Opinion ID: 1333326
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Civil Case Information Statement

Text: Although Cable's complaint against Marrowbone was accompanied by the proper initial filing fee, there was a defect in Cable's attempt to initiate the action that thwarted the circuit clerk's authority to file the complaint. Under Rule 3 of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure, [e]very complaint shall be accompanied by a completed civil case information statement in the form prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals. (Emphasis added). [17] This rule utilizes the term shall, and thus is mandatory. See, e.g., State ex rel. Kern v. Santucci, 201 W.Va. 144, 146, 494 S.E.2d 911, 913 (1997) (The use of the word `shall' is usually considered to be a mandatory word in enactments such as Rule 18(b) [of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure] and has generally been construed as depriving a party required to do something of discretion to do that act. (Citations omitted)). Therefore, we hold that Rule 3 of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure requires, in mandatory language, that a completed civil case information statement accompany a complaint submitted to the circuit clerk for filing. In the absence of a completed civil case information statement, the clerk is without authority to file the complaint. We can locate nothing in the record of this case establishing that Cable complied with the mandatory requirement of Rule 3. Because he failed to submit a completed case information statement with his complaint, the complaint could not be filed. Consequently, Cable did not have a legal right to the relief he sought in his petition for mandamus before the circuit court. As Hatfield did not have a legal duty to perform the act sought to be compelled by Cable's petition for a writ of mandamus, and because Cable was not legally entitled to the relief sought, the court did not err in dismissing Cable's petition. D.