Slocumb v. Cape Fear Shingle Co., 110 N.C. 24 (1892)

Feb. 1892 · Supreme Court of North Carolina

110 N.C. 24

A. H SLOCUMB v. THE CAPE FEAR SHINGLE COMPANY.

Judgment, Confession of — Jurisdiction.

A judgment by confession without action founded on contract, in the Superior Court, for a sum not in excess of two hundred dollars, is void for want of jurisdiction.

MotioN to set aside a judgment heard at August Term, 1891, of HarNett Superior Court, before Whitaker, J.

The judgment which gave rise to the controversy was for the sum of $200, and purported to have been confessed by the defendant company before the Clerk of the Superior Court of Harnett County in favor of the plaintiff. The Court held that the judgment was null and void, and so declared, and the plaintiff appealed.

Messrs. James C. MacRae and F. H. Busbee, for plaintiff.

Messrs. J. W. Hinsdale and W. E. Murchison, for defendant.

Avery, J.:

Eliminating all irrelevant matter with which the record is confused and cumbered, we find when we uncover the real issue that but a singlé question is involved, and the controversy is in a nut-shell. Conceding that an officer of a corporation has general authority from the company to confess judgment, is he empowered to go before the Clerk of the Superior Court and, by a formal compliance with the requirements of the statute, submit to such judgment by confession for two hundred dollars, or a smaller sum? We think not. The Constitution, Art. 4, §27, confers upon Justices of the Peace jurisdiction of “civil actions founded on contract wherein the sum. demanded shall not exceed two hundred dollars, and wherever the title to real estate shall not be in controversy.”

Consent of parties may change the venue for trial, but cannot give jurisdiction to a tribunal the exercise of which, by express provision of law, is conferred upon and limited to another Court.

Affirmed.