Opinion ID: 1696757
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: personal jurisdiction in district court

Text: In the absence of anything to the contrary, statutory language is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning. Brunken v. Board of Trustees, 261 Neb. 626, 624 N.W.2d 629 (2001). At the time this action was filed, the applicable version of § 25-2706 provided: The county court shall certify proceedings to the district court of the county in which an action is pending ... when ... there is an amount in controversy in excess of fifteen thousand dollars.... The action shall then be tried and determined by the district court as if the proceedings were originally brought in such district court .... (Emphasis supplied.) By its plain terms, § 25-2706 required no additional action by the parties or the district court to confer personal jurisdiction on the district court once the county court had certified the proceedings. We conclude that service of process or a defendant's voluntary appearance in a county court is effective in district court after the county court has certified the proceedings under this section. While service of process might be required in district court if the county court had never obtained personal jurisdiction, that is not the case here.