Case Name: Welborn, &c., v. Edwards, Judge
Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Decision Date: 1907-05-15
Citations: 125 Ky. 680
Docket Number: 
Parties: Welborn, &c., v. Edwards, Judge
Judges: 
Reporter: Kentucky Reports
Volume: 125
Pages: 680–683

Head Matter:
CASE 77. — PETITION FOR WRIT OF PROHIBITION BY T. L. WELBORN AND OTHERS AGAINST JOHN W. EDWARDS, JUDGE.
May 15.
Welborn, &c., v. Edwards, Judge
Appeal from Logan Circuit Court.
"W". P. Sandidge, Circuit Judge.
From a judgment sustaining a demurrer to the peti tion and dismissing it, plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
Courts — Jurisdiction of Inferior Courts — Amount! in Dispute-^» Prohibition — Where an injunction is issued out of a quarterly court restraining the sale of property under ,an execution issued out of such court, the property being claimed as exempt and being of the value of more than $25, a writ of prohibition will not be issued by a circuit court against such injunction on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction, under Code Prac., section 248, providing that “no injunction shall be granted to stay proceedings upon a judgment of .a justice of the peace or of a county court if the' value of the matter in dispute do not exceed twenty-five dollars,” since the “matter in dispute” is more than $25.
J. C. BROWDER for appellant.
WILBUR F. BROWDER of counsel.
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES.
1. Section 284, Civil Code of Practice, is mandatory and no injunction to stay proceedings on a judgment of a quarterly court» can be issued unless the amount of the judgment exceed $25.00.
2. The judge of a quarterly court who assumes the authority to and does issue a temporary restraining order enjoining proceedings on a judgment for less than $25.00, is acting without jurisdiction and his order is void.
3. No injunction will be granted where there appears by the applicant’s petition to be other and adequate remedy at law.
4. Where an inferior court is proceeding beyond its jurisdiction, the writ of prohibition is the proper remedy for the party aggreived. Especially is this true where no appeal will lie from the judgment of the inferior court.
CITATIONS.
Civil Code, sec. 284; Meeters v. Clements, 12 Bush, 359; Kelly v. Kelly, 2 Duv., 363; Civil Code, sec. 273; Civil Code sec. 285; Kentucky Statutes, secs. 978, 950; Criminal Code, sec. 347; Endlich on Interpretation Sts., secs. 155, 158; Weaver, Mayor, v. Toney, 107 Ky., 419; Vance v. Workman (Ind), 8 Black, 306; Goldsmith v. Owens, Judge, 95 Ky., 420; Arnold and Parrish v. Shields, 5 Dana, 18.
GEORGE L. HARDY for appellee.
(No brief in the record.)

Opinion:
Opinion op the Court by
Judge Hobson
Affirming.
At the September term, 1899, James White recovered a judgment against Morton H. Rogers in the Logan quarterly court for $5 and cost, $3.05. On March 8, 1906, an execution was issued on the judgment, which went into the hands of the constable, T. L, Welborn, and was by him levied on a roan mare, the property of Rogers, which he advertised for sale. Rogers then filed his petition in the Logan quarterly court against Welborn and White, in which he alleged that he was summoned to appear in the quarterly court at the September term, 1899, to answer the claim of White; that he appeared and the case was dismissed for want of prosecution, White not appearing; that after this and at a subsequent term the judgment was rendered against him, the judge of the quarterly court having set aside the order dismissing the case without notice to him. He also alleged that the mare was exempt from execution. On these facts the quarterly court granted an injunction restraining the defendants from proceeding further under the execution or selling the mare levied on until the further order of the court. The defendant .demurred to the jurisdiction of the court, and filed an answer denying the allegations of the petition. The court overruled the demurrer, and overruled the defendants' motion to dissolve the injunction. Thereupon the defendants brought this suit in the Logau circuit court, seeking a writ prohibiting .the judge of the Logan quarterly court from proceeding further with the injunction, on the ground that the quarterly court was without jurisdiction to grant an injunction in the case under section- 284 of the Code of Practice: "No injunction shall be granted to stay proceedings upon a judgment of a justice of the peace, or of a county court, if the value of the matter in dispute do not exceed twenty-five dollars." The court sustained a demurrer to the petition, and dismissed it. The plaintiffs appeal.
"While the amount of the judgment in controversy is less than $25, "the value of the matter in dispute" is more than $25. The mare is worth $100. If the injunction is not granted, the constable will sell the mare under the execution. The value of the matter in dispute is not to be determined from the amount of the judgment. The thing in dispute is the right of the officer to seize the plaintiff's mare and sell her. If the amount of the judgment was $100, and the property levied on worth $10 and claimed as exempt, the value of the matter in dispute would not be the amount of the judgment. The only thing in dispute would be the right to sell property worth $10 for the debt. Here there cannot be a sale of so much of th« property as may be necessary to pay the debt, and therefore the amount of the debt is not material. The thing in dispute is the sale of the mare, and the value of the matter in dispute must be determined by the value of the mare. If the allegations of the petition are true, the mare is not subject to the execution, and her seizure was wrongful; and, if the facts stated in the petition are true, the judgment rendered in the quarterly court should be opened, and the original case should be heard on its merits. The quarterly court was proceeding within its jurisdiction, as that court alone had jurisdiction to vacate or modify the judgment which had been rendered, and it might grant an injunction where the value in dispute between the parties at the time of the application was not less than $25.
Judgment affirmed.