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County court has authority to adjudicate claims against county The county judge is the judge of the county court. The county court is a real judicial court. The county court acts judicially in allowance of claims against county. [Hutson v. State, 1926, 171 Ark. 1132, 287 S.W. 398 (1926)]. Judicial vs. Executive Functions: The county court is, strictly speaking, not the county judge. It is a court presided over by one judge, the “county judge,” who, when so presiding, acts in a judicial, rather than an executive capacity. (See Arkansas Constitution, Article 7, Section 28 and ACA § 14-14-1105(a). AG Op. No. 97-181.) “Although the Arkansas Supreme Court has meticulously separated the judicial and executive functions of the county judge on a case-by-case basis, there is still great confusion in Arkansas with respect to what the county court is.” [Comment, County Government Reorganization in Arkansas, 28 Ark. L. Rev. 226, 235 (1974). AG Op. No. 97-181.] The judicial powers of the “county court” in Arkansas Constitution Article 7, Section 28 were not displaced by the executive powers given the county judge by Amendment 55, Section 3. Adjudicating Claims Against the County: The authority of the County Court to decide claims against the county is explained in ACA §14-23-101, entitled “Presentment and Appeals,” which states: (a) All persons having demands against any county shall present them, duly verified according to law, to the county court of the county for allowance or rejection. (b) From the order of the court thereon, appeals may be prosecuted as provided by law. If on any such appeal the judgment of the county court is reversed, the judgment of reversal shall be certified by the court rendering it to the county court, and the court shall thereupon enter the judgment of the superior court as its own. Just Compensation Example: In Chamberlain v. Newton County, 266 Ark. 516, 587 S.W.2d 4 (1979), the Arkansas Supreme Court dealt with the question of a claim against a county for an alleged trespass by an encroachment caused by construction of a county road. The landowner filed her petition against the county seeking to enjoin the taking of her property for such road but the court ruled that, since the taking had already occurred,
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the landowner’s only remedy against county was to file claim in county court for just compensation for the alleged taking. The court explained that because the landowner had stood by and permitted the improvement to proceed until substantial roadwork had been done, the landowner was relegated to the county’s credit for compensation for the taking by the MIKE RAINWATER Risk Management county. The court said that the landLegal Counsel owner’s “only remedy against Newton County was to file a claim in the County Court of Newton County for just compensation for a completed taking.” (Id. at 587 S.W.2d 520.) The court then said: “Exclusive jurisdiction of appellant’s claim for compensation is vested in the County Court of Newton County as a matter relating to county roads.” (Article 7, Section 28, of the Constitution of Arkansas was cited by the Court as authority for this conclusion.) The court said, further, that “[t] he county could not be sued to recover this compensation by inverse condemnation proceedings.” Conclusion: The exclusive jurisdiction of the county court, as a judicial court, is an important tool for counties to use both defensively and offensively in managing the risk of county liability. If, for example, a party is asserting a claim against the county, the matter can be decided in a county court proceeding that the county initiates. If a party sues a county in circuit court, then the county can and should ask for that lawsuit to be dismissed or transferred to the county court for the first level of adjudication. Mike Rainwater, a regular contributor to County Lines and lead attorney for AAC Risk Management, is principal shareholder of Rainwater, Holt, and Sexton, P.A., a state-wide personal injury and disability law firm. Mr. Rainwater has been a lawyer for over 30 years, is a former deputy prosecuting attorney, and has defended city and county officials for over 25 years.
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COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2016
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