Allen v. Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Ninth Division

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas denied Laura Allen's petition for a writ of prohibition seeking to prevent the Ninth Division of the Pulaski County Circuit Court from exercising jurisdiction over an action concerning enforcement of a family settlement agreement. The court held that prohibition was unavailable because the Ninth Division had already acted, and treated the petition as one for certiorari. It concluded that the jurisdictional-priority rule did not clearly establish a plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion by the Ninth Division.

Holdings

1. A writ of prohibition does not lie to prevent action that the lower court has already taken.
2. The common-law jurisdictional-priority rule did not prevent the Ninth Division from acting because the Ninth Division first exercised jurisdiction over the matters forming the heart of the dispute and had jurisdiction over all necessary parties in the enforcement action.
3. Certiorari relief was not warranted because the record did not clearly establish a plain, manifest, clear, and gross abuse of discretion by the Ninth Division.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a writ of prohibition could issue to prevent the Ninth Division from exercising jurisdiction after it had already acted in the guardianship, constructive-trust, and enforcement proceedings.
2. Whether the common-law jurisdictional-priority rule required the Sixteenth Division, rather than the Ninth Division, to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over the family settlement agreement.
3. Whether the petition should be treated as a petition for a writ of certiorari and granted because the Ninth Division plainly, manifestly, clearly, and grossly abused its discretion.

Disposition

writ_denied