Opinion ID: 1696757
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: subject-matter jurisdiction in county court

Text: Trackwell also contends that all actions taken by the county court were void ab initio due to its lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because Hunt's petition indicated that the amount in controversy exceeded $15,000. Subject-matter jurisdiction is the power of a tribunal to hear and determine a case of the general class or category to which the proceedings in question belong and to deal with the general subject matter involved. Falotico v. Grant Cty. Bd. of Equal., 262 Neb. 292, 631 N.W.2d 492 (2001). A ruling made in the absence of subject-matter jurisdiction is a nullity. In re Estate of Andersen, 253 Neb. 748, 572 N.W.2d 93 (1998). Although the statute has since been amended, at the time that this action was filed, § 24-517(4) gave county courts concurrent jurisdiction with district courts in all civil actions when the amount in controversy does not exceed fifteen thousand dollars. When the pleadings or discovery proceedings in a civil action indicate an amount in controversy may exceed fifteen thousand dollars, the county court shall certify the proceedings to the district court as provided in section 25-2706. Under this section, the county court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to determine Trackwell's case because the petition indicated an amount in controversy of $27,368, and § 24-517(4) required the county court to certify the proceedings to district court. This conclusion is supported by the Legislature's 2001 amendments to § 24-517. See 2001 Neb. Laws, L.B. 269. Section 24-517(5)(a) now requires the county court,  upon the request of any party,  to certify civil proceedings to district court when the pleadings or discovery indicates an amount in controversy over $45,000. (Emphasis supplied.) 2001 Neb. Laws, L.B. 269. The certification of a civil proceeding, in which the amount in controversy exceeds the statutory limit, is now mandatory only upon the request of a party. By implication, at the time of this action, the certification was mandatory even without a party's request. But § 24-517(4) authorized the county court to certify the proceedings to district court when the amount in controversy exceeded its jurisdictional limit. Further, a county court may be required to certify the proceedings even after the parties have had discovery in a case. Consequently, while the county court was without authority to determine the case, it was not without authority to act. Therefore, on appeal, the district court correctly reversed the judgment and remanded the case with instructions to certify the case to district court. Trackwell, however, argues that the action did not effectively begin until it was filed in the district court because only that court had jurisdiction to hear and determine the case. He contends, therefore, that the district court was required to issue a new summons for service of process before the court could acquire personal jurisdiction over him. We analyze that argument in the context of § 25-2706.