Opinion ID: 2632559
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the district court's jurisdiction over castle's appeal

Text: ¶ 8 It is undisputed that Castle was required to pay a $10 fee, pursuant to Utah Code section 78-6-14, at the time she filed her notice of appeal of the small claims judgment. Utah Code Ann. § 78-6-14(4) (2002). It is further undisputed that Castle did not pay this fee until February 26, 2003, fourteen days after filing the notice of appeal. It is thus clear, and Castle does not argue otherwise, that Castle failed to timely pay the $10 fee. We therefore turn to address whether this failure deprived the district court of jurisdiction to consider Castle's appeal. Resolution of this issue rests on the construction of court rules, a matter of law that we review de novo. Dipoma v. McPhie, 2001 UT 61, ¶ 8, 29 P.3d 1225. ¶ 9 In our previous decisions addressing whether payment of filing fees is a jurisdictional requirement, we have carefully examined the plain language of the applicable rule in order to determine whether the rule explicitly conditioned jurisdiction on payment of fees. Id. at ¶ 11; see State v. Johnson, 700 P.2d 1125, 1128 (Utah 1985); Prowswood, Inc. v. Mountain Fuel Supply Co., 676 P.2d 952, 958 (Utah 1984). ¶ 10 In Dipoma, we considered rule 3 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, which stated that `[a] civil action is commenced ... by filing a complaint with the court' and included cross-references to statutory fee requirements. 2001 UT 61 at ¶ 10, 29 P.3d 1225 (quoting Utah R. Civ. P. 3(a) (amended 2003)). We held that because any [express] reference to filing fees as a jurisdictional requirement is notably absent from the plain language of the rule, a trial court's jurisdiction does not depend on payment of such fees. Id. at ¶¶ 13, 16. ¶ 11 In contrast, we held in both Johnson and Prowswood that, under the applicable rules, failure to pay the filing fee within the requisite period is a defect of jurisdictional magnitude. Johnson, 700 P.2d at 1128 (discussing Prowswood, 676 P.2d at 955). In Johnson, we considered rule 73(h) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, a predecessor to the rule at issue here, which required a district court to dismiss an appeal of a justice court's ruling, unless at the time of filing the notice of appeal the party appealing shall deposit into court the fees required by law to be paid in connection therewith, including both the fees for the lower court and for docketing the appeal in the district court. Id. (quoting Utah R. Civ. P. 73(h) (repealed 1990)). We reasoned that this language effectively imposed the timely payment of filing fees as a jurisdictional requirement. Id. (citing Marsh v. Utah Homes, Inc., 17 Utah 2d 248, 408 P.2d 906 (1965); Bish's Sheet Metal Co. v. Luras, 11 Utah 2d 357, 359 P.2d 21 (1961)). ¶ 12 In Prowswood, we construed rule 73(a) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure, which required a party appealing to this court from a district court ruling to fil[e] with the district court a notice of appeal ... and [to] deposit [ ] therewith the fee required for docketing the appeal in the Supreme Court.... Failure of the appellant to take any of the further steps to secure the review of the judgment appealed from does not affect the validity of the appeal, but is ground only for such remedies as are specified in this rule or, when no remedy is specified, for such action as the Supreme Court deems appropriate, which may include dismissal of the appeal. Prowswood, 676 P.2d at 954-55 (quoting Utah R. Civ. P. 73(a) (repealed 1985)). [1] We reasoned that the rule's express refusal to condition the appeal's validity on further failures indicated that the appeal's validity was contingent on both previously stated requirements  filing of the notice of appeal and payment of the docketing fee, both within the requisite thirty-day period. Id. at 955. ¶ 13 Here, as indicated above, Panos argues that the language of rule 4-803 of the Rules of Judicial Administration similarly imposes timely payment of filing fees as a jurisdictional requirement for appeals of small claims actions. Rule 4-803, as it existed in 2003 when Castle filed her notice of appeal, provided in pertinent part: At the time of filing the notice of appeal, the appellant must deposit into court issuing the judgment the fees established under Utah Code Ann. Section 21-1-5 and Section 78-6-14. The payment of the filing fee is necessary for conferring jurisdiction upon the district court. Utah R. Jud. Admin. 4-803(2)(D) (repealed 2004) (emphasis added). The express language of this rule does appear to make payment of filing fees a jurisdictional requirement. Nevertheless, the effect of the rule in this case is not immediately clear because in 2001, separate Utah Rules of Small Claims Procedure were established. Rule 12 of these new rules then stated: To appeal, the appealing party must file a Notice of Appeal (Form K) in the court issuing the judgment and mail a copy to each party. The appropriate fee must accompany the Notice of Appeal. Utah R. Small Claims P. 12(b) (amended 2004). Thus, the plain language of rule 12 failed to attach jurisdictional significance to either filing the notice of appeal or paying the required filing fees. Nor did rule 12 cross-reference rule 4-803. We therefore must consider the relationship between these two rules during the brief period when they coexisted. [2] In the absence of clarification in the rules themselves, we look to the applicable statutory provisions for guidance. ¶ 14 The Utah Code provisions governing small claims courts direct that [s]mall claims matters shall be managed in accordance with simplified rules of procedure and evidence promulgated by the Supreme Court. Utah Code Ann. § 78-6-1(7) (2002). In accord with this statutory provision, this court promulgated the Utah Rules of Small Claims Procedure, which constitute the simplified rules of procedure and evidence in small claims cases required by Utah Code Section 78-6-1, Utah R. Small Claims P. 1(a), and apply to the initial trial and any appeal under rule 12 of all actions pursued as a small claims action under Utah Code Section 78-6-1 et seq. id. 1(b). [3] The Utah Rules of Judicial Administration, on the other hand, including rule 4-803, are promulgated by the Utah Judicial Council, which does not have authority to make rules governing small claims court procedure, much less to determine the jurisdiction of district courts over small claims appeals. [4] See Utah Code Ann. § 78-3-21 (2002). We therefore conclude that rule 12 is the applicable rule in this case and, in accord with our reading of rule 12 above, we hold that Castle's late payment of a $10 fee did not deprive the district court of jurisdiction over her appeal.