In Re Dunn
| Docket Number: | 2011-CS-00255-SCT Linked Case(s): 2011-CS-00255-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-21-2013 Opinion Author: Kitchens, J. Holding: Ordered to pay costs |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Duties of circuit clerk - Section 9-7-171 - M.R.C.P. 79 - M.R.C.P. 77(d) - Verification of names of counsel and parties Judge(s) Concurring: Dickinson and Randolph, P.JJ., Lamar, Chandler, Pierce, King and Coleman, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Waller, C.J. |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Duties of circuit clerk - Section 9-7-171 - M.R.C.P. 79 - M.R.C.P. 77(d) - Verification of names of counsel and parties |
| Summary of the Facts: | In 2011, the Supreme Court issued a show cause order to Barbara Dunn, Circuit Clerk of Hinds County, ordering her to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed for failure to give notice of entry of several orders to parties or their counsel. Dunn and her employee admitted that some clerical errors had been made in one of the cases involving the Public Employees’ Retirement System but denied that any entries were backdated. Her office had sent notice to the address of a deceased lawyer who had never been involved with the case, because the clerk had mistyped the attorney’s bar number. The Supreme Court ordered the circuit court to conduct an evidentiary hearing. The circuit court found no evidence that the docket entries had been backdated and noted that the PERS affiant's testimony at the hearing was "in stark contrast to her prior sworn testimony in her affidavit submitted to" the Supreme Court. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | In an unrelated case, Dunn was sanctioned for failure to comply with section 9-7-171 and M.R.C.P. 77 and 79. In that case, the entry of an interlocutory order had been backdated in the general docket and notice of the order was not provided to all parties. The present case involves a Complaint for Review filed by the attorney for a claimant who received an unfavorable ruling from the PERS board. When the attorney signed his name on the Civil Case Cover Sheet, some of the signature overlapped his bar number making it appear that one of the digits in the bar number was six rather than one. However, his name and bar number appears on other documents filed in the clerk’s office. It appears, however, that no employee in the clerk’s office ever verified that all counsels’ names and addresses were accurately listed in the general docket. While this matter was pending in circuit court, orders were entered regarding interlocutory matters. The circuit clerk failed to “make a note in the docket of the service” to parties or their attorneys as required by M.R.C.P. 77(d). At the evidentiary hearing conducted by the circuit court, there was no evidence that the docket entry was backdated. Thus, the clerk adequately complied with section 9-7-171 and M.R.C.P. 79. Thus, while mistakes were made in this case by Dunn’s staff, they do not warrant harsh sanctions. Dunn is ordered to pay the cost of the record from the evidentiary hearing in the amount of $947.75 from her personal funds and to implement procedures for verification of names and contact information of parties and their counsel. |
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