Summary
In Weaver v. Board of Trustees of Wilson Independent School District, 143 Tex. 152, 183 S.W.2d 443, it was held that this Court, by virtue of the provisions of said Article 4662, 'has jurisdiction to review, by writ of error, the ruling of the trial court in granting or refusing a temporary injunction where the main case out of which the application for injunction grew is one over which the Supreme Court has jurisdiction.
Summary of this case from Southwest Weather Research, Inc. v. JonesOpinion
No. A-370.
Decided November 22, 1944.
Certified Questions — Jurisdiction — Writ of Error.
Where the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review, by a writ of error, the ruling of the trial court in granting or refusing a temporary injunction because of its having jurisdiction to consider the main case out of which the application grew, the Supreme Court will decline to permit the case to be presented to it on certified questions. Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, 461.
Questions certified by the Court of Civil Appeals for the Seventh District, in an appeal from Lynn County.
This suit was brought by C.C. Weaver and some thirty-five other named residents of Lynn County, Texas, against the Board of Trustees of Wilson Independent School District to enjoin said trustees from selling certain properties belonging to the Morgan School District, which districts had been declared consolidated. In the trial court the temporary injunction was denied. In appealing to the Court of Civil Appeals a temporary injunction was asked, and was granted, restraining the sale of the property in question until the cause could properly be heard and disposed of. Upon finally disposition by the Court of Civil Appeals that temporary injunction was dissolved and the judgment of the trial court was affirmed, 182 S.W.2d 140. However, after motion for rehearing in that court had been overruled the plaintiffs immediately filed a motion to certify the questions of law to the Supreme Court, which was granted.
Truett Smith, of Tahoka, and Underewood, Johns, Dooley Wilson, of Amarillo, for appellants.
Nelson Brown, of Lubbock, for appellee.
In the above cause the Court of Civil Appeals has certified questions of law to this Court. The appeal is from an interlocutory order of the trial court refusing an application for a temporary injunction in a school consolidation case. The main action is not one over which the jurisdiction of the Court of Civil Appeals is made final by the provisions of Article 1821, R.C.S. It has been held by this Court that under the provisions of Revised Statutes Article 4662 the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review, by writ of error, the ruling of the trial court in granting or refusing a temporary injunction where the main case out of which the application for injunction grew is one over which the Supreme Court has jurisdiction. Houston Oil Co. of Texas v. Village Mills Co., 109 Tex. 169, 202 S.W. 725; Spence v. Fenchler, 107 Tex. 449, 180 S.W. 597; 24 Tex. Jur. 286, sec. 230.
Under these circumstances it is the general policy of this Court, as authorized by Rule 461 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, that in the absence of circumstances which would make it more expedient that the case be presented on certified questions rather than on application for writ of error, we will decline to allow such cases to be presented to the Court on certified questions. Duval v. Clark, 138 Tex. 186, 157 S.W.2d 626.
There are two reasons why we think we should follow the policy above indicated. In the first place, in the vast majority of cases the judgment finally rendered by the Court of Civil Appeals is correct, and it becomes unnecessary for this Court to grant an application for writ of error. In the second place, in many instances it is impracticable for the Court of Civil Appeals to so present the case on certified questions as to enable this Court to finally dispose of it. See in this connection Rains v. Mercantile National Bank, 143 Tex. 112, 182 S.W.2d 993; County Democratic Executive Committee v. Booker, 122 Tex. 89, 52 S.W.2d 908; Uvalde Rock and Asphalt Co. v. Hightower, 135 Tex. 410, 144 S.W.2d 533.
The certificate is dismissed.
Opinion delivered November 22, 1944.