Title: Jackson v. Smith
Citation: 366 S.W.2d 278
Docket Number: 5-2939
State: Arkansas
Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court
Date: April 8, 1963

366 S.W.2d 278 (1963) C. J. JACKSON et al. Petitioners, v. Ford SMITH, Chancellor, Respondent. No. 5-2939. Supreme Court of Arkansas. April 8, 1963. *279 James P. Baker, Jr., Helena, for petitioners. David Solomon, Helena, for respondent. JOHNSON, Justice. This is a petition for a writ of prohibition seeking, on jurisdictional grounds, to prohibit a chancery court from trying a declaratory judgment action. On June 19, 1962, the residuary legatees under the will of Ann H. T. Coley, the Phillips National Bank and Walter L. Coley, executor of the estate of Ann H. T. Coley, filed a petition for declaratory judgment naming the petitioners, C. J. Jackson and Frank Jackson Jordan, as defendants in the Phillips Chancery Court, asking for a determination of rights as to the ownership of certain shares of capital stock in the Phillips National Bank. The complaint states that the executor in his inventory, filed in the Phillips Probate Court, listed 80 shares of capital stock of Phillips National Bank as owned by the testatrix and as an asset of the estate; that the residuary legatees filed their exception to the inventory stating that the testatrix actually owned 200 shares of such stock; that the executor responded in Probate Court stating that Phillips National Bank has in its possession 160 shares of the stock issued in the name of the testatrix, and the executor only has constructive possession of 80 shares; that the Phillips National Bank had issued 200 shares of its capital stock to Ann H. T. Coley, which are still so recorded on its corporate books, and the bank actually has in its possession 160 of the shares; that C. J. Jackson and Frank Jackson Jordan claim some interest therein, the latter claiming by an assignment from Jackson, and that either or both of them have in their possession certificates representing 40 shares, which are registered on the corporate books in the name of Ann H. T. Coley. In response to this petition the defendants filed a motion to dismiss alleging several jurisdictional grounds. The motion to dismiss was overruled and the defendants (petitioners herein) were ordered to file their answer by December 1, 1962. This petition for a writ of prohibition followed. The first point relied upon by petitioners is that the chancery courts of Arkansas are without jurisdiction to hear petitions for declaratory judgment. Although it is not necessary to reach this point, since the question keeps arising we feel impelled to lay it at rest. Petitioners contend that the chancery court is without jurisdiction to entertain declaratory judgment petitions because of an express limitation in the Constitution of 1874 providing that chancery courts shall have jurisdiction in equity matters only as then exercised by courts of equity; and that the declaratory judgment is purely the creation of statute which was not known to equity jurisdiction as it existed in 1874. Respondent contends that the declaratory judgment act did not change or increase *280 the jurisdiction of equity, but is purely a procedural addition to our civil procedure. The Constitution of 1874, Article 7, § 15, states: In 1903 the legislature established separate chancery courts in every county of the state. Jurisdiction of these courts is stated in Ark.Stats. § 22-404 as follows: In Young v. Young, 207 Ark. 36, 178 S.W.2d 994, 152 A.L.R. 327, where the act establishing three year separation as a ground for divorce and abolishing recrimination as a defense thereto, was attacked as unconstitutional as diminishing equity jurisdiction, this court stated in part: In this light, we now examine the Declaratory Judgment Act of 1953 (Ark.Stats. §§ 34-2501 to 34-2512). Section 1 (§ 34-2501) provides: It is hardly necessary to examine further. By its own terms, "within their respective jurisdictions," this act does not attempt to enlarge or alter the jurisdiction of any court. The chancery court clearly has jurisdiction to render declaratory judgments where the subject matter of the declaration is within equity jurisdiction, and we so find. Whether the subject matter in the instant case is a matter for equity jurisdiction appears to be a question of fact. Upon its face the complaint does not seem to be wholly without the jurisdiction of equity. This is a question which could be tested by appeal. If the court is without jurisdiction, a proper remedy would be by motion to transfer, as provided by Ark. Stats. § 27-208 as follows: The case of Bassett v. Bourland, 175 Ark. 271, 299 S.W. 13, is directly in point, in which it was stated: Writ denied.