DAVID NIEBOER, ETC., STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & REHABILITATIVE SERVICE, APPELLANTS,
v.
T. L., V. H., L. C. AND J. P., ET AL., APPELLEES
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The court reversed a habeas corpus order against the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services for lack of proper service of process, but affirmed the order against the detention center superintendent who had actual custody of the juveniles.
A public agency cannot be made an involuntary party defendant without proper service of process as required by statute, but a detention center superintendent with physical custody may be ordered to release or transfer detainees.
[1] Service of process on a public agency must comply with section 48.111, Florida Statutes, requiring service on the chief executive officer, and failure to do so deprives t…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJuvenile detainees at the North Florida Regional Detention Center filed a habeas corpus petition seeking release or transfer and closure of the facili…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellants seek review of a writ of habe-as corpus entered in the circuit court. The writ directed that the petitioning juvenile detainees at the North Florida Regional Detention Center be released or transferred, and the Center closed, if certain conditions at the Center were not alleviated. We find that the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was not properly made a party in the action and the court erred in denying the Department’s motion to dismiss. Section 48.111, Florida Statutes, establishes the method for service of process on public agencies, and requires service on the chief executive officer. This provision was not complied with in the present case, and service on the Department was thus ineffective. Without proper service, the court lacked jurisdiction to order the Department’s involuntary joinder as a party defendant. See Bussey v. Legislative Auditing Committee, 298 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974), appeal dismissed 312 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 1975); see also Klinger v. Milton Holding Co., 136 Fla. 50, 186 So. 526 (1938).
Accordingly, the order appealed is reversed insofar as it is directed to the Department as a party defendant. However, the order is otherwise affirmed insofar as it is directed to the remaining appellant, the superintendent of the Detention Center, because the record adequately supports the factual findings and permits a determination that the superintendent had physical custody and control of the appellee juveniles at the time in question.
ERVIN, SHAW and WENTWORTH, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Klinger v. Milton Holding Co., 136 Fla. 50 (Fla. 1938)
- Bussey v. The Legis. Auditing Comm. OF the Legis. of the State of Fla., 298 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974)
- Sweetwater Util. Corp. v. Save OUR BAY, Inc., 312 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 1975)
- Legis. Auditing Comm. OF Legis. v. Bussey, 312 So. 2d 737 (Fla. 1975)