF
- Status
- Published