Opinion ID: 1199622
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: part i. procedural history and positions of parties.

Text: ¶ 2 On the same day in December 1993 AAC: 1) applied to the A & I for a permit to build an abstract plant in Carter County and 2) filed a petition in the Carter County District Court pursuant to the DJA. The DJA suit asserted the fact of its permit application, claimed a question existed as to the completeness of the Clerks' records/files, and requested a judgment the records/files were complete as required by Oklahoma law. [2] Sued as defendants were the two Clerks and the A & I. Appellant, Carter County Abstract Company (CCAC), an already licensed abstract company in Carter County, was allowed to intervene in the suit as a party defendant. ¶ 3 The Clerks' answer to the DJA suit agreed a question existed as to the completeness of their respective records/files and they assented to determination of the issue by the trial court. However, neither in any pleading we have been provided or at the eventual trial, did the two Clerks' directly take any definitive position that their records were or were not complete for purposes of the OAL. To the extent a definitive position can be gleaned from the appeal record, they seem to have sided with AAC's stance on the issue. That stance was that the records/files should be considered prima facie complete, i.e. they should be presumed complete until evidence of a contrary nature shows otherwise. [3] ¶ 4 Both CCAC and the A & I moved to dismiss on the basis of a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. CCAC argued the A & I had exclusive initial authority to determine the adequacy of the Clerks' records for purposes of the OAL and that AAC failed to exhaust its administrative remedies before seeking court intervention. It also set out the fact it had protested AAC's permit application pursuant to A & I administrative rules, [4] and the pendency of the administrative proceeding. One ground raised by CCAC in its administrative protest was that AAC would be unable to build an abstract plant in compliance with the OAL using the records of the Clerks' Offices because the records of those offices  according to CCAC  were incomplete, as they did not contain all documents or matters which legally impart constructive notice of matters affecting title to real property, any interest therein or encumbrances thereon, which [were] filed or recorded in the offices of the county [] and [ ] court clerk[s].... § 227.11(2). ¶ 5 The dismissal motion also asserted the DJA suit did not involve an actual justiciable controversy because no action, either affirmative or negative, had been taken by the A & I on AAC's then pending permit application or any issue encompassed within its own administrative protest of that application. In essence, CCAC took the position AAC was attempting to obtain a preemptory ruling from the trial court that the Clerks records were adequate  i.e. sufficiently complete  so that when copied or otherwise reflected in its proposed abstract plant, the plant would contain all those records necessary to meet the statutory definition of abstract plant contained in § 227.11(2) of the OAL. [5] The A & I's dismissal motion basically raised the same grounds as CCAC, including an argument AAC was attempting to preempt/prejudge issues committed by the OAL for initial resolution to the A & I. ¶ 6 Prior to any ruling on the dismissal motions, AAC filed in the district court case a dismissal without prejudice as to the A & I. Further, after CCAC's protest of AAC's permit application was set for hearing before the A & I Abstractor Registrar/Hearing Examiner [6] , AAC withdrew its permit application, causing the A & I's Office to cancel the scheduled hearing, as the permit application was no longer pending. Although not part of the appellate record in this case, AAC has informed this Court in its September 8, 1997 petition for writ of certiorari that it again filed an application for a permit to build an abstract plant with the A & I (apparently in 1996), that CCAC has again opposed this most recent application, and, apparently, the most recent application and CCAC's opposition to it are pending and awaiting the outcome of this case. ¶ 7 AAC's position on the dismissal issue can be summarized as follows: by virtue of OKLA. CONST. art. 7, § 7, which grants to State District Courts unlimited original jurisdiction of all justiciable matters, it is the District Court of Carter County that has the authority to decide the question of the completeness or incompleteness of the Clerks' records/files, that it was not attempting to short circuit or preempt any authority of the A & I, but was merely seeking to have a preliminary decision by the district court of the completeness issue prior to expending any money constructing an abstract plant. As seen by its appellate submissions, AAC sought such a determination for the following reason(s)  if the trial judge found the records/files of the Clerks incomplete for OAL purposes because said Offices were missing documents or records affecting title to real property in the County (i.e. documents necessary for inclusion or reflection in its proposed abstract plant), AAC then could have undertaken to either replace the missing records prior to pursuing its permit application or, if it would have been impossible to replace them for some reason, AAC would have abandoned its desire to become an abstract company in the County and not gone forward with a permit application before the A & I to build an abstract plant. AAC's arguments assume the A & I has no authority to decide the issue (i.e. the completeness or incompleteness of the Clerks' records for OAL purposes) and that the A & I would merely grant it a permit without ruling on the issue, notwithstanding this record shows the exact same issue was encompassed within CCAC's protest to AAC's initial permit application and the matter had been set for administrative hearing before the Abstractor Registrar/Hearing Examiner. [7] ¶ 8 The trial judge declined to dismiss, concluding he had jurisdiction of the declaratory judgment suit by virtue of 67 O.S.1991, §§ 1 [8] , 2 [9] , 3 [10] , 20 [11] and 21 [12] , provisions of our law that set up procedures for restoration of lost or destroyed records of a court or county clerk. The case, thus, proceeded to trial and at trial, AAC relied on a presumption the records and files of the Clerks' Offices were prima facie complete. However, evidence was adduced that certain records were missing from one or the other Offices. After the parties presented their evidence, the trial judge entered a judgment to the effect that although both Clerks' Offices did have missing records, the records found missing from the County Clerk's Office  that had been identified by CCAC  did not affect title to real property in Carter County, the trial judge apparently agreeing with AAC's position that although the records related to real property in Carter County (e.g. the missing records contained 1890s era conveyances of Carter County real property) they did not currently affect title to that property and were, therefore, not necessary to be reflected in a proposed abstract plant. However, no express declaration was made that the Clerks' records were complete for purposes of the OAL or, for that matter, for purposes of any other statutory law. ¶ 9 CCAC appealed, re-urging the DJA suit was subject to dismissal for failure of AAC to exhaust administrative remedies and lack of an actual justiciable controversy. The Court of Civil Appeals (COCA) affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings, deciding part of the trial court's judgment involved answering a question within the initial decision-making authority of the A & I. We previously granted certiorari and now reverse the trial court's judgment and vacate the COCA's memorandum opinion because AAC failed to exhaust its administrative remedies and there was no actual justiciable controversy presented by the DJA suit, as we explain below.