In law, a venue is regarded as the jurisdiction where the potential trial will take place. This would usually be a specific county or district of the state. It is usually set by the statue, but sometimes it can be changed to another jurisdiction. While the venue of a case usually presides in the jurisdiction where the accident or injury took place, this is not always the case. When can a venue transfer to another location and what would be considered a preferred venue?

In the case of Garrison v. Ford and United Farm Family Mutual Insurance Company, there was a change of venue from Marion County to Johnson County in their complaint against Elesha Ford for personal injury and property damages and against United Farm Family Mutual Insurance Company for underinsured motorist coverage. The Garrisons brought an interlocutory appeal challenging the change of venue from Marion County to Johnson County. The Garrisons presented the issue of whether their complaint, which was filed in the county where defendant United Farm maintained its resident agent, was subject to a change of venue to another county of preferred venue. Trial Rule 75(A)(4) establishes preferred venue in the county where the principal office of the defendant corporation is located. If a case is filed in this respective venue, then a transfer on grounds of preferred venue would not be appropriate. The location where a corporation maintains a registered agent would be its principal office in this case.

In this case, there was no factual dispute as to whether United Farm had maintained its registered agent in Marion County. United Farm’s argument was that a special rule should apply to vehicular collision accidents, so that the preferred venue of the accident location would trump another preferred venue. The Court of Appeals rejected their argument and held that the trial court had no authority to transfer the case to a different county. They remanded the case back to Marion County.

If you or a loved one have been affected by a car accident or death, contact an experienced car accident attorney at Hurst Limontes, LLC. We have decades of combined experience fighting for our clients in any number of personal injury claims. Call 317-636-0808 or email us for a FREE and confidential consultation.