State Ex Rel. Moore v. Howell

BURNETT, Judge.

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether failure to join allegedly indispensable parties to a lawsuit renders the eventual judgment void for lack of jurisdiction. We hold that it does not.

This issue is framed by a condemnation action. In 1982, the Idaho Transportation Department sought to purchase real property in Ada County as part of a highway improvement project. When negotiations failed, the state instituted condemnation proceedings against the property. William Howell, his wife, and a family business corporation were among the parties named as defendants. Howell had…