Henriod v. Church

172 P. 701, 52 Utah 134, 1918 Utah LEXIS 58
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedApril 20, 1918
DocketNo. 3212
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 172 P. 701 (Henriod v. Church) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Henriod v. Church, 172 P. 701, 52 Utah 134, 1918 Utah LEXIS 58 (Utah 1918).

Opinion

THURMAN, J.

The petition of plaintiff, in substance, shows: That plaintiff on the 6th day of August, 1917, was duly appointed to the office of city marshal of Eureka City, Juab County, by the mayor thereof; that said appointment was duly confirmed by the city council of said city; that plaintiff duly qualified by taking the oath of office and giving bond; that said appointment was made to fill a vacancy in said office, and that plaintiff has ever since continued to act as such officer and is now fulfilling the duties thereof; that defendant on the 18th day of February, 1918, was and now is the duly elected, qualified and acting mayor of said city; that on the 1st day of February, 1918, defendant, as mayor of said city, presented to the then city council of said city the name of one Minor Peterson for appointment as said marshal; that said city council refused, and ever since has continued to refuse, to confirm said appointment, and no other appointment to said office has been made other than the appointment of plaintiff aforesaid; that plaintiff continued to perform the duties of such office during the month of February, 1918, and at all times since his appointment; that at the time of his appointment the salary of said office was and is now $135 per month; that plaintiff received said amount per month as salary from [136]*136tbe date of bis said appointment down to and including tbe 1st day of February, 1918; that on tbe 1st day of March, 1918, tbe city recorder of said city issued and delivered to plaintiff a city warrant for $135 in payment of bis services for tbe month of February next preceding; that said warrant was made payable to tbe order of plaintiff, but under a city ordinance of said city tbe defendant, as mayor, is required to countersign all warrants drawn on the city treasurer; that under said ordinance it was tbe duty of tbe defendant, as mayor, to countersign said warrant, but when it was presented to him for bis signature be wrongfully, will-fixlly, and without just cause refused to countersign it and still refuses; that plaintiff presented said warrant to the city treasurer of said city, who indorsed thereon, “Payable at tbe Eureka Banking Company, Eureka”; that plaintiff then presented said warrant to said banking company, but it refused to pay the same, and still refuses, because it was not countersigned by tbe defendant as mayor or at all; that plaintiff is still continuing to act as such officer and perform tbe duties thereof, but that defendant refuses to, and will continue to refuse to, recognize plaintiff as such officer, and refuses, and will continue to refuse, to countersign said warrant, or any warrant that may be issued to plaintiff in payment of bis salary as such officer; that plaintiff is without remedy in tbe premises unless by interposition of this court. Plaintiff prays that a writ of mandamus issue against said defendant as mayor of Eureka City, commanding him to countersign said warrant, and to recognize plaintiff as city marshal of said city, and for such other relief as may be just.

Said application was filed on tbe 15th day of March, 1918, and an alternative writ of mandamus issued thereon commanding tbe defendant, as mayor of said Eureka City, to recognize plaintiff as said city marshal of said city, and countersign said warrant, as required by the ordinances of said city, for the payment of plaintiff’s salary for the month of February, 1918, or to show cause at the time stated in said writ why he has not done so.

The defendant appeared in response to the writ, and filed a [137]*137demurrer to the petition, alleging as grounds of demurrer that the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action or to sustain an alternative writ of mandamus.

It was thereafter stipulated by the parties, for purposes of demurrer, that the following facts should be considered as a part of the petition: That plaintiff was appointed city marshal of Eureka City January 7, 1916, at, a salary of $100 per month; that on July 27, 1917, the city council of said city passed an ordinance raising the salary of city marshal to $135 per month, becoming effective the 4th day of August nest following; that on August 3d plaintiff resigned said office, and on the same day was hired by the mayor as acting marshal of said city; that on the 6th day of the same month he was appointed such marshal to fill the vacancy created by his own resignation; that under said appointment of August 6, 1917, he filed his bond in the sum of $2,500, a copy of which is attached to the stipulation; that said bond has never been approved by the mayor; that the city ordinances of Eureka provide that before entering upon the discharge of his duties the marshal shall file a bond with the city in the sum of $2,500, to be approved by the mayor-; that plaintiff has filed no other or additional bond than the one a copy of which is attached to the stipuation; that on the 4th' day of February, 1918, the defendant, as mayor, gave verbal notice to the plaintiff that his term had expired as city marshal, and that he was no longer to be recognized or receive compensation as such.

The right of plaintiff to hold the office in question, perform the duties and enjoy the emoluments thereof, prior to August 3,1917, when he resigned, is not made an issue in this proceeding. Whether or not defendant seriously questions the right of plaintiff to resign under his first appointment, when the salary was only $100 per month, and accept an appointment a few days later, when the salary had been increased 1 to $135 per month, is not at all clear. There is a veiled suggestion in the brief that plaintiff resigned for the purpose of obtaining the increased salary, but that is all. The point was not argued, and we are left in the dark as to defendant’s attitude respecting that question. It is admitted, however, that plaintiff had resigned the office before the [138]*138ordinance increasing the salary went into effect. That created a vacancy, which continued until the new law became operative, when the plaintiff was again regularly appointed. In the absence of a statute prohibiting such proceeding, we see no reason why the plaintiff was not just as eligible to appointment after the salary was increased as any other person would have been. There is, however, no statute forbidding it. On the contrary, Comp. Laws Utah 1907, section 225, which at one time prohibited all city officers from receiving increased compensation during the time for which such officer was elected or appointed, has been amended by later statutes, making such provisions applicable to elective officers only. Sess. Laws 1911, section 225, at page 281, and Sess. Laws 1917, section 325, at page 125.

The next point presented by appellant’s brief is that plaintiff under his second appointment, or the appointment now in question, filed his bond with the city recorder, but that the bond was never approved by the mayor. It is also claimed that the bond so filed was defective in form 2 in not stating one of the conditions required by law, viz. “the payment of all money received by such officer according to law and the ordinances of such city.” Sess. Laws 1911, c. 125, section 216. The bond filed by the plaintiff omitted the words above quoted, but did declare as a condition that “the said Gus J. Henriod shall well, truly, and justly perform all the duties enjoined upon him by virtue of his office.”

It is contended by plaintiff, and we think with reason, that while the words used in the bond are not exactly the words of the statute, yet, in substance, they cover and include all that the statutes require.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
172 P. 701, 52 Utah 134, 1918 Utah LEXIS 58, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henriod-v-church-utah-1918.