STATE OF FLORIDA, EX REL. WEST'S DRUG STORES, INC., A CORPORATION, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
G. H. CORNELIUS, AS COUNTY JUDGE OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, AND ALLEN INVESTMENT COMPANY, DEFENDANTS IN ERROR
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West's Drug Stores challenged a county court's jurisdiction to hear an unlawful detainer action brought by Allen Investment Company against West's Drug Stores for removal of a tenant. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the county judge's jurisdiction, finding the action properly invoked statutory authority over disputes involving competing claims to possession.
The County Judge had proper jurisdiction under Florida law to hear the unlawful detainer action. The motion to quash the petition for prohibition was properly sustained because the County Judge's court possessed jurisdiction to determine the cause presented by the petition for removal.
“It is elementary that neither the County Judge's Court nor the County Court has any jurisdiction except that which is given it under the Constitution of the laws of the State of Florida.”
Establishes the foundational principle that county court jurisdiction is limited to that granted by state constitution and law.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWest's Drug Stores was sued in Hillsborough County for unlawful detention by Allen Investment Company. West's Drug Stores sought a writ of prohibition…
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-This case is before us on motion to advance the hearing to dispose of the case on its merits. The writ of error is to the judgment of the Circuit Court sustaining a motion to quash a petition seeking to prohibit the County Judge of Hillsborough County, Florida, and Allen Investment Company, a corporation, from maintaining a certain suit filed in that court which was instituted upon a petition for removal of a tenant and dismissing the cause.
It is elementary that neither the County Judge’s Court nor the County Court has any jurisdiction except that which is given it under the Constitution of the laws of the State of Florida. The laws applicable to such cases are found in Section 3459 R. G. S., 5312 C. G. L., which section reads as follows:
*300Sec. 5312, C. G. L; “Remedy declared for unlawful detention. If any person shall enter or shall have entered in a peaceable manner into any lands or tenements, in case such entry is lawful, and after the expiration of his right shall continue to hold the same against the consent of the party entitled to the possession, for years or otherwise, shall be entitled to the like summary remedy at any time within three years after the possession shall have been withheld from him against his consent.”
The above quoted section vests jurisdiction in the County Judge to determine the cause presented to him by the petition.
There was a motion to quash the petition, which motion was overruled.
The contention appears to have been that the action was brought under Sections 3534 R. G. S., 5398 C. G. L., 3535 R. G. S., 5399 C. G. L. and 3536 R. G. S., 5400 C. G. L. This contention, however, is not tenable. The actions there dealt with are those arising out of the relationship of landlord and tenant. Here the controversy is between a tenant claiming to hold under the terms of a lease and a subsequent lessee claiming the right of possession as against that tenant, and the procedure which is followed in this case is provided by the statutes. See Section 3460 R. G. S., 5313 C. G. L., et seq.
In this case both parties claim the right of possession from the same source and the right of possession is the only question involved.
It, therefore, follows that the motion to quash the petition for prohibition was properly sustained and the judgment in favor of the respondent was without error and should be affirmed.
It is so ordered.
*301. Davis, C. J., and Whitfield, Ellis, Terrell and Buford, J. J., concur.
BrowN, J., concurs in the conclusion.
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Gray v. Callahan, 143 Fla. 673 (Fla. 1940)…on 5312 C. G. L., in the county court, this Court, speaking through Mr. Justice Buford, who wrote the opinion in Brumick v. Morris, supra, reviewed several of our prior cases, including the case of State ex rel. West Drug Stores, Inc., v. Cornelius, 110 Fla. 299, 149 So. 332, which was an action for unlawful detainer to which Section 5312 was held applicable, and among other things said: “The suit in the county court as indicated by the record was not an action for forcible entry, but was one for unlawful…
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W's. Drug Stores, Inc. v. Allen Inv. Co., 125 Fla. 823 (Fla. 1936)…on was sustained. Final judgment was entered dismissing the petition for prohibition. Writ of error was taken to this Court resulting in final judgment, affirming the final judgment dismissing the prohibition suit. See West Drug Stores v. Cornelius, 110 Fla. 299, 140 Sou. 332. That opinion was filed May 23, 1933, and it was while the prohibition cause was pending that Allen Investment Co.-and Tampa Drug Co. entered their appeal from the decree of May 6, 1932, which resulted in the opinion being rendered her…
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State v. Hon. David Elmer Ward, 135 Fla. 885 (Fla. 1939)…v. Griffin, 57 Fla. 133, 49 Sou. 554, involve proceedings under the latter statute. The case here under consideration is ruled by our opinion and judgment in the case of State, ex rel. West Drug Stores, Inc., v. Cornelius, as County Judge, et al., 110 Fla. 299, 149 Sou. 332. In that case the writ of error was to the judgment of the Circuit Court sustaining a motion to quash a petition seeking to prohibit the County Judge of Hillsborough County, Florida, and Allen Investment Company, a corporation, from ma…
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