ARKANSAS D.H.H.S. v. CRT. COURT OF PULASKI CO

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Docket Number

06-06.

Attorney(S)

Richard Barthold Dahlgren, for appellant. Mike Beebe, Att'y Gen., by: Patricia Bell, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee Honorable Vann Smith. Rebecca Hodges Winburn, for Karen Blaylock.

Judges

PER CURIAM.

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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

On January 4, 2006, the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) filed a petition for a writ of prohibition, or alternatively a writ of certiorari, directed to the Honorable Vann Smith of the Pulaski County Circuit Court. While the appeal was pending, the respondent, Alan Blaylock, died. The Supreme Court remanded to the circuit court to determine whether Blaylock's death extinguished the cause of action. On remand the circuit court found that the death did not extinguish the cause of action, that revivor was appropriate, and that the cause should proceed. DHHS moved to reinstate its appeal; the respondent, through Karen Blaylock (his surviving spouse and executrix of his estate), joined in the motion.

Legal Issues Presented

Whether the respondent's death extinguished the cause of action.
Whether revivor of the cause of action was appropriate so that the matter could proceed.

Arguments of the Parties

The opinion does not contain a detailed account of the parties' legal arguments.

Table of Precedents Cited

No precedents were cited in the provided opinion.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Supreme Court remanded initially for the circuit court to resolve whether the death of Alan Blaylock extinguished the cause of action. After the circuit court determined that the death did not extinguish the action and that revivor was appropriate, the Supreme Court granted DHHS's motion to reinstate the petition to the active docket. The court allowed the parties to supplement the record with the circuit-court order on remand within fifteen days and stated it would decide the case based on the original briefs. The decision follows directly from the circuit court's factual and legal finding that death did not terminate the cause and that revivor should occur.

Holding and Implications

Holding: The Supreme Court granted the motion to reinstate the petition for writ of prohibition, or alternatively writ of certiorari, and granted the petition.

Implications: The appeal is reinstated to the active docket; the parties may supplement the record with the circuit-court order on remand within fifteen days; the Supreme Court will decide the case on the original briefs. The opinion does not announce or discuss any broader precedent beyond the direct effect on these proceedings.

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ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT of HEALTH HUMAN SERVICES v. CIRCUIT COURT of PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS, FOURTEENTH DIVISION.

APPEAL ERROR — RESPONDENT'S DEATH DID NOT EXTINGUISH THE CAUSE OF ACTION. — Where, upon remand, the circuit court found that the respondent's death did not extinguish the cause of action and that revivor was appropriate and the cause of action should proceed, the supreme court granted the motion for writ of prohibition, or in the alternative, writ of certiorari.

PER CURIAM.

This case came to us on January 4, 2006, when Appellant, Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), filed a petition for writ of prohibition, or, in the alternative, a writ of certiorari directed to Appellee Honorable Vann Smith of the Pulaski County Circuit Court. While the appeal was pending, Alan Blaylock, the respondent in these proceedings, died. We remanded the case to the circuit court to determine whether the cause of action was extinguished by the death of Blaylock.

The circuit court has found that Blaylock's death does not extinguish the cause of action and that (1) revivor is appropriate and (2) the cause of action should proceed. Now DHHS asks us to reinstate its appeal. Respondent, represented by Karen Blaylock, his surviving spouse and the executrix of his estate, joins.

[1] We grant the motion to reinstate the petition for writ of prohibition, or in the alternative, writ of certiorari, to the active docket. The parties may supplement the record with the order of the circuit court on remand within fifteen (15) days of this order. This court will decide the case on the original briefs.

Petition granted.