Opinion
No. 78-283
Opinion delivered April 2, 1979
1. SOCIAL SECURITY — PETITION FOR REVIEW FILED BY EMPLOYER UNDER EMPLOYMENT SECURITY ACT — VENUE IN PULASKI COUNTY. — The Circuit Court of Jackson County, Arkansas properly granted a motion by claimant-appellee to dismiss a petition filed in that court by appellant-employer, for review of the action of the Board of Review of the Arkansas Employment Security Division determining appellant to be an "employer" as defined in the Employment Security Act, the proper venue for such actions being the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, as clearly set out in Ark. Stat. Ann. 81-1114(b)(2) (Repl. 1976). 2. SOCIAL SECURITY — PETITION FOR REVIEW FILED BY "CLAIMANT" UNDER EMPLOYMENT SECURITY ACT VENUE IN PULASKI COUNTY OR COUNTY OF CLAIMANT'S RESIDENCE. — One who is a "claimant", as opposed to one who is an "employer", may file a petition under Ark. Stat. Ann. 81-1107(d)(7) (Repl. 1976) for review of a decision of the Arkansas Employment Security Division in either Pulaski County or the county of the claimant's residence. 3. CIVIL PROCEDURE — MOTION FOR TRANSFER OF CASE TO ANOTHER COUNTY — NO STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR TRANSFER BECAUSE OF FILING IN WRONG COUNTY. — There is no present statutory authority for a circuit court to transfer a case to another county solely because it is filed in the wrong county.
Appeal from Jackson Circuit Court, Andrew G. Ponder, Judge; affirmed.
David Hodges, for appellant.
Thelma M. Lorenzo, for appellee.
The Circuit Court of Jackson County dismissed A. D. Dunahay's suit against Charles Daniels, Director of the Department of Labor, Arkansas Employment Security Division, because the suit was brought in Jackson County and not in Pulaski County.
Dunahay appeals and alleges three errors: venue, or the place, for such a suit in Jackson County; if not, the appellee waived the right to object to venue; and, in any event, the suit should have been transferred to Pulaski County rather than dismissed.
All of these arguments are without merit.
Dunahay, a resident of Jackson County, was determined to be an "employer" as defined by the Employment Security Act, Ark. Stat. Ann., Title 81, Chapter 11 (Repl. 1976). His attorney filed a complaint for review of this decision in the Jackson County Circuit Court. The appellee moved to dismiss the action because of the lack of venue, citing Ark. Stat. Ann. 81-1114(b)(2) as requiring such suits to be brought in Pulaski County. The trial judge properly granted the motion for the statute is clear. It reads:
. . . A review of the determination made by the Commissioner or the Board of Review may be had by filing in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County a petition for review within fifteen (15) days after said determination becomes final. . . .
Dunahay argues that, regardless of the statute, the appellee waived the right to object to venue because a lawyer for the appellee agreed to accept service in the case and did not inform the appellant's attorney that venue for such a case was only in Pulaski County. It is undisputed that an attorney for the appellee agreed to accept service but it is also undisputed that appellee did not expressly waive the right to object to venue. In fact, according to the record, nothing was said by the appellee's attorney about venue.
One who is a "claimant", as opposed to one who is an "employer", my petition for review of a decision in either Pulaski County or the county of the claimant's residence. Ark. Stat. Ann. 81-1107(d)(7).
Finally, Dunahay argues that the case should have been transferred to Pulaski County rather than dismissed. There is no present statutory authority for a circuit court to transfer a case to another county solely because it is filed in the wrong county.
Affirmed.
We agree. HARRIS, C.J., and FOGLEMAN and HOLT, JJ.