Schultz v. Brevard County

Summary

The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed an order transferring a wrongful-death action from Brevard County to Leon County because the state and its agencies had a common-law venue privilege. The court held that the statutory exception permitting suit in the county where a cause of action accrued applied only to causes accruing after October 1, 1981, and therefore did not apply to this action.

Holdings

1. At the time this cause of action accrued, the state and its agencies could elect to be sued only in counties where they maintained their principal headquarters.
2. Creating an exception to the state-agency venue privilege for joint public tort-feasors is a legislative matter, not a judicial one.
3. The statutory exception permitting suit against a state agency or subdivision in the county where the cause of action accrued did not apply because it applies only to causes of action accruing after October 1, 1981.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the state agency's common-law venue privilege required transfer of the action to the county where the agency maintained its principal headquarters.
2. Whether a court could create an exception to the state-agency venue privilege for joint public tort-feasors when the cause of action accrued before the effective date of the statutory venue exception in section 768.28(1), Florida Statutes.

Disposition

affirmed