Opinion ID: 1788105
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the chancery court proceedings

Text: The appeal from the Pulaski Chancery Court, case number 78-120, may be quickly and summarily disposed of on jurisdictional grounds. For it is well settled that chancery courts in this State, have jurisdiction only to review the action of a county or city clerk in determining the sufficiency of local petitions for initiative or referendum under and pursuant to Amendment Number 7 to the Arkansas Constitution. See: Rich v. Walker, 237 Ark. 586, 374 S.W.2d 476. Sufficiency of the petition requesting the officials of North Little Rock to refer Ordinance Number 4835 to the people to be voted on was never challenged. Moreover, it was stipulated between the parties that the City Clerk certified that the petition was sufficient. Thus, the Chancery Court was without jurisdiction to entertain this action which involved essentially political rights as distinguished from property rights. The vindication of one's political rights must be sought in a court of law, namely, the circuit court. Catlett et al v. The Republican Party of Arkansas, et al, 242 Ark. 283, 414 S.W.2d 651 (1967). We perceive, from the record before us, that counsel for the Mayor and Council and counsel for plaintiffs, as indicated in the amended complaint, recognized the jurisdictional problem, but sought to confer jurisdictional status on the chancery court by asking the chancery court to declare the rights of the parties under our declaratory judgment provision. [4] However, it is clear that courts of equity do not have jurisdiction to render declaratory judgments where, as here, the subject matter is not cognizable in a court of equity. Moreover, the parties may not waive the jurisdictional defect where there is no predicate or basis for equitable jurisdiction. Catlett et al v. The Republican Party of Arkansas, et al, supra; Sheffield v. Heslep, 206 Ark. 605, 177 S.W.2d 412 (1944); Jackson v. Smith, 236 Ark. 419, 366 S.W.2d 278 (1963). Finally, in Nethercutt v. Pulaski County Special School District, 248 Ark. 143, 450 S.W.2d 777 (1970), we emphasized that mandamus is a common law writ for a remedy at law which was unknown to equity procedure and, therefore, is designed to enforce legal rights and thus, is for all practical purposes a procedure at law. We, accordingly, reverse and dismiss the Pulaski County Chancery Court action for want of jurisdiction.