State ex rel. Sivnksty v. Duffield

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia · 1952 · Civil Procedure

137 W. Va. 112 (1952)

Updated July 29, 2026

Civil Procedureprohibitionservice of processimmunity from civil processnonresident defendantcriminal chargeincarcerationvoluntary presence

Facts

Sivnksty, a nonresident of Gilmer County, entered the county voluntarily intending to stay through the Fourth of July holiday. While there, his car struck two children, after which he was arrested, jailed, and later brought to the mayor's office for trial on a reckless driving charge. While in custody between appearances before the mayor, he was served with a circuit court summons in a civil trespass-on-the-case action arising from the same incident. After his release on appeal bond, he left the county, then specially appeared in the civil case and filed a plea in abatement challenging jurisdiction based on immunity from service.

Issue

Was a nonresident who voluntarily entered Gilmer County, was later arrested there on a criminal charge, and was served with civil process while incarcerated immune from service of that civil process?

Rule

A person confined in jail on a criminal charge is subject to service of civil process when he was voluntarily in the jurisdiction at the time of his arrest and confinement and did not come or was not brought there under criminal process. The immunity protecting nonresidents from civil process while attending criminal proceedings applies when the person is before the court in response to criminal process, not merely because he is incarcerated.

🔒

See the holding & full analysis

Create a free KwikCourt account to unlock the rest of this brief — and practice the case.

The court's holding and reasoning
Doctrine tests, pitfalls & exam hypotheticals
10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case

Free sample · practice this case

Test yourself

One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Evan Kline, a resident of Ohio, drove to Charleston, West Virginia, for a long weekend with friends. After a late-night altercation outside a restaurant, city police arrested him on a misdemeanor charge, and while he was being held in the county jail awaiting arraignment, a local vendor served him with a summons in a civil contract suit unrelated to the arrest.

If Evan moves to quash service on the ground that, as a nonresident jailed on a criminal charge, he was immune from civil process, how should the court rule?

Explanation. The motion should be denied. The governing rule is that a person confined on a criminal charge is subject to service of civil process if he was voluntarily in the jurisdiction at the time of arrest and was not brought there under criminal process. The privilege exists to protect judicial administration and to encourage attendance in response to criminal proceedings, not to shield anyone who happens to be jailed after voluntarily entering the place.