Opinion ID: 1617594
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Time Limitation Issue

Text: Rule 38(b), Ala.R.Civ.P., reads: [¶ 1] Any party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of right by a jury by serving upon the other parties a demand therefor in writing at any time after the commencement of the action and not later than 30 days after the service of the last pleading directed to such issue. Such demand may be indorsed upon a pleading of the party, and such demand shall be deemed to be a demand for a struck jury. [¶ 2] In all actions in the circuit court brought by appeal or certiorari from any judgment of an inferior court, the party filing the notice of appeal or action for writ of certiorari may demand a trial by jury of any issue, triable of right by a jury, by serving upon the other parties a demand therefor in writing not later than 10 days after filing said notice or petition; and any other party may demand a trial by jury of any issue triable of right by a jury by, not more than 10 days after he has been served with such notice of appeal or petition for writ of certiorari, serving upon the remaining parties a demand therefor in writing. Such demand may be indorsed upon said notice or petition or other pleading of the party. (Emphasis and paragraph numbers supplied.) The Leigebers argue that a board of zoning adjustment is not a court and, therefore, is not an inferior court contemplated by paragraph 2 of Rule 38(b). Therefore, the Leigebers argue, a jury demand in an appeal from a final decision of a board of zoning adjustment is governed by paragraph 1 of Rule 38(b) and, thus, they argue, Judge Folsom clearly erred in striking their jury demand filed within the 30-day limitation of paragraph 1. [3] In opposition, the Eidsons urge a holistic reading of Rule 38(b). According to the Eidsons, paragraph 1 of Rule 38(b) deals with actions commenced in the circuit court and that paragraph gives a party 30 days to demand a jury trial, while paragraph 2, they say, deals with actions appealed to the circuit court or brought there by petition for certiorari review and that paragraph gives a party only 10 days to demand a jury trial. This case, according to the Eidsons, was appealed to the circuit court, and, they argue, the 10-day limitation applies. We find the Eidsons' argument regarding Rule 38(b) persuasive. Clearly, paragraph 1 deals with cases originally filed in the circuit court and paragraph 2 deals with cases brought there by appeal or petition for writ of certiorari. To focus merely on whether a board of zoning adjustment is an inferior court is to ignore the obvious tenor of Rule 38(b). Furthermore, the statutory predecessors of Rule 38(b) clearly contemplated this same distinction between cases originally filed in circuit court and cases coming there by appeal or petition for certiorari review. Title 7, § 260, Ala.Code 1940 (Recomp.1958), is the functional equivalent of paragraph 1 of present Rule 38(b), and Title 7, § 264, Ala.Code 1940 (Recomp.1958), is the functional equivalent of paragraph 2 of Rule 38(b). In pertinent part, Title 7, § 260, Ala.Code 1940 (Recomp.1958), states: All civil cases at law shall be tried and determined by the court without a jury unless the plaintiff indorses in writing his demand for a trial by jury on the summons and complaint, attachment, or other process or paper filed by him for the purpose of instituting the suit, or by filing a separate written demand with the clerk of the court at the commencement of the suit, or unless the defendant or other party occupying the position of defendant shall demand in writing a trial by jury within thirty days after the perfection of service on him, or unless the claimant shall demand in writing a trial by jury at the time of the filing of his claim. (Emphasis supplied.) Title 7, § 264, Ala.Code 1940 (Recomp.1958), states: In all causes in the circuit court brought by appeal or certiorari from judgments of justices of the peace or other inferior courts, the issues and questions of fact shall be tried by the judge of the court without the intervention of a jury unless a demand for a trial by jury be made in writing and filed in the cause by the party suing out the appeal or certiorari within ten days after suing out the same, or filed in the cause by the opposite party within ten days after he has been served with notice of the appeal or certiorari. (Emphasis supplied.) [4] Additionally, Moore v. City of Mobile, 248 Ala. 436, 28 So.2d 203 (1946), and City of Florala v. McLeod, 216 Ala. 351, 113 So. 312 (1927), are persuasive. Moore concerned an appeal from a probate court's ruling in a condemnation proceeding. City of Florala concerned an appeal from a city council ruling assessing the cost of city improvements to neighboring landowners. Both cases applied a 10-day limitation (Title 7, § 264, Ala. Code 1940, in Moore; and § 8596, Ala.Code 1923, in City of Florala ) to a jury demand in an appeal from a judgment entered by a body closely analogous to a board of zoning adjustment.