THE STATE OF FLORIDA, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
H. V. COARSEY, DEFENDANT IN ERROR
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Florida Supreme Court quashed a certificate issued by a circuit judge in a special legislative appropriation proceeding because the certificate was made by the wrong judicial officer. The statute explicitly required the Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit to issue the certificate, but it was issued by the Judge of the Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit, violating both the statute's requirements and constitutional provisions restricting special legislation.
The certificate was unauthorized and invalid because it was not issued by the Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit as expressly required by the statute. The statute either violated the constitutional prohibition on local or special laws regulating the jurisdiction and duties of circuit judges, or, if regarded as a suit against the State, violated the requirement that only general laws, not special laws, authorize such claims.
“As the statute expressly and specifically requires the investigation and the certificate to be made by the Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, the proceeding did not conform to the statute.”
Establishes the core holding that the proceeding violated the statutory requirement by using the wrong judge.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe State of Florida enacted Chapter 14851, Acts of 1931, a special appropriation law for relief of H. V. Coarsey in connection with an accident injur…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Suit Against The State cases and more on FLexlaw
This writ of error was taken to a certificate made by the Judge of the Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit in a special proceeding under Chapter 14851, Acts of 1931.
The statute is a special law purporting to make an appropriation for the relief of a particular person, "subject, however, to the condition mentioned in Section 2 of this act.”
“Before any warrants shall be drawn by the Comptroller under this Act, the said H. V. Coarsey shall present to the said Comptroller a certificate from the Circuit Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida in which he shall certify that he has heard all the testimony of the said H. Y. Coarsey in connection with the aforesaid accident, and that in his opinion the said H. Y. Coarsey would be entitled to recover the said sum of $4,130.50 or any less part thereof to be named in the certificate, in the event the said H. Y. Coarsey was injured on the properties of a private corporation under like conditions to that which he was acting at the time of the accident aforesaid in which he was damaged. In *543the event the said Circuit Judge shall certify that the eaid H. V. Coarsey would be entitled to recover, but would not be entitled to recover as much as the amount above mentioned, then the warrant shall be drawn for the amount which the said Judge shall recommend as being payable under the circumstances. ’ ’ Sec. 2, Chapter 14851, Acts 1931.
“It shall be the duty of the Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida to make an investigation of the matter heretofore referred to and cause to be made the certificate heretofore mentioned, and it shall be the duty of the State’s Attorney of said district to represent the State in said proceedings.” Sec. 3, Chapter 14851, Acts 1931.
The transcript states that the proceeding
“came on for trial before the Honorable Paul C. Albritton, as Judge of the Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, in the absence from his circuit of the Honorable W. T. Harrison, Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida.”
As the statute expressly and specifically requires the investigation and the certificate to be made by the Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, the proceeding did not conform to the statute. If the proceeding may be regarded as a judicial matter in which another circuit judge can act in the absence of the resident circuit judge, the statute violates the organic provisions, that no local or special law shall be passed “regulating the jurisdiction and duties of any class of officers, except municipal officers” o'r “regulating the practice of courts of justice, except municipal courts,” Sections 20, 21, Article III.
If this may be regarded as a suit against the State, it is a local or special and not a general law required by Section 22 of Article III of the Constitution.
The certificate is unauthorized and is quashed under the general powers of this Court. See Section 4637 (2918) Compiled General Laws, 1927.
*544It is so ordered.
Buford, C.J., and Whitfield, Ellis, Terrell, Brown and Davis, J.J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
State v. Coarsey, 107 Fla. 20 (Fla. 1932)…e hereby repealed. Section 5. This Act shall take effect upon becoming a law. Became a law without the Governor’s approval.” A certificate made under the above Act by the Judge of the twenty-seventh Judicial Circuit was quashed. State v. Coarsey, 105 Fla. 542, 141 So. 740. Subsequently, upon petition of H. V. Coarsey, this Court issued an alternative writ of mandamus commanding the Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit to' “Act upon and take jurisdiction of the petition of the said H. V. Coarsey, and…