Case Name: Rose v. Rose
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Arkansas
Decision Date: 1958-12-22
Citations: 229 Ark. 899
Docket Number: 5-1693
Parties: Rose v. Rose.
Judges: 
Reporter: Arkansas Reports
Volume: 229
Pages: 899–903

Head Matter:
Rose v. Rose.
5-1693
318 S. W. 2d 818
Opinion delivered December 22, 1958.
Peyton D. Moncrief, for appellant.
No brief filed for appellee.

Opinion:
William J. Smith, Associate Justice.
It appears that Mrs. Wilmer A. Bose filed a charge of insanity against her husband in the Probate Court of Arkansas County, Southern District, and following a hearing, without notice to him and at which he was not present, the court adjudged him insane and ordered him committed to the State Hospital for Nervous Diseases. This appeal is by C. P. Bose, father and next friend of Wilmer A. Bose.
The appellant has argued several points for reversal, one of which is the court's failure to comply with the statutory requirement that a person be present before the court at the time his sanity is inquired into, Sec. 59-101, Ark. Stats. 1917. In the case of Monks v. Duffle, 163 Ark. 118, 259 S. W. 735, we discussed the-mandatory provision of this statute, stating:
"The order contains no recital that appellant was before the probate court when the condition of her mind was inquired into. Under Article 7, Sec. 34, of the Constitution of 1874, exclusive jurisdiction in matters relating to persons of unsound mind and their estates is conferred upon probate courts. Watson v. Banks, 154 Ark. 396. This jurisdiction can be exercised only in the special manner provided in Sec. 5829 of Crawford & Moses' Digest, which is as follows: 'If any person shall give information in writing to such court that any person in his county is an idiot, lunatic, or of unsound mind, and pray that an inquiry thereof be had, the court, if satisfied that there is good cause for the exercise of its jurisdiction, shall cause the person so charged to be brought before such court and inquire into the facts by a jury, if the facts be doubtful.'
"It will be observed that, in order to exercise its jurisdiction, it was necessary to have appellant before the court. Where the jurisdiction conferred upon a court must be exercised in a special manner, and not according to the course of the common law, it is necessary for the facts essential to the exercise of such jurisdiction to appear in the record. Oliver v. Routh, 123 Ark. 189; Massey v. Doke, Id., 211; Jones v. Ainell, Id., 532. The failure of the record to affirmatively show the presence of the appellant in court when the condition of her mind was inquired into renders the probate order void. The letter of guardianship must fall with the order. ' '
In the case of Hyde v. McNeely, 193 Ark. 1139, 104 S. W. 2d 1068, we said:
"The direction that the subject of the inquiry be brought before the court has been held to be mandatory, and an order which fails to recite such jurisdictional fact is void. ' '
It is undisputed that Wilmer A. Rose was not present at the time when the court adjudged him insane and ordered him committed. Accordingly, under the statute and eases, supra, the court was without jurisdiction to make the order and it must be reversed.
The circumstances in this case are quite different from those we had under consideration in Barbee v. Kolb, Superintendent, 207 Ark. 227, 179 S. W. 2d 701, wherein Barbee was seeking his release from the State Hospital for Nervous Diseases in a habeas corpus proceeding. During the hearing on his petition, Barbee established by his own witnesses that he was of unsound mind. In this case Rose has appealed from the order declaring him to be of unsound mind and we are called upon to determine whether there was reversible error in the proceedings in the trial court.
If Wilmer A. Rose is still confined to the State Hospital for Nervous Diseases, he should remain in protective custody while a hearing is had in compliance with the applicable statute, supra.
The order is reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.