Court Opinion

ID: 9777234
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:03:26.868494+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:50.527323
License: Public Domain

On Motion for. Rehearing
PER CURIAM:
In the opinion filed herein we failed to dispose of respondent’s contention that Stoddard County was not the proper venue for the reason that plaintiffs’ petition failed to state a joint cause of action against the defendants. There is no merit to this contention.
Prior to the decision of this court in State ex rel. Campbell v. James, 263 S.W. 2d 402, it was the law that, in suits brought against several persons residing in different counties, jurisdiction over the non-resident defendants was acquired by service of process upon them in the county of their residence only when a joint cause of action was pleaded. Those decisions determined jurisdiction only where venue was sought under the general veniie statute (now Section 508.010 R.S. Mo. 1949).
In the case at bar, venue is not to be determined under Section 508.010 R.S. Mo. 1949, V.A.M.S., but under the provisions of Section 508.040 R.S. Mo. 1949, V.A.M.S. There is no reason for applying in this ease the rule contended for by respondent. In State ex rel. Campbell v. James, supra, said rule was disapproved with respect to venue attaching under Section 508.010 R.S. Mo. 1949, V.A.M.S. In that case it was held that jurisdiction is acquired over nonresident defendants, even though no joint cause of action is stated, where the parties defendant are lawfully joined under the provisions of Section 507.040 R.S. Mo. 1949, V.A.M.S.
It is also urged by respondent that jurisdiction did not attach in this ease for the reason that no cause of action was stated against Ferguson Machine and Tool Company, Inc. In support of this contention there is cited the case of Diehr v. Carey, 238 Mo. App. 889, 191 S.W. 2d 296. That case held that it was a prerequisite to lawful joinder of a non-resident defendant that a cause of action be stated against the resident defendant. There again the court was dealing with a ease where Section 508.010, supra, governed the matter of venue. The rule announced in said case is still the law in actions under said section. State ex rel. Campbell v. James, Mo. Sup., 263 S.W. 2d l.c. 406. However, it is not applicable to a *1214case such as the one at bar where venue is determined by Section 508.040 R.S. Mo. 1949, Y.A.M.S.
For the above reasons, we need not determine whether plaintiffs’ petition stated a cause of action against the Ferguson Machine and Tool Company, Inc.