Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Rambolt

Citations

• 67 Tex. 654
• 4 S.W. 356
• 1887 Tex. LEXIS 941

Syllabus

<p>Jurisdiction.—Section 8, Article 5, of the Constitution, confers on the district court jurisdiction of ail suits when the matter in controversy shall be valued at or amount to five hundred dollars, exclusive of interest. Construing this section in connection with section 16 of the same Article, which provides that the county courts shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil cases when the matter in controversy shall exceed two hundred dollars and not exceed five hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts when the matter in controversy shall exceed five hundred and not exceed , one thousand dollars, exclusive of interest, held:</p> <p>(1) There is an irreconcilable conflict between the two provisions— since the district court can not have jurisdiction when the amount involved is precisely five hundred dollars, and the county court exclusive jurisdiction for the same amount.</p> <p>(2) But the provision in section 16 is more comprehensive as well as more specific than that in section 8, and, under a canon of construction, should be regarded as the more accurate expression of the law makers’ intent.</p> <p>(3) In construing repugnant provisions of a Constitution, it would seem that the last provision should prevail, but as applied to the organic law, this rule should be acted on only as a last resort.</p> <p>(4) The district court has no jurisdiction of a suit to recover money of the exact amount of five hundred dollars.</p>