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Richards v. Anderson Erickson Dairy Co.7/8/2005
ased upon the venue provisions of Iowa Code chapter 616. Slattery v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 442 N.W.2d 82, 84-85 (Iowa 1989). Rule 1.808 does not implicate the discretionary judgment of the district court. Id. Therefore our review in this case is for errors at law, not an abuse of discretion.
III. The Merits
The primary issue is whether venue was proper in Johnson County. If venue was proper there, we assume the district court lacked authority to transfer the case elsewhere; when venue is proper in multiple counties, the plaintiff may choose where to file and the district court lacks the discretion to transfer the case pursuant to rule 1.808. See id. If venue was not proper in Johnson County, we must decide whether it was proper in Grundy County. Id.
To answer the foregoing questions, we must apply the various provisions of Iowa Code chapter 616. Id. We first analyze Iowa Code section 616.17, our general venue statute. We then consider two specific venue provisions, which the parties variously claim have applicability in this case.
A. Iowa Code § 616.17
In Iowa, there is a long-standing preference for trying cases in the county of a defendant's residence. Tull v. Honda Research & Dev., Ltd., 469 N.W.2d 683, 686 (Iowa 1991) (tracing preference back to 1851). Today this preference is found in Iowa Code section 616.17, our general venue statute. See id. That statute provides:
Personal actions, except as otherwise provided, must be brought in a county in which some of the defendants actually reside, but if neither of them have a residence in the state, they may be sued in any county in which either of them may be found.
Iowa Code § 616.17 (2001). Although renumbered several times over the years, the substance of the statute has remained unchanged for over a century. Compare Iowa Code § 2586 (1873), with Iowa Code § 616.17 (2001). Clearly, the present personal-injury lawsuit is a "personal action" for purposes of the statute. See, e.g., Tull, 469 N.W.2d at 686 (holding a negligence action arising out of an all-terrain vehicle accident was a "personal action"); Baker v. Ryan, 67 Iowa 708, 710, 25 N.W. 890, 890 (1885) (holding petition alleging negligence was a "personal action"). Here venue was proper in both Story and Polk counties because at least one defendant resided in each locale. Iowa Code § 616.17.
Having applied the general venue statute to the facts of this case, we now turn to examine two specific venue provisions the parties have brought to our attention, Iowa Code sections 616.18 and 616.8. We must determine whether they fit within the "except as otherwise provided" proviso in the general venue statute and also make venue proper in other counties. Id.; see, e.g., Tull, 469 N.W.2d at 686.
B. Iowa Code § 616.18
In 1941, the legislature enacted a law permitting plaintiffs in motor vehicle accidents to sue in the county in which the injury was sustained. 1941 Iowa Acts ch. 298, § 1 (codified at Iowa Code § 616.18 (1946)). In 1972, the legislature broadened this special venue provision to plaintiffs in all personal-injury lawsuits. 1972 Iowa Acts ch. 1127, § 1 (codified at Iowa Code § 616.18 (1973)). We subsequently held Iowa Code section 616.18 falls within the "except as otherwise provided" proviso of Iowa Code section 616.17. Tull, 469 N.W.2d at 686. For this reason, the defendants are correct when they assert that venue in this case was not only proper in Polk and Story counties, the residences of various defendants, but also proper in Grundy County, the scene of the collision. Iowa Code § 616.18 (Iowa 2001); see also Becker v. Wright, 540 N.W.2d 250, 253 (Iowa 1995) (holding venu
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