Court Opinion

ID: 9765923
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:24:50.239217+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:16.745333
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice TOAL.
I respectfully dissent. To my mind, issue preservation should be no bar to the judge’s erroneous ruling on subject matter jurisdiction. Our case law is clear that a judge’s erroneous assumption of jurisdiction, be it an explicit finding of jurisdiction or assumed jurisdiction, may be raised at any time on appeal and addressed de novo by the appellate court without regard to our customary issue preservation requirements. See In re November I, 2008 Bluffton Town Council Election, 385 S.C. 632, 637, 686 S.E.2d 683, 686 (2009) (“Issues related to subject matter jurisdiction may be raised at any time.”); Arnal v. Fraser, 371 S.C. 512, 517 n. 2, 641 S.E.2d 419, 421, n. 2 (2007); Carter v. State, 329 S.C. 355, 362, 495 S.E.2d 773, 777 (1998). I see no reason why a judge’s erroneous ruling that she lacks subject matter jurisdiction should be treated differently from an erroneous ruling that she has subject matter jurisdiction. Here, the circuit court clearly had subject matter jurisdiction over this matter, and I *136would remand the case for the circuit court to exercise that jurisdiction.
BEATTY, J., concurs.