Court Opinion

ID: 9899225
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-16 16:05:46.597839+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:56.249446
License: Public Domain

Cite as 2023 Ark. 167
                 SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
                                                 Opinion Delivered: November 16, 2023
 IN RE ARKANSAS SUPREME
 COURT COMMITTEE ON CIVIL
 PRACTICE – ADOPTION OF
 REVISED RULES 41 AND 65 OF THE
 ARKANSAS RULES OF CIVIL
 PROCEDURE

                                           PER CURIAM
       The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Civil Practice recommended

amendments to Rules 41 and 65 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. The proposed

amendments were published for comment on June 22, 2023. See In re Ark. Sup. Ct. Comm.

on Civ. Prac. – Recommendations to Revise Rule 5 of the Ark. Rules of App. Proc. – Civ.; & Rules

41 & 65 of the Ark. Rules of Civ. Proc., 2023 Ark. 113 (per curiam).

       Today, we adopt the amendments to and republish Rules 41 and 65, as set out below

in full as well as in “line-in” “line-out” fashion (deleted material is lined through; new

material is underlined). The amendments are effective January 1, 2024.

       We thank the members of the Civil Practice Committee for their work on this

project.

                      Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure
Rule 41. Dismissal of Actions.

(a) Voluntary Dismissal; Effect Thereof.

       (1) Subject to the provisions of Rule 23(e) and Rule 66, an action may be dismissed
       without prejudice to a future action by the plaintiff before the final submission of the
       case to the jury, or to the court where the trial is by the court. Although such a
       dismissal is a matter of right, it is effective only upon entry of a court order dismissing
       the action.

       (2) A voluntary dismissal under paragraph (1) operates as an adjudication on the
       merits when filed by a plaintiff who has once dismissed in any court of the United
       States or of any state an action based upon or including the same claim, unless all
       parties agree by written stipulation that such dismissal is without prejudice.

       (3) In any case where a set-off or counterclaim has been previously presented, the
       defendant shall have the right of proceeding on his claim although the plaintiff may
       have dismissed his action.

(b) Involuntary Dismissal. In any case in which there has been a failure of the plaintiff to
comply with these rules or any order of court or in which there has been no action shown
on the record for the past 12 months, the court shall cause notice to be filed and sent to the
attorneys of record through the court’s electronic filing system or by mail, and sent by mail
to any party not represented by an attorney, that the case will be dismissed for want of
prosecution unless on a stated day application is made, upon a showing of good cause, to
continue the case on the court’s docket. A dismissal under this subdivision is without
prejudice to a future action by the plaintiff unless the action has been previously dismissed,
whether voluntarily or involuntarily, in which event such dismissal operates as an
adjudication on the merits.

(c) Dismissal of Counterclaim, Cross-Claim or Third-Party Claim. The provisions of this rule
apply to the dismissal of any counterclaim, cross-claim or third-party claim.

(d) Costs of Previously Dismissed Action. If a plaintiff who has once dismissed an action, or
who has suffered an involuntary dismissal in any court, commences an action based upon or
including the same claim against the same defendant, the court may make such order for the
payment of costs of the action previously dismissed as it may deem proper and may stay the
proceedings in the action until the plaintiff has complied with the order. For purposes of
this rule, the term "costs" means those items taxable as costs under Rule 54(d)(2).

Reporter’s Note, 2023 Amendment: Subsection (b) was amended to allow issuance of
notice through the court’s electronic filing system that a case will be dismissed for want of
prosecution when a party is represented by an attorney. The amendment also requires the
notice to be filed of record.

Rule 65. Injunctions and temporary restraining orders.

(a) Preliminary Injunction.

       (1) Notice. The court may issue a preliminary injunction only on notice to the adverse
       party.
       (2) Consolidating the Hearing with the Trial on the Merits. Before or after beginning the
       hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, the court may advance the trial on
       the merits and consolidate it with the hearing. Even when consolidation is not
       ordered, evidence that is received on the motion and that would be admissible at
       trial becomes part of the trial record and need not be repeated at trial. But the court
       must preserve any party’s right to a jury trial.

(b) Temporary Restraining Order.

       (1) Issuing Without Notice. The court may issue a temporary restraining order without
       written or oral notice to the adverse party or its attorney only if:

              (A) specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint clearly show that
              immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the movant
              before the adverse party can be heard in opposition; and

              (B) the movant’s attorney certifies in writing any efforts made to give notice
              and the reasons why it should not be required.

       (2) Contents; Expiration. Every temporary restraining order issued without notice
       must state the date and hour it was issued; describe the injury and state why it is
       irreparable; state why the order was issued without notice; and be promptly filed in
       the clerk’s office and entered in the record. The order expires at the time after
       entry—not to exceed 14 days—that the court sets, unless before that time the court,
       for good cause, extends it for a like period or the adverse party consents to a longer
       extension. The reasons for an extension must be entered in the record.

       (3) Expediting the Preliminary-Injunction Hearing. If the order is issued without notice,
       the motion for a preliminary injunction must be set for hearing at the earliest possible
       time, taking precedence over all other matters except hearings on older matters of
       the same character. At the hearing, the party who obtained the order must proceed
       with the motion; if the party does not, the court must dissolve the order.

       (4) Motion to Dissolve. On 2 days’ notice to the party who obtained the order without
       notice—or on shorter notice set by the court—the adverse party may appear and
       move to dissolve or modify the order. The court must then hear and decide the
       motion as promptly as justice requires.

(c) Security. The court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order
only if the movant gives security in an amount that the court considers proper to pay the
costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or
restrained. Neither the State of Arkansas, its officers, nor its agencies are required to give
security.
(d) Contents and Scope of Every Injunction and Restraining Order.

       (1) Contents. Every order granting an injunction and every restraining order must:

               (A) state the reasons why it issued;

               (B) state its terms specifically; and

               (C) describe in reasonable detail—and not by referring to the complaint or
               other document—the act or acts restrained or required.

       (2) Persons Bound. The order binds only the following who receive actual notice of
       it by personal service or otherwise:

               (A) the parties;

               (B) the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and

               (C) other persons who are in active concert or participation with the parties
               and the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys.

(e) When a statute or other applicable law allows for emergency relief, the procedure under
subsection (b) will apply unless an applicable statute specifies a different procedure.

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2023 Amendment: The addition of subsection (e)
clarifies that Rule 65’s procedures apply when seeking emergency relief unless they conflict
with a statutory provision governing the terms under which emergency relief may be
granted.

Rule 41. Dismissal of Actions.

(a) Voluntary Dismissal; Effect Thereof.

       (1) Subject to the provisions of Rule 23(e) and Rule 66, an action may be dismissed
       without prejudice to a future action by the plaintiff before the final submission of the
       case to the jury, or to the court where the trial is by the court. Although such a
       dismissal is a matter of right, it is effective only upon entry of a court order dismissing
       the action.

       (2) A voluntary dismissal under paragraph (1) operates as an adjudication on the
       merits when filed by a plaintiff who has once dismissed in any court of the United
       States or of any state an action based upon or including the same claim, unless all
       parties agree by written stipulation that such dismissal is without prejudice.

       (3) In any case where a set-off or counterclaim has been previously presented, the
       defendant shall have the right of proceeding on his claim although the plaintiff may
       have dismissed his action.

(b) Involuntary Dismissal. In any case in which there has been a failure of the plaintiff to
comply with these rules or any order of court or in which there has been no action shown
on the record for the past 12 months, the court shall cause notice to be mailed filed and sent
to the attorneys of record through the court’s electronic filing system or by mail, and sent
by mail to any party not represented by an attorney, that the case will be dismissed for want
of prosecution unless on a stated day application is made, upon a showing of good cause, to
continue the case on the court’s docket. A dismissal under this subdivision is without
prejudice to a future action by the plaintiff unless the action has been previously dismissed,
whether voluntarily or involuntarily, in which event such dismissal operates as an
adjudication on the merits.

(c) Dismissal of Counterclaim, Cross-Claim or Third-Party Claim. The provisions of this rule
apply to the dismissal of any counterclaim, cross-claim or third-party claim.

(d) Costs of Previously Dismissed Action. If a plaintiff who has once dismissed an action, or
who has suffered an involuntary dismissal in any court, commences an action based upon or
including the same claim against the same defendant, the court may make such order for the
payment of costs of the action previously dismissed as it may deem proper and may stay the
proceedings in the action until the plaintiff has complied with the order. For purposes of
this rule, the term "costs" means those items taxable as costs under Rule 54(d)(2).

Reporter’s Note, 2023 Amendment: Subsection (b) was amended to allow issuance of
notice that a case would be dismissed for want of prosecution through the electronic filing
system when a party is represented by an attorney. The amendment also requires that the
notice be filed of record.
Rule 65. Injunctions and temporary restraining orders.

(a) Preliminary Injunction.

       (1) Notice. The court may issue a preliminary injunction only on notice to the adverse
       party.

       (2) Consolidating the Hearing with the Trial on the Merits. Before or after beginning the
       hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, the court may advance the trial on
       the merits and consolidate it with the hearing. Even when consolidation is not
       ordered, evidence that is received on the motion and that would be admissible at
       trial becomes part of the trial record and need not be repeated at trial. But the court
       must preserve any party’s right to a jury trial.

(b) Temporary Restraining Order.

       (1) Issuing Without Notice. The court may issue a temporary restraining order without
       written or oral notice to the adverse party or its attorney only if:

              (A) specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint clearly show that
              immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the movant
              before the adverse party can be heard in opposition; and

              (B) the movant’s attorney certifies in writing any efforts made to give notice
              and the reasons why it should not be required.

       (2) Contents; Expiration. Every temporary restraining order issued without notice
       must state the date and hour it was issued; describe the injury and state why it is
       irreparable; state why the order was issued without notice; and be promptly filed in
       the clerk’s office and entered in the record. The order expires at the time after
       entry—not to exceed 14 days—that the court sets, unless before that time the court,
       for good cause, extends it for a like period or the adverse party consents to a longer
       extension. The reasons for an extension must be entered in the record.

       (3) Expediting the Preliminary-Injunction Hearing. If the order is issued without notice,
       the motion for a preliminary injunction must be set for hearing at the earliest possible
       time, taking precedence over all other matters except hearings on older matters of
       the same character. At the hearing, the party who obtained the order must proceed
       with the motion; if the party does not, the court must dissolve the order.

       (4) Motion to Dissolve. On 2 days’ notice to the party who obtained the order without
       notice—or on shorter notice set by the court—the adverse party may appear and
       move to dissolve or modify the order. The court must then hear and decide the
       motion as promptly as justice requires.

(c) Security. The court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order
only if the movant gives security in an amount that the court considers proper to pay the
costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or
restrained. Neither the State of Arkansas, its officers, nor its agencies are required to give
security.
(d) Contents and Scope of Every Injunction and Restraining Order.

       (1) Contents. Every order granting an injunction and every restraining order must:

              (A) state the reasons why it issued;

              (B) state its terms specifically; and

              (C) describe in reasonable detail—and not by referring to the complaint or
              other document—the act or acts restrained or required.

       (2) Persons Bound. The order binds only the following who receive actual notice of
       it by personal service or otherwise:

              (A) the parties;

              (B) the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and

              (C) other persons who are in active concert or participation with the parties
              and the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys.

(e) Procedure. When a statute or other applicable law allows for emergency relief, the
procedure under subsection (b) will apply unless an applicable statute specifies a different
procedure.

Addition to Reporter’s Notes, 2023 Amendment: Courts may grant emergency relief
under certain circumstances other than when a party strictly seeks an injunction or
temporary restraining order. See, e.g., Ark. Code Ann. § 9-37-314 (Juvenile Code providing
for emergency custody of at-risk juvenile); § 9-20-215 (Adult Maltreatment Custody Act
providing for emergency custody of an adult at risk of maltreatment); § 9-19-204 (Uniform
Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act providing for emergency custody
determinations of children crossing state lines); § 28-65-218 (emergency and temporary
guardianships); Simmering v. Simmering, 2014 Ark. App. 722, 452 S.W.3d 592 (recognizing
emergency child custody determinations in purely in-state situations). Although the prior
text of Rule 65 made no reference to those emergency relief situations, cases both before
and after the 2011 overhaul of the Rule recognize that its procedures apply in those
emergency relief situations. Jones v. Jones, 51 Ark. App. 24, 29, 907 S.W.2d 745, 748 (1995),
overruled on other grounds by 326 Ark. 481, 931 S.W.2d 767 (1996) (“The procedural method
employed” by the parent “seeking custody of the minor child without notice” to the other
parent “is found only under Rule 65 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure.”); Simmering,
2014 Ark. App. 722, at 3–4, 452 S.W.3d at 594 (noting that the mother sought emergency
relief in the form of custody pursuant to Rule 65). The addition of subsection (e)
incorporates this practice into the text of the Rule clarifying that Rule 65’s procedures apply
when seeking emergency relief unless they conflict with a statutory provision governing the
terms under which emergency relief may be granted.