Opinion ID: 2104670
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Trial Court's Jurisdiction

Text: On appeal, Oliver contends that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to subpoena him and his records for a deposition once that court remanded the matter to an administrative board. Oliver argues that an appellate court loses jurisdiction after issuance of its mandate or after remand. As such, the Board, not the circuit court, has the authority to issue subpoenas when it has the case. Interveners Arkansas Professional and the Board support this argument, and also contend that jurisdiction cannot lie in two tribunals at the same time. These interveners also argue that the Board has the power to issue subpoenas, and Mann and Affordable could have conducted discovery under jurisdiction of the Board prior to the hearing on remand. To the contrary, Mann and Affordable argue that a writ of prohibition is not the appropriate remedy here because the proof sought from Oliver in his deposition has to do with a procedural matter over which the circuit court maintains jurisdiction. Mann and Affordable argue that the type of remand contemplated in Ark.Code Ann. § 25-15-212(f) allows the circuit court to retain jurisdiction over the matter while the Board hears additional evidence and modifies its decision if necessary. Mann and Affordable further argue that Ark.Code Ann. § 25-15-212(g) allows the circuit court to retain jurisdiction when alleged procedural irregularities exist before the agency. Oliver argues that the circuit court in the administrative-appeals process is analogous to an appellate court. Hence, just as an appellate court's jurisdiction ends with the issuance of a mandate or upon remand, so would the circuit court's. See Cooper Communities, supra ; First Pyramid Life Ins. Co. v. Stoltz, 312 Ark. 516, 849 S.W.2d 525 (1993); Brimson v. Brimson, 228 Ark. 562, 309 S.W.2d 29 (1958). This general rule would seem to support Oliver's argument that once the circuit court remanded the case to the Board, it lost all jurisdiction to issue the subpoena duces tecum to Oliver, as then only the Board had the authority and power to issue the subpoena. However, the circuit court's role as a reviewing court of administrative appeals is not the same as that of an appellate court. Mann and Affordable argue that Ark.Code Ann. § 25-15-212(f), the statutory section to which the circuit court referred in its remand order, actually allows the circuit court to retain jurisdiction. We agree. Ark.Code Ann. § 25-15-212(f) states: (f) If before the date set for hearing, application is made to the court for leave to present additional evidence and the court finds that the evidence is material and that there were good reasons for failure to present it in the proceeding before the agency, the court may order that the additional evidence be taken before the agency upon any conditions which may be just. The agency may modify its findings and decision by reason of the additional evidence and shall file that evidence and any modifications, new findings, or decisions with the reviewing court. It was under this section of the APA that the circuit court remanded the matter to the Board after the parties agreed that the circuit court no longer could conduct a de novo review of the Board's original proceeding but instead must follow the APA requiring the circuit court to conduct an appellate review of the Board's proceedings. Ark.Code Ann. § 25-15-212(f) contemplates a reservation of jurisdiction in the reviewing court in that it expressly requires that upon remand the agency shall file that evidence and any modifications, new findings, or decisions with the reviewing court. A remand ends a proceeding before an appellate court, and it has nothing further to do. Here, however, the circuit court remains a reviewing court and retains continuing jurisdiction over the appeal. After the board completes its action, the circuit court may then proceed with its consideration of the appeal on the merits. See Hickory Hills Limited Partnership, et. al., v. Secretary of State of Maryland, 84 Md.App. 677, 581 A.2d 834 (1990); See also, Rosecky v. Illinois Department of Public Aid, 157 Ill.App.3d 608, 110 Ill.Dec. 332, 511 N.E.2d 167 (1987). We also note that Ark.Code Ann. § 25-15-214 authorizes the Pulaski County Circuit Court to command agencies failing or refusing to act to the injury of any person or their property to do so where the agency acts unlawfully, unreasonably, or capriciously. This authority would seem to apply to any stage of the proceedings. [2] We hold that the petitioner has fallen short in establishing that there has been a plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion without any other remedy such as appeal. Nor has petitioner shown that the circuit court is wholly without jurisdiction. On the record before us, we cannot say that the trial court exceeded its jurisdiction in issuing subpoenas to Oliver. Petition denied without prejudice. GLAZE and BROWN, JJ., concur.