Case Name: LAWRENCE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT and Estate of James A. Blackmon, Deceased, v. Clayton BRISTER, Jr.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2001-10-25
Citations: 823 So. 2d 459
Docket Number: No. 1999-IA-00845-SCT
Parties: LAWRENCE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT and Estate of James A. Blackmon, Deceased, v. Clayton BRISTER, Jr.
Judges: PITTMAN, C.J., SMITH, MILLS, WALLER AND COBB, JJ., CONCUR.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 823
Pages: 459–464

Head Matter:
LAWRENCE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT and Estate of James A. Blackmon, Deceased, v. Clayton BRISTER, Jr.
No. 1999-IA-00845-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Oct. 25, 2001.
Rehearing Denied Aug. 15, 2002.
Timothy Dale Crawley, Kenneth S. Womack, Gregg A. Caraway, Jackson, Joe Dale Walker, Monticello, Attorneys for Appellant.
W. Terrell Stubbs, Mendenhall, Attorney for Appellee.

Opinion:
BANKS, P.J., for the Court:
¶ 1. Clayton Brister, Jr. instituted this personal injury action pursuant to the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA), Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-1 to -23 (Supp.2001), in the Lawrence County Chancery Court against the Lawrence County School District (School District) and the Estate of James A. Blackmon. The School District filed a motion to transfer the case to the Lawrence County Circuit Court, alleging that the chancery court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The chancery court denied the motion, and the School District brought this interlocutory appeal. We reverse and remand.
I.
¶ 2. On May 7, 1997, a Lawrence County school bus driven by James A. Blackmon collided with a pickup truck driven by Clayton Brister, Jr. Brister sustained serious injuries in the accident, and Blackmon died at the scene. On April 3, 1998, Bris-ter filed suit in the Lawrence County Chancery Court against the Lawrence County School District and the Estate of Blackmon. In its answer, the School District challenged the jurisdiction of the chancery court to hear the matter and sought to have the action either dismissed or transferred to the circuit court. The chancellor denied the requested relief.
¶ 3. On April 21, 1999, the School District renewed its motion to transfer the matter to the circuit court. Following a hearing, the chancellor again denied the motion and set the case for trial. We granted this interlocutory appeal pursuant to M.R.A.P. 5 to resolve the following issue:
WHETHER THE CHANCERY COURT HAS SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OVER A CLAIM FILED PURSUANT TO THE MISSISSIPPI TORT CLAIMS ACT.
II.
¶4. The Mississippi Tort Claims Act classifies the School District as a political subdivision. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-1© (Supp.2001). Therefore, Brister may only recover for his injuries by following the statutory scheme proscribed by the Act, which he has done. The chancellor explained his reasoning as follows:
The court is satisfied that I do have jurisdiction. The court is satisfied that had the legislature in their infinite wisdom desired that these matters be tried before the circuit court [they] would have said so in their statutes dealing with the Tort Claims Act. [The] Tort Claims Act provides for a trial by a finder of fact, being the Judge who is sitting. It has customarily and, in fact, this court could probably argue that when they set-up this statute, their intent was that it be done in chancery court because the circuit judges of this state are typically sitting on jury trials, not on non-jury trials. The chancery courts have over the years been designated as the non-jury trial venue with chancery court having very limited rights to, in fact give a jury to anyone, and not saying that the chancery court is any better capable of trying a non-jury trial.
¶ 5. While it is true that the Tort Claims Act is silent as to the court of jurisdiction, our constitution is not. Under the Mississippi Constitution, chancery courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and may hear all matters in equity, divorce and alimony, matters testamentary and of administration, minors' business, cases of idiocy, lunacy, and persons of unsound mind, and all cases under the laws in force at the time of the adoption of Constitution. Miss. Const. art. 6, § 159(a)-(f) (1890). Circuit courts, on the other hand, are courts of general jurisdiction, having "original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal in this state not vested in another court." Id. § 156.
¶ 6. Negligence actions should be brought in circuit court. When a plaintiffs complaint neither requests nor requires equitable relief, a chancery court should not exercise jurisdiction. McLean v. Green, 352 So.2d 1312, 1314 (Miss.1977). The fact that one of the parties to this matter is an estate is insufficient to bring this case within the equitable jurisdiction of the chancery court. In fact, Miss.Code Ann. § 91-7-233 (2000) empowers an executor to bring any personal action "at law or in equity" on behalf of the deceased. Therefore, the mere fact that an estate is involved in a civil action does not mean that the civil action must be brought in the chancery court.
¶ 7. Moreover, Brister has no claim against the Estate of James A. Blackmon. Blackmon is not accused of any conduct which removes his action from the scope of immunity provided for governmental employees. See Miss.Code Ann. § 11 — 46— 7(2) & -9 (Supp.2001). Since Blackmon is dead, he cannot be a "representative" of Lawrence County. Moreover, even if an estate could be sued as "representative" of its deceased's employer that would not gain chancery court jurisdiction for a suit against one in a representative capacity is not a suit against that person at all but in reality a suit against the entity represented. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-7(2) (Supp. 2001); see also Mosby v. Moore, 716 So.2d 551, 557 (Miss.1998)("A suit against a public official in his official capacity is nothing more than a suit against the entity.") (citing Hafer v. Melo, 502 U.S. 21, 25, 112 S.Ct. 358, 116 L.Ed.2d 301 (1991)).
¶ 8. The Mississippi Constitution requires that causes erroneously brought in chancery court be transferred to the appropriate circuit court. Miss. Const. art. 6, § 162. This provision is mandatory, and a chancellor has no discretion in this matter. McLean, 352 So.2d at 1314.
III.
¶ 9. We, therefore, reverse the order of the chancery court and remand this matter to that court with directions to enter an order transferring this cause to the Lawrence County Circuit Court.
¶10. REVERSED AND REMANDED.
PITTMAN, C.J., SMITH, MILLS, WALLER AND COBB, JJ., CONCUR.
McRAE, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY DIAZ AND EASLEY, JJ.