In Re Albemarle Mental Health Center

MITCHELL, Judge.

The sole question on appeal is whether the trial court properly concluded that it was “without jurisdiction to proceed and to determine the merits, rights and duties of the parties.”

The State argues, and we agree, that this cause is in the nature of a special proceeding. G.S. 1-2 provides that “An action is an ordinary proceeding in a court of justice, by which a party prosecutes another party for the enforcement or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment or prevention of a public offense.” G.S. 1-3 provides that “Every other remedy is a…