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TULL v. HONDA RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT5/15/1991
Iowa Code chapter 616 (1989) has two venue provisions that determine where personal injury actions shall be filed. They are Iowa Code sections 616.17 and 616.18. Another provision, Iowa Code section 616.20, provides that a nonresident defendant is entitled to a dismissal when all resident defendants are dismissed. However, section 616.20 is expressly limited to actions brought pursuant to section 616.17; section 616.18 is not mentioned.
Originally four corporations and an individual were sued. The four corporate defendants settled and were dismissed from the lawsuit. The remaining defendant, a nonresident of the county where the suit was filed, moved to dismiss pursuant to section 616.20. The district court thought section 616.18 controlled the place of venue so it refused to dismiss the lawsuit. Because we think section 616.17 — rather than section 616.18 — controlled, we reverse and remand.
On July 31, 1987, James Tull, Jr., injured himself on a Honda three-wheel all terrain vehicle. He was six at the time. The accident happened in Ringgold County on property owned by Richard Johnson. Johnson also owned the vehicle.
The child's parents, Rhonda Tull and Jimmy Lee Tull, filed a lawsuit seeking damages for themselves and on behalf of the child because of this accident. They sued Johnson and four corporations. The corporations included Honda Research and Development, Ltd. (the designer); Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (a wholesale distributor); U.S. American Honda (a wholesale distributor); and American Honda Motor Co. (a retailer). The petition alleged strict liability and negligence against the Honda corporations and negligence against Johnson.
The Tulls filed the lawsuit in Polk County although Johnson and the Tulls were residents of Ringgold County. The corporate defendants were foreign corporations. Only one — American Honda Motor Co. — had a registered agent in Iowa. And that agent had its office in Polk County. [469 NW2d Page 685]
In their petition the Tulls alleged they sued pursuant to Iowa Code section 616.18. Section 616.18 is a venue provision.
Several months after the suit was filed, Johnson moved for a change of venue from Polk County to Ringgold County. See Iowa R. Civ. P. 175. Johnson claimed the Tulls sued in the wrong county. The district court overruled the motion.
In the meantime the Tulls settled with all the corporate defendants, leaving Johnson as the only defendant. This prompted Johnson to move for reconsideration of this ruling or in the alternative for dismissal. Relying on Iowa Code section 616.20, Johnson claimed the action should be dismissed because he was the sole remaining defendant and a nonresident of Polk County. The district court also overruled this motion.
Shortly before the district court's first ruling, the child's father dismissed his personal claim against all the defendants. That left the child and the child's mother as the sole plaintiffs.
Johnson filed an application for interlocutory appeal, challenging the two rulings. We granted the application.
I. We assume, without deciding, that the lawsuit was filed in the proper county. So we address only the issues raised by the district court's denial of Johnson's motion to dismiss filed after all the corporate defendants settled and were dismissed.
Before beginning our analysis, it would be helpful to distinguish between jurisdiction and venue. One treatise writer describes the difference this way:
The concept of venue is closely related to that of territorial jurisdiction, and the two are often confused. In order to avoid this confusion one should remember that jurisdict
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