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Ex parte Haynes downard Andra & Jones7/29/2005
ness by agent in the county of the plaintiff's residence; or
"(4) If subdivisions (1), (2), or (3) do not apply, in any county in which the corporation was doing business by agent at the time of the accrual of the cause of action.
"(b) The residence of only any properly joined named class representative or representatives may be considered in determining proper venue in a class action. The residency of any putative or actual member of a class other than a named representative shall not be considered in determining proper venue for a class action.
"(c) Anything to the contrary in Rule 82(c) of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure notwithstanding, in any action against a corporation, venue must be proper as to each and every named plaintiff joined in the action, unless the plaintiffs shall establish that they assert any right to relief jointly, severally, or arising out of the same transaction or occurrence and that the existence of a substantial number of questions of law or material fact common to all those persons not only will arise in the action, but also: (1) that such questions will predominate over individualized questions pertaining to each plaintiff; (2)[that] the action can be maintained more efficiently and economically for all parties than if prosecuted separately; and (3) that the interest of justice supports the joinder of the parties as plaintiffs in one action. If venue is improper for any plaintiff joined in the action, then the claim of any such plaintiff shall be severed and transferred to a court where venue is proper. In the event severance and transfer is mandated and venue is appropriate in more than one court, a defendant sued alone or multiple defendants, by unanimous agreement, shall have the right to select such other court to which the action shall be transferred and, where there are multiple defendants who are unable to agree upon a transferee court, the court in which the action was originally filed may transfer the action to any such other court. Transfer of the action and notice thereof shall be in accord with Section 6-3-22.
"(d) Notwithstanding Section 6-3-10, or any local laws relating to venue, in any county having two courthouses, the divisions shall be treated as two separate judicial districts for purposes of venue and for purposes of any change or transfer of venue, unless the jury venire is drawn from throughout the entire county."
It is to be noted that other than in subdivision (d), the legislature identified the "county" as the operative geographical unit. Only in subdivision (d) did the legislature specify that "the divisions shall be treated as two separate judicial districts for purposes of venue and for purposes of any change or transfer of venue ...." (Emphasis supplied.) Therefore, whereas RockSolid argues that subdivision (d) requires that the Bessemer Division be treated as though it was a "separate county," the legislature eschewed that terminology, opting instead to state that the divisions should be treated as "two separate judicial districts." Our task is to determine what the legislature meant by the phrase "judicial districts."
In Ex parte Longmire, 584 So. 2d 503 (Ala. 1991), the Court addressed the status of the two judicial divisions created in St. Clair County by local legislation. St. Clair County is one of six counties in Alabama for which the legislature has created two divisions: Barbour, Coffee, Jefferson, Marshall, St. Clair, and Tallapoosa. Only in Marshall County and St. Clair County, however, do the two judicial divisions draw their juries from throughout
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