Court Opinion

ID: 9826307
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 15:44:32.286464+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:42:00.228659
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Fraser :
I dissent. It is true that the right
of a defendant to be tried in the county of his residence is a substantial right, but it is a right given by statute and may be taken away by statute. The right is not universal, as in actions in personam. Where there are several defendants, the action may be tried in any county in which one of -the defendants resides. Where there are several defendants in such cases, the plaintiff may select the county in which he will bring his action. The liability of a defendant to be sued in a county not of his residence, and the right of the *464plaintiff, within certain limitations, to select the county, is not unknown to the law and unquestioned.
The right to fix the venue is a legislative, and not a judicial, question. It does not appear that a general law could be made applicable. There was only one controversy to be determined. The Legislature certainly had the right to authorize the suit and provide for the prosecution of the suit, and make any provisions it deemed wise, limited only by a constitutional prohibition.
Lor these reasons I dissent.