Mohave v. Messner

── Mohave v. Messner ── Case No.: 1 CA-CV 25-0494 Court: Court of Appeals of Arizona Date: March 23, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE. IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE MOHAVE COUNTY, Plaintiff/Appellee, v. BARRY MESSNER, Defendant/Appellant. No. 1 CA-CV 25-0494 FILED 03-23-2026 Appeal from the Superior Court in Mohave County No. S8015CV202301355 The Honorable Steven C. Moss, Judge REMANDED COUNSEL Mohave County Attorney’s Office, Kingman By William Davis Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellee Barry Messner, Fort Mohave Defendant/Appellant Pro Se  MOHAVE v. MESSNER Decision of the Court MEMORANDUM DECISION Judge Anni Hill Foster delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge David B. Gass and Chief Judge Randall M. Howe joined. F O S T E R, Judge: ¶1 Defendant Barry Messner failed to clean up his properties after a notice to abate by Plaintiff Mohave County (“County”). The County pursued legal action against Messner, resulting in a judgment for the County’s costs to clean up the properties. Messner moved to have the superior court declare the judgment void for lack of service under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 60(b)(4) and the superior court denied the motion. Messner now appeals that denial. He contends the County failed to properly serve him with its motion for costs for cleaning up his property. Because the record is not clear whether Messner received proper notice of the assessment motion, this Court remands to the superior court to determine whether the County properly served Messner before the court entered judgment. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¶2 Messner owns three properties in Fort Mohave, an unincorporated town in Mohave County, and currently resides at one of the properties. Accumulated on Messner’s properties were about 60-80 tires, multiple barrels of oil, multiple inoperable or abandoned recreational vehicles, a rusted-out refrigerated trailer, at least one broken trailer, inoperable heavy equipment, 15-20 tons of scrap metal, multiple broken- down motor vehicles and miscellaneous items of trash, rubbish and debris. But Mohave County Ordinance 2020-07 (the “Ordinance”) requires property to be clear of rubbish, trash, weeds, filth, debris or dilapidated buildings and classifies such conditions as a public nuisance. ¶3 In 2023, the County served Messner, via certified mail, with notices to abate under the Ordinance. The notices listed the three properties Messner owns and the County provided separate notices for each property. See Mohave Cnty. Ord. 2020-07 § VI(8)(c). After Messner failed to clean up his properties, the County filed a preliminary injunction to allow it to enter and clean up Messner’s properties. 2  MOHAVE v. MESSNER Decision of the Court ¶4 Following a two-day hearing, the superior court entered its final judgment and granted the County authority to enter Messner’s properties for abatement of the public nuisance. Messner appealed the superior court’s order to this Court in November 2023, and this Court affirmed. See Mohave County v. Messner, 1 CA-CV 23-0775, 2024 WL 3874176, at *1, ¶ 1 (Ariz. App. Aug. 20, 2024) (mem. decision). ¶5 After this Court’s mandate issued, the County filed a “Motion to Determine Costs and Expenses.” The motion noted that the County abated Messner’s three properties and listed the costs for each property: $3,0