Court Opinion

ID: 9831101
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 20:49:03.190893+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:43:30.996675
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
In a motion for rehearing, appellee, for the first time, challenges the authority of the. judge of the Dallas county court at law No. 2 to appoint special commissioners in condemnation proceedings to assess damages, on the ground that the judge of such court is without authority to entertain condemnation proceedings; the contention being that the exercise of such power rests alone in the judge of the county court of Dallas county.
The Legislature created, by valid statutory enactments, two additional courts to function as county courts of Dallas county, specified ■the jurisdiction to be conferred upon such courts, and styled them, respectively, county court of Dallas county at law No. 1 and county court of Dallas county at law No. 2. Article 1970 — 3, R. S. 1925, declares that the county court of Dallas county at law No. 1 “shall have original and concurrent jurisdiction with the County Court of Dallas County in all matters and causes, civil and criminal, original and appellate, over which, by the general laws of the State, county courts have jurisdiction, except as provided in Section 3 of this Actand further prescribes that “this provision shall not affect jurisdictions of the commissioners court, or of the county judge of Dallas county as the presiding officer of such commissioners court, as to roads, bridges, and public highways and matters of eminent domain which are now within the jurisdiction of the commissioners court or the judge thereof.”
The matters excluded from the jurisdiction of the county court of Dallas county at law No. 1 are specifically set forth in article 1970 — 4. The exclusion does not include the matter of securing and enforcing the right of eminent domain.
The jurisdiction of the county court of Dallas county at law No. 2 is given in article 1970 —16, R. S. 1925, and provides that such court “shall have exclusive concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction of all cases, original and appellate, over which by the laws of the State of Texas, the existing (County Court of Dallas County at Law,) of Dallas county, Texas, would have original and appellate jurisdiction. * * ⅜ ”
It appears, therefore, that the county court of Dallas county, the- county court of Dallas county at law No. 1, and the county court of Dallas county at law No. 2" have concurrent jurisdiction over all matters that are prescribed by article 1970 — 3, as the jurisdiction of the county court at law No. 1. This grant of jurisdiction includes the specific matter under review. It is also equally obvious from the statutes creating the two county courts at law for Dallas county and prescribing their jurisdiction that these courts are essentially constitutional county courts with limited jurisdiction. State v. Valentine (Tex. Civ. App.) 198 S. W. 1006.
The validity of this grant of jurisdictional power to county courts at law, including jurisdiction over the exercise of the right of eminent domain, has heretofore been passed upon and decided against appellee’s contention. Texas & N. O. R. Co. v. City of Beaumont (Tex. Civ. App.) 285 S. W. 944 (writ of error refused); Acree v. State (Tex. Civ. App.) 47 S.W.(2d) 907 (application for writ of error dismissed for want of jurisdiction). Ap-*1029pellee’s contention in this respect is overruled.
Appellant insists, in its motion for rehearing, that we should have discussed its assignment of error in respect to the admission of evidence of appellee, to the effect that he did not agree or consent to the street improvement in question. Appellant timely objected to the admission of. this evidence on the ground that it was immaterial, irrelevant, and prejudicial to the rights of appellant. The evidence is on an immaterial issue, and its admission was error, hut we fail to see where it was prejudicial, and hence is not reversible error. .
The motion of appellee and the motion of appellant for a rehearing are overruled.