State ex rel. The Kansas City Southern Railway Company v. The Honorable W. Stephen Nixon

Summary

The Supreme Court of Missouri held that a circuit court may allow plaintiffs to amend their petition to add a party whose presence makes venue proper before ruling on a motion to transfer for improper venue. The court concluded that venue is procedural rather than jurisdictional and quashed the preliminary writ of prohibition. A dissent would have required immediate transfer under Rule 51.045(a).

Holdings

1. Improper venue is procedural rather than jurisdictional; it does not deprive a court of personal or subject matter jurisdiction, although a trial court has a ministerial duty to transfer a case to a proper venue when required.
2. A circuit court may grant leave to amend a petition to add a party whose presence cures an existing venue defect before ruling on a pending motion to transfer venue.
3. Adding Kevin McIntosh, a Jackson County resident, rendered Jackson County a proper venue, so the circuit court did not err by overruling the railway's motion to transfer.

Questions Presented

1. Whether improper venue is jurisdictional and permits prohibition to prevent the circuit court from taking further action other than transferring the case.
2. Whether a circuit court may allow a plaintiff to amend the petition to add a party whose presence makes venue proper before ruling on a pending motion to transfer for improper venue.
3. Whether the addition of the Jackson County resident made Jackson County a proper venue under section 508.010.5 and section 508.012.

Disposition

quashed