Opinion ID: 1105828
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedure for Obtaining Review of Jurisdictional Issue

Text: The attorney general, on behalf of the trial judge, first asserts that a writ of prohibition is not available to address anticipated errors in a contempt proceeding where those errors may be remedied on appeal. Specifically, he asserts that we should order Rountree to appear at a contempt hearing, allow him to complete the proceedings on the contempt citations, and then on appeal review the judgment, or judgments, if he is found in contempt. Rountree responds by arguing that a writ of prohibition is appropriate because he challenges the trial court's jurisdiction over him. The Court of Civil Appeals held that a writ of prohibition was the proper procedure for challenging the jurisdiction of the trial court to hold a person in contempt. We agree. The attorney general correctly states that Alabama provides a statutory right to appeal from a judgment of contempt. Section 12-1-11, Ala.Code 1975, provides for such an appeal, and that section states that [o]n such appeal the question shall be whether the appellant was guilty of contempt. The question here, however, is not whether Rountree is guilty of contempt, an issue yet to be determined, but whether the trial court had the jurisdiction to make such a determination. A writ of prohibition is a preventive measure, rather than a corrective remedy. Ball v. Jones, 272 Ala. 305, 315, 132 So.2d 120, 128 (1961). Its purpose is to prevent a lower court from acting outside its jurisdiction. State v. Crossman, 687 So.2d 817, 818 (Ala.Crim.App.1996). Accord Ex parte City of Tuskegee, 447 So.2d 713, 716 (Ala.1984); Ex parte State ex rel. Bragg, 240 Ala. 80, 85, 197 So. 32, 36 (1940). Accordingly, we hold that Rountree's petitioning the Court of Civil Appeals for a writ of prohibition was the proper procedure for challenging the trial court's jurisdiction in this contempt proceeding. [2]