Case Name: Ivory L. BICKHAM v. DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH and Commercial Union Insurance Company; CRAIG-WILKINSON, INC. and Maryland Casualty Company v. Charles C. SPANN
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1991-12-18
Citations: 592 So. 2d 96
Docket Number: Nos. 89-CC-1022, 89-CC-0516
Parties: Ivory L. BICKHAM v. DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH and Commercial Union Insurance Company. CRAIG-WILKINSON, INC. and Maryland Casualty Company v. Charles C. SPANN.
Judges: ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., DAN M. LEE, P.J., and BANKS and McRAE, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 592
Pages: 96–103

Head Matter:
Ivory L. BICKHAM v. DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH and Commercial Union Insurance Company. CRAIG-WILKINSON, INC. and Maryland Casualty Company v. Charles C. SPANN.
Nos. 89-CC-1022, 89-CC-0516.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Dec. 18, 1991.
James W. Craig, Jackson, for appellant in No. 89-CC-1022.
Kenneth G. Perry, Shell Buford Bufkin Callicutt & Perry, Jackson, for appellee in No. 89-CC-1022.
Donald V. Burch, John S. Gonzalez, Daniel Coker Horton & Bell, Jackson, for appellant in No. 89-CC-0516.
Roger K. Doolittle, Thomas J. Lowe, Jr., for appellee in No. 89-CC-0516.

Opinion:
HAWKINS, Presiding Justice,
for the Court:
We consolidate these appeals because they are being dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and the causes remanded to the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission.
In Bickham v. Department of Mental Health and Commercial Union Insurance Company, the circuit court of Rankin County granted an appeal from an interlocutory order of the Commission referring an old claim sought to be reopened to the administrative law judge for determining whether the claimant had experienced a change of conditions such that she should be allowed to reopen her claim.
In Craig-Wilkinson, Inc. and Maryland Casualty Company v. Charles C. Spann, the Commission reopened a claim upon which a Section 9(i) settlement had been made, Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-29 (1972), as authorized under Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-53 (1972), Section 21 of the Act, and referred the matter to the administrative law judge for a hearing to determine whether there had been a change in the claimant's condition authorizing reopening the claim, and other proceedings "to determine whether the claim is compensable as well as all other relevant issues." The circuit court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County granted an appeal from this order.
Clearly in both cases, the orders were not final, but interlocutory.
There is no statute authorizing an appeal from anything other than a final order of the Commission. The only right of appeal from the Commission is that given by Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-51, which authorizes an appeal to the circuit court from "the final award of the commission."
Relying upon this Court's decisions, Dunn wrote: "To be appealable, the order of the commission must be a final order." Dunn, Mississippi Workers' Compensation, § 285 (3rd ed.1982). Southern Natural Resources, Inc. v. Polk, 388 So.2d 494 (Miss.1980); St. Regis Paper Co. v. Lee, 249 Miss. 537, 163 So.2d 250 (1964).
A right of appeal is statutory. Jones v. Barnes, 463 U.S. 745, 751, 103 S.Ct. 3308, 3312-13, 77 L.Ed.2d 987, 993 (1983); Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956); St. Louis, I. M. & S. Ry v. Taylor, 210 U.S. 281, 28 S.Ct. 616, 52 L.Ed. 1061 (1908); McKane v. Durston, 153 U.S. 684, 14 S.Ct. 913, 38 L.Ed. 867 (1894); Ex Parte Yerger, 75 U.S. 85, 8 Wall. 85, 19 L.Ed. 332 (1868); The "Francis Wright," 105 U.S. 381, 15 Otto. 381, 26 L.Ed. 1100 (1882); Sheldon v. Sill, 49 U.S. (8 How.) 441, 12 L.Ed. 1147 (1850); Wiscart v. D'Auchy, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 321, 1 L.Ed. 619 (1796); City of Mound Bayou v. Johnson, 562 So.2d 1212, 1221 (Miss.1990) (Hawkins, P.J., dissenting); Fleming v. State, 553 So.2d 505, 506 (Miss.1989); Barrett v. State, 491 So.2d 833, 833 (Miss.1986); Sanford v. Board of Sup'rs, Covington County, 421 So.2d 488, 490-91 (Miss.1982); Alt v. City of Biloxi, 397 So.2d 897, 901-902 (Miss.1981); Bennett v. State, 293 So.2d 1, 3 (Miss.1974); State v. Ridinger, 279 So.2d 618, 620 (Miss.1973); Gaughf v. City of Jackson, 243 Miss. 50, 53, 137 So.2d 190, 190 (1962); Bradley v. Holmes, 242 Miss. 247, A250, 134 So.2d 494, 495-96 (1961); McMahon v. Milam Mfg. Co., 237 Miss. 676, 679, 115 So.2d 328, 330 (1959); Wells v. State, 201 Miss. 249, 251, 29 So.2d 119 (1947); State v. Warren, 197 Miss. 13, 16, 19 So.2d 491, 491 (1944); Keeton v. State, 197 Miss. 11, 12, 19 So.2d 477, 477 (1944); J.R. Watkins Co. v. Guess, 196 Miss. 438, 443, 17 So.2d 795, 796 (1944); Craig v. Barber Bros. Contracting Co., 190 Miss. 182, 187, 199 So. 270, 272 (1940); Worley v. Pappas, 161 Miss. 330, 332, 135 So. 348, 349 (1931); Shapleigh Hardware Co. v. Brumfield, 159 Miss. 175, 179, 130 So. 98, 98-99 (1930); McClanahan v. O'Donnell, 148 Miss. 478, 490, 114 So. 336, 338 (1927); State v. Poplarville Sawmill Co., 119 Miss. 432, 441, 81 So. 124, 127 (1919); Bridges v. Board of Supervisors of Clay County, 57 Miss. 252, 254 (1879); Dismukes v. Stokes, 41 Miss. 430, 432-33 (1867); Steele v. Shirley, 9 S. & M. (17 Miss.) 382 (1848). A circuit court has no authority to judicially create a right of appeal from an administrative agency in the absence of clear statutory authority therefor.
The judgments of the circuit courts, emanating from appeals from interlocutory orders of the Commission, are nullities. McMahan, et al., Trustees, Etc., v. Adult Membership Bds. of Phi Kappa, Dusty and Debs Clubs, 244 Miss. 692, 146 So.2d 359 (1962).
The circuit courts never having acquired jurisdiction, it follows this Court has no jurisdiction to hear these appeals. McMahan, supra; Ainsworth v. Blakeney, 227 Miss. 544, 86 So.2d 501 (1956); McCoy v. McRae, 204 Miss. 309, 37 So.2d 353 (1948); J.R. Watkins Co. v. Guess, 196 Miss. 438, 17 So.2d 795 (1944); Mississippi State Highway Dept. v. Haines, 162 Miss. 216, 139 So. 168 (1932); Welch v. Bryant, 157 Miss. 559, 128 So. 734 (1930); Johnson v. Marshall, 48 So. 182 (Miss.1909); Ball, Brown & Co. v. Sledge, 82 Miss. 747, 35 So. 214 (1903).
This Court erred in Sonford Products Corp. v. Freels, 495 So.2d 468, 471 (Miss.1986), in which we held that a circuit court. could under certain circumstances grant an interlocutory appeal, and its holding to this effect is overruled.
The extended time in which it takes to finally determine and conclude workers' compensation cases has long been a serious concern of the judiciary, especially this Court. Counsel for litigants and circuit judges should eschew any attempt to appeal a decision of the Commission which is not final.
APPEALS DISMISSED; CAUSES REMANDED TO THE MISSISSIPPI WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION TO PROCEED UNDER ITS ORDERS.
ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., DAN M. LEE, P.J., and BANKS and McRAE, JJ., concur.
ROBERTSON, J., dissents with separate opinion joined by PRATHER, SULLIVAN and PITTMAN, JJ.