This appeal was transferred to this court by the St. Louis Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals determined sua sponte that the appeal is within the exclusive jurisdiction of this court under Article V, Section 3, of the Constitution of Missouri, V.A.M.S., by reason of the fact that one of the defendants-respondents is the Moline Fire Protection District, a corporation. Conner v. Herd, Mo.App., 429 S.W.2d 333. The judicial article of our constitution vests exclusive appellate jurisdiction in this court "in all civil cases where the state or any county or other political subdivision of the state or any state officer as such is a party."
Even though this jurisdictional issue has not been raised by the parties, it is the duty of this court to consider the problem sua sponte. Stone v. Stone, 393 S.W.2d 201, 204 (Mo.App. 1965); Engel Sheet Metal Equipment, Inc. v. Shewman, 298 S.W.2d 434, 435 (Mo. 1957); Conner v. Herd, 429 S.W.2d 333, 334 (Mo.App. 1968); P. I. C. Leasing, Inc. v. Roy A. Scheperle Construction Co., Inc., 489 S.W.2d 219 (Mo.App. 1972). The question of whether an appeal lies from an administrative determination of the appropriate bargaining unit, prior to determination of majority representative status, is not answered by the wording of ยง 105.525, which is ambiguous in this regard.
Appeal was taken to this court which transferred the cause to the Supreme Court on the basis that a political subdivision of the state, Moline, was a party. Mo.App., 429 S.W.2d 333. The matter was retransferred here by the Supreme Court upon a determination that Moline was not a subdivision of the state for purposes of jurisdiction under Art. V, Sec. 3, Constitution of Missouri, V.A.M.S. Mo., 442 S.W.2d 501. Jurisdiction of the appeal having been decided, we now reach the merits. The matter was tried in the Circuit Court on documentary evidence including the transcript of the hearing before the Board.