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City of Mulvane v. Roberts3/28/2003
Affirmed.
Following conviction in municipal court for traffic-related violations of the Mulvane City Code, Jeffery T. Roberts filed a notice of appeal directly with the Sumner County District Court. The district court dismissed Roberts' appeal, finding it lacked jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a municipal court located in Sedgwick County and, without jurisdiction, it could not transfer the appeal to Sedgwick County. We disagree with Roberts' assertions that Sumner County had concurrent jurisdiction to hear the appeal, or, in the alternative, that the Sumner County Court should have transferred the appeal to Sedgwick County. Accordingly, we affirm.
The principal fact, making this case unique, is the location of the City of Mulvane astraddle the Sedgwick/Sumner Counties boundary line. Roberts' municipal court convictions arose from two separate incidents within the corporate limits of Mulvane. The first occurred at the intersection of First and Main, which is situated in Sumner County; the second was at the intersection of Second and Helbert, in Sedgwick County. The district court found, and the parties do not contest, that the Mulvane municipal courthouse is physically located in the Sedgwick County portion of the city.
After Roberts filed his notice of appeal directly with the Sumner County District Court, Mulvane moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because Roberts failed to file a timely notice of appeal in Sedgwick County. Roberts asserted that Sumner County did have jurisdiction, but, if the court disagreed, he asked that the appeal be transferred to Sedgwick County, in lieu of dismissal. The district court issued a memorandum of opinion, finding that the applicable statutes required the appeal to be filed with the Sedgwick County District Court; the statutes governing the filing of a notice of appeal are jurisdictional; and the court could not transfer the appeal because it had never acquired jurisdiction.
JURISDICTION
Roberts first argues that Sumner County District Court did have jurisdiction to hear his appeal. Determination of the issue requires us to interpret two statutes dealing with municipal court appeals: K.S.A. 12-4601 and K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law subject to this court's unlimited review. Hamilton v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 263 Kan. 875, 879, 953 P.2d 1027 (1998). Similarly, this court has unlimited review over the existence of jurisdiction. Cypress Media, Inc. v. City of Overland Park, 268 Kan. 407, 414, 997 P.2d 681 (2000).
K.S.A. 12-4601 provides:
"An appeal may be taken to the district court in the county in which said municipal court is located:
"(a) By the accused person in all cases; and
"(b) By the city upon questions of law.
"The appeal shall stay all further proceedings upon the judgment appealed from." (Emphasis added.)
K.S.A. 12-4602 directs the aggrieved party to the procedure in K.S.A. 2002 Supp. 22-3609, which states:
"(1) The defendant shall have the right to appeal to the district court of the county from any judgment of a municipal court which adjudges the defendant guilty of a violation of the ordinances of any municipality of Kansas. The appeal shall be assigned by the chief judge to a district judge. The appeal shall stay all further proceedings upon the judgment appealed from.
"(2) An appeal to the district court shall be taken by filing, in the district court of the county in which the municipal court is located, a notice of appeal and any appearance bond required by the municipal court. Municipal court clerks are h
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