Title: Wofford v. CITIES SERVICE OIL COMPANY
Citation: 236 So. 2d 743
Docket Number: 45841
State: Mississippi
Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court
Date: June 8, 1970

236 So. 2d 743 (1970) F.C. WOFFORD and R.L. Harmon v. CITIES SERVICE OIL COMPANY. No. 45841. Supreme Court of Mississippi. June 8, 1970. *744 Clyde Ratcliff, John P. Fox, Houston, for appellants. Green, Green &amp; Cheney, Jackson, for appellee. ROBERTSON, Justice. On November 21, 1966, Appellee, Cities Service Oil Company, brought suit in the County Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, against Robert G. Gilder, a resident citizen of Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, and Robert L. Harmon and F.C. Wofford, resident citizens of Houston, Chickasaw County, Mississippi. Gilder and Harmon were sued on open account and Wofford on a check that he had given for the full amount of the open account, which check had been dishonored because of insufficient funds. Personal service of process was had on Harmon and Wofford on November 26, 1966, in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. Summons and alias summons were issued for Gilder to the Sheriff of Hinds County; the returns on both were that Gilder was not found in Hinds County. No service of process was ever had on Gilder. On December 20, 1966, default judgment was taken in the County Court of Hinds County against Appellants R.L. Harmon and F.C. Wofford for $3,325.15. Prodded by writs of garnishment on this judgment, Harmon and Wofford finally on July 3, 1968, filed a motion to vacate the default judgment taken against them. Appellants alleged in their motion that the default judgment taken on December 20, 1966: The County Court of Hinds County on October 16, 1968, overruled the motion to vacate the default judgment. Appellants appealed to the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, and the circuit court affirmed the judgment of the county court overruling the motion to vacate. Appellants thereupon appealed to this Court. The only assignment of error that merits discussion is that the original default judgment *745 of the county court was null and void because no service of process was had on the Hinds County defendant, Robert G. Gilder. This was a suit against joint defendants, one residing in one county and two in a different county. Under the authority of Section 1847 Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (1956), original process was properly issued to Hinds County for Gilder and Chickasaw County for Harmon and Wofford. Section 1433 Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (1956) provides in part: In delineating the jurisdiction of the county court, Section 1604 Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (Supp. 1968) provides in part: Under the provisions of Sections 1433 and 1604, the Hinds County Court had jurisdiction of the subject matter. Venue jurisdiction is all that is involved in this case. As to venue and what a defendant must do to correct it, Section 1441 Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (1956) has this to say: In King v. Ainsworth, 225 Miss. 248, 251, 83 So. 2d 97, 99 (1955), this Court construed Section 1441 and held: Then, in Ainsworth, et al. v. Blakeney, 232 Miss. 297, 305-306, 98 So. 2d 880, 884 (1957), we said: In this case default judgment was taken on December 20, 1966. The motion to vacate for lack of jurisdiction was not filed until July 3, 1968, over one and one-half years after default judgment was rendered. We hold that timely objection was not made as specifically required by statute, that venue was thus waived, and that the judgment of the circuit court, affirming the judgment of the county court so holding, should be and is now affirmed. Affirmed. JONES, PATTERSON, INZER and SMITH, JJ., concur.