State ex rel. St. Charles County v. Circuit Court

In 2008, St. Charles County and Laclede Gas Company entered into litigation disputing which party would bear the expense of relocating Laclede Gas' lines due to the County's road project. The circuit court entered summary judgment in favor of the County. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case. The County then filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss its litigation under Mo. R. Civ. P. 67.02. The circuit court overruled the County's motion, reasoning that a voluntary dismissal was improper under Rule 67.02 because the case was previously resolved by summary judgment. The County subsequently sought a writ of prohibition, claiming that the circuit court acted outside its jurisdiction by denying the County's motion to voluntarily dismiss its 2008 action against Laclede Gas. The Supreme Court quashed its preliminary writ, holding that the circuit court did not err in overruling the County's motion to dismiss, as the motion was not filed prior to the introduction of evidence at trial, and allowing the County to dismiss its case after it was reviewed by the Court would result in the County achieving an undue advantage in that it would circumnavigate the Court's prior opinion. View "State ex rel. St. Charles County v. Circuit Court" on Justia Law