State Ex Rel. Murray v. Bozarth

1934 OK 84, 29 P.2d 579, 167 Okla. 321, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 495
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 13, 1934
Docket25297
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 1934 OK 84 (State Ex Rel. Murray v. Bozarth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Murray v. Bozarth, 1934 OK 84, 29 P.2d 579, 167 Okla. 321, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 495 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

OSBORN, J.

This is an original proceeding filed in this court in the name of the state of Oklahoma by the Attorney General, upon the direction and on relation of the Governor of the state of Oklahoma, against Mark L. Bozarth, judge of the Twenty-Second judicial district of the state of Oklahoma, for an order, under the superintending control of this court over inferior courts and tribunals, mentioned in section 2, article 7, of the Constitution, to prevent the said respondent, as such judge, from performing the duties of his office. It is' alleged that he is one of the duly elected and qualified judges of the said judicial district of the state of Oklahoma, but that he was informed against in the district court of Oklahoma county for a felony involving moral turpitude, to wit, obtaining *322 money under false pretenses; and that on the 7th day of December, 1933, he was convicted thereof, and on the 15th (Jay of December, 1933, judgment and sentence in conformity with said conviction was duly rendered and pronounced against him, from which he has perfected an appeal to the Criminal Court of Appeals of the state of Oklahoma, which appeal has not yet been disposed of.

It is conceded that the offense charged against respondent, and for which he was convicted, does not carry as a part of the penalty thereof a forfeiture of office. It is conceded, also, that this proceeding does not partake of the nature of quo warranto as mentioned in section 766, O. S. 1931, and is not a proceeding instituted under the provisions of what is known as the Attorney General’s Bill, enacted in 1917, and appear-, tag- in sections 3404-3478, inclusive, O. S. 1931. It is also conceded that said conviction instituted through a grand jury under the provisions of sections 3447 and 3448, O. S. 1931. it is also conceded that said conviction did not result in the vacation of said office by reason of the inhibition contained in the fifth paragraph of section 3408, O. S. 1931, which provides as follows:

“Every office shall become vacant on the happening of either of the following events before the expiration of the term of such office. * * *
“Fifth. Conviction of any infamous crime or any offense involving a violation of his official oath: Provided, that no conviction, as a .cause of' vacation of office, shall be deemed complete so long- as an appeal may be pending, or until final judgment is rendered thereon.”

Belief is sought in this novel proceeding bjr virtue of the provisions of section 2 of article 7 of the Constitution, as follows:

“The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall be co-extensive with the state, and shall extend to all civil cases at law and in equity, and to all criminal cases until a Criminal Court of Appeals with exclusive appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases shall be established by law. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall extend to a general superintending control over all inferior courts and all commissions and boards created by law. The Supreme Court shall have, power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo -warranto, certiorari, prohibition, and such other remedial writs, as may be provided by law, and to hear and determine the same: a’nd the Supreme Court may exercise such other and further jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by law. * * *”

The Attorney General, in his brief,. says:

“Plaintiff has been unable to find any case directly bearing upon the exact issues involved in this case and realizes that the decision of this court in the premises will therefore be a matter of first impression. Probably the laws of other states are not so wholly inadequate to cope with an exigency such as is involved in this case, which inadequacy in the laws of this state will hereinafter be shown, and hence it is probably for that reason that we find a lack of direct precedent.”

Much has been said in the brief of the Attorney General as to the origin, nature, and extent of the power of superintending control as authorized by the above provision of the Constitution. . The fact that the diligence of the Attorney General has failed to disclose where this jurisdiction has been in-, voked in this or any other state to procure the relief sought here is a signpost of warning that should be carefully heeded. But we do not deem it necessary, under the view that we take of the issues in this case, to delve into the historic origin or nature of said jurisdiction or to plumb the outside boundary lines thereof.

By the provisions of section I, art. S, of the Constitution, certain officers are subject to impeachment on certain grounds therein stated. By section 2,' art. 8, it is provided that:

“All elective officers not liable to impeachment shall be subject to removal from office in such manner and for such causes as may be provided by law.”

By section 6 of said article, it is provided:

“The Legislature shall pass such laws as are necessary for carrying into effect the provisions of;, this article.”

■By section 3447, O. S. 1931, certain grounds for removal from office are set forth, and by section 3466, O. S. 1931, three additional grounds for removal were provided. The latter two of said grounds mentioned in the last section have heretofore been stricken down as contravening the provisions of the Constitution. Dabney, Atty. Gen., v. Peck, 139 Okla. 12, 280 P. 1078; State ex rel. Dabney, Atty. Gen. v. Sheldon, 135 Okla. 278, 276 P. 468. By the provisions of section 3448, O. S. 1931, et seq., detailed and elaborate provisions were made for the removal of officers by action of a grand jury. By the provisions of section 3461, O. S. 1931, it is provided:

“When the complaint for removal is filed, if in addition to the matter charged as ground -for removal the comp’aint shall also pray that the officer charged be suspended from office pending investigation, the judge of the court may. if sufficient cause appear from the charge or from the testimony, or *323 affidavits then presented, order the suspension of the accused from the functions of his office until the determination of the matter.”

In the case of Schaeffer v. Jackson, 106 Okla. 194, 225 p. 961, the third paragraph of the syllabus is:

“Where a statute provides that an officer may be removed for certain specified causes, the order of removal must be based upon some one or all of such causes, and cannot be made for other causes.”

This statement of the rule is supported by ample authority: 46 C. J. 985, sec. 147; Village of Kendrick v. Nelson (Idaho) 89 P. 755; Lowe v. Commonwealth (Ky.) 3 Met. 241; Ex parte Lehman, 60 Miss. 976; Ridgeway v. Ft. Worth (Tex. Civ. App.) 243 S. W. 740; Lucus v. Futrall, 84 Ark. 540, 106 S. W. 667; Dullan v. Willson, 53 Mich. 393, 19 N. W. 112; State v. Burnquist, 141 Minn. 308, 170 N. W. 201; McMillan v. Bullock (S. C.) 31 S. E. 860; Commonwealth ex rel. Woodruff, Atty. Gen., v. Benn (Pa.) 131 Atl. 253; In re Snyder’s Case (Pa.) 152 Atl. 33; State v. Gravolet (La.) 123 So. 111.

In Ex parte Lehman, supra, the court held that, where the Constitution and statutes prescribe a'method for the removal of officers, those methods are exclusive of all others. Lucus v.

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Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 84, 29 P.2d 579, 167 Okla. 321, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 495, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-murray-v-bozarth-okla-1934.