Art. 4873. Transfer to district court; procedure; contest; effect

A party entitled thereto under the provisions of Article 4872 may transfer the action to the district court in the following manner:

(1) Within the delay allowed for answer in the trial court of the limited jurisdiction, or within ten days after answer has been filed, he shall file a motion to transfer with the clerk of the court in which the suit is pending. The motion shall include a declaration that the matter is one to which defendant would have been entitled to trial by jury if commenced in district court, and that defendant desires trial by jury.

(2) If no opposition is filed within ten days after the filing of the motion to transfer, the judge of the court in which the suit is pending shall order the transfer to the district court. If an opposition is timely filed, it shall be tried summarily.

(3) Where a transfer is ordered, the clerk of the court in which the action was initially filed shall forward to the clerk of court to which the action is transferred a certified copy of the record in the initial court, including pleadings, minute entries, and all other proceedings.

The clerk of the district court shall file the action as a new proceeding in that court, upon payment by the defendant of a filing fee as provided by rule of the district court. All costs accruing thereafter, however, shall be advanced in the same manner as though the action initially had been commenced in the district court by the original plaintiff.

(4) When the matter is docketed by the clerk of the district court, the proceeding shall continue in that court as though originally commenced therein. In the event transfer is effected prior to answer, defendant shall file his answer in the district court within the delays provided by Article 1001, commencing from the date the transferred proceeding is filed in that court.

(5) The disposition of a motion to transfer and any opposition thereto shall not be appealable, but shall be reviewable through the exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction by the court of appeal having appellate jurisdiction over the case.

Acts 1979, No. 46, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980.