Section 13.13 Acting in Excess of Jurisdiction or Authority (New Title)

• Library: App Ct Prac 2015 Supp

D. (§13.13) Acting in Excess of Jurisdiction or Authority (New Title)

In most cases, an allegation that a circuit court has acted “in excess of its jurisdiction” will no longer be appropriate. In J.C.W. ex rel. Webb v. Wyciskalla, 275 S.W.3d 249 (Mo. banc 2009), the Court pointed out that Missouri courts recognize two kinds of jurisdiction:

1. Subject matter jurisdiction

2. Personal jurisdiction

Subject matter jurisdiction refers to “the court’s authority to render a judgment in a particular category of case.” Id. at 253. That authority comes from article V, § 14, of the Missouri Constitution, which gives circuit courts ‘“original jurisdiction over all cases and matters, civil and criminal.”’ Wyciskalla, 275 S.W.3d at 253 (quoting Mo. Const. art. V, § 14). In light of Wyciskalla, it will be the rare case in which a court acts without subject matter jurisdiction.

Nonetheless, the substantive points made in older cases under the rubric of whether the court acted “in excess of its jurisdiction” should still be valid. These issues will now be analyzed in light of whether the court acted without or beyond its authority given by the rules, statutes, or prior decisions.

One exception concerns the power of the circuit courts to adjudicate workers’ compensation cases between employees and employers. Previous decisions held that, when The Workers’ Compensation Law, Chapter 287, RSMo, applied, the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction—i.e., the power to adjudicate the claims. In McCracken v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, 298 S.W.3d 473 (Mo. banc 2009), the Court held that this kind of case was a civil matter sounding in negligence, which the circuit courts had the power to hear under article V, § 14, of the Missouri...