Title: State Ex Rel. NYC Ry. v. STARKE CIR. CT.
Citation: 108 N.E.2d 708, 231 Ind. 360
Docket Number: 28,859
State: Indiana
Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court
Date: November 26, 1952

231 Ind. 360 (1952)
108 N.E.2d 708
STATE EX REL. NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY ET AL.
v.
STARKE CIRCUIT COURT, LARAMORE, JUDGE, ETC. ET AL.
No. 28,859.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed November 26, 1952.
*361 L.L. Bomberger, Crumpacker &amp; Friedrich, and Joseph L. Skozen, all of Hammond; Alfred J. Link, Frederick H. Link, Kenneth D. Osborn, John B. Dilworth, R.J. Salek, H.A. DeMyer, and Arthur I. Raelson, all of LaPorte; Farabaugh, Pettengill, Chapleau &amp; Roper, Crumpacker, May, Beamer, Levy &amp; Searer, all of South Bend; Oscar B. Smith, of Knox; Albert H. Cole, of Peru; Mox Ruge, of Chesterton; and J. Arden Rearick, of Lafayette, for petitioners.
Paul E. Reed, of Knox, for respondents.
J. Emmett McManamon, Attorney General; Fred A. Wiecking, Nicholas W. Sufana, and Obed T. Kilgore, Deputy Attorneys General, for Amicus Curiae.
JASPER, J.
This is an original action brought by relators for a writ of prohibition.
Relators contend that the eight circuit courts, the respondents, jointly and severally, are without jurisdiction to hear and determine the establishment of the "Kankakee Valley Conservancy District," in which a part or all of the counties of the eight circuit courts are located.
A petition was filed in the Starke Circuit Court for the establishment of the "Kankakee Valley Conservancy District," in compliance with Chapter 239 of the Acts of 1947 (Acts 1947, p. 902) as amended by Chapter 218 of the Acts of 1949 (Acts 1949, p. 705), which act is *362 known as the "Conservancy Act of Indiana" (§§ 27-1201-27-1283, Burns' 1948 Replacement).
The Starke Circuit Court determined that the petition was sufficient. On or about the 15th day of June, 1951, the Judge of the Starke Circuit Court notified, by letter, the Judges of the other Circuit Courts of the action taken on such petition, and that August 10, 1951, had been fixed as the date for the Judges to meet and organize as a court, and be prepared to receive and act upon objections to the petition and the prayer thereof. The petitioners herein, on the 10th day of August, 1951, filed their objections.
The first question to be determined is, did the Legislature create a new court where more than one county is involved in a proposed conservancy district?
Section 27-1202, Burns' 1948 Replacement, provides in part:
Section 27-1206, Burns' 1948 Replacement, provides:
Section 1, Article 7, of the Constitution of Indiana, provides:
The Constitution gives the Legislature the right to create "such other courts as the General Assembly may establish."[1]
*365 The Legislature, by Chapter 239 of the Acts of 1947, did create a new court, for the purpose of the act, where more than one county is involved in a conservancy district.
In the case at bar, the court created under the act consists of the judges of the eight circuit courts of the counties involved, and, by statute, the Legislature vested original and exclusive jurisdiction in the court coextensive with the boundaries and limits of the proposed district.[2] Section 27-1206, Burns' 1948 Replacement.
Having decided that a new court was created herein, we must next consider whether or not the Supreme Court of Indiana has jurisdiction to issue a writ of prohibition directed to a conservancy court as established under Chapter 239 of the Acts of 1947 or to the individual judges making up the new court. Section 4 of Article 7 of the Constitution of Indiana provides:
The General Assembly, in compliance with the last-cited section of the Constitution, conferred original *366 jurisdiction to issue writs of prohibition and mandate upon this court, as provided under § 3-2201, Burns' 1946 Replacement, which provides as follows:
This court has jurisdiction only to confine to their jurisdiction the courts enumerated in § 3-2201, Burns' 1946 Replacement, and no others. State ex rel. Castle v. Cameron, Judge (1936), 210 Ind. 599, 4 N.E.2d 533; State, ex rel., v. Chambers, Judge (1932), 203 Ind. 523, 181 N.E. 282; State ex rel. Gillette v. Niblack, Judge (1944), 222 Ind. 290, 53 N.E.2d 542; State ex rel. Seaton v. Industrial Board (1944), *367 222 Ind. 526, 54 N.E.2d 944; State ex rel. Beaman v. C. Ct. Pike Co.; Gibson Co. (1951), 229 Ind. 190, 96 N.E.2d 671; Spence v. State (1943), 221 Ind. 474, 48 N.E.2d 459.
It is well settled that this court has no jurisdiction in original actions over individuals, except as provided in § 3-2202, Burns' 1946 Replacement, which statute is not here involved. The Legislature did not see fit to amend § 3-2201, Burns' 1946 Replacement, to give this court jurisdiction over conservancy courts as created by Chapter 239 of the Acts of 1947. Therefore we have no authority to issue a writ of prohibition or mandate to either prohibit or mandate such a court. This court does have inherent jurisdiction to issue writs of prohibition and mandate in aid of its appellate jurisdiction, but that is not involved in the case at bar. The jurisdiction of this court to issue writs of prohibition and mandate is limited by the Constitution and by legislative enactment. Until such time as the Legislature gives to this court jurisdiction to issue such writs against newly created courts, we cannot, as they say, save relators "the trouble, expense and delay of a trial...."
The temporary writ of prohibition heretofore issued is dissolved, and a permanent writ of prohibition is denied.
NOTE.  Reported in 108 N.E.2d 708.
[1]  For court hearing claims against the State of Indiana, see § 4-1501, Burns' 1946 Replacement, wherein it is provided that all Judges of the Superior Court of Marion County sit together to hear such claims.
[2]  Section 6 of Chapter 239 of the Acts of 1947 differs from the Conservancy Act of Ohio (§ 6828-5, Page's Ohio General Code Annotated, Vol. 5, page 123), in that jurisdiction under the Ohio act remains in the Common Pleas Court of the county in which the petition was filed; and where more than one county is involved in the Conservancy District, all Common Pleas Judges of the counties involved make up the Common Pleas Court of the county in which the petition was filed.