State ex rel. Pogue v. Groom

91 Ohio St. (N.S.) 1
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 15, 1914
DocketNo. 14722
StatusPublished

This text of 91 Ohio St. (N.S.) 1 (State ex rel. Pogue v. Groom) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Pogue v. Groom, 91 Ohio St. (N.S.) 1 (Ohio 1914).

Opinion

Donahue, J.

This cause is submitted to this court on the demurrer of the relator to the answer of the defendant. No demurrer was filed to the petition, but it is now insisted on the part of the defendant that this demurrer to the answer should be sustained for the reason that a member of the county budget commission is not a public officer, and that, therefore, an action in quo warranto will not lie to oust him as a member of that commission. If Section 5649-3&, General Code, in its original form or as amended, does in fact create a new office, then it is in clear violation of the positive provisions of the constitution, in so far as it purports to appoint the-incumbents of that office. Section 27 of Article II of the Constitution provides [5]*5that “No appointing power shall be exercised by the general assembly, except as prescribed in this constitution, and in the election of United States senators; and in these cases the vote shall be taken viva voceIt' is apparent, however, from the language used in Section 5649-3&, General Code, either in its original form, or as amended, that this section does not create or purport to create any new office, but rather imposes additional duties upon the incumbent of existing offices. These duties, however, are official duties in every sense of the word, and if they are by statute attached to the office of prosecuting attorney and the defendant is claiming the right and the authority to discharge these duties and is proceeding to act in that behalf to the exclusion of the prosecuting attorney, he is to that extent usurping the office of prosecuting attorney of the county, and an action in quo warranto will lie to inquire by what authority he claims to exercise the rights and authority of the prosecuting attorney to discharge any or all the duties belonging to that office.

It is true the petition avers that the defendant is usurping the office of member of the budget commission of Hamilton county, Ohio, but it further appears from the petition that he is claiming the right to sit as a member of the budget commission of that county to the exclusion of the prosecuting attorney of the county and to discharge and perform the duties and exercise the authority of the prosecuting attorney in that behalf. It follows that if this defendant is in fact wrongfully and unlawfully intruding himself as a member of the [6]*6county budget commission; if he is wrongfully and unlawfully claiming the right and the authority to discharge these duties and is wrongfully and unlawfully discharging and pretending to discharge the same, he is in fact intruding himself into the office and usurping the powers and authority of the lawful incumbent of that particular office to which these duties attach, regardless of the averments of the petition as to the office he is usurping.

The important question in this case, however, is whether these duties attach by law to the office of prosecuting attorney or to the office of city solicitor of the city of Cincinnati in the county of Hamilton, and this involves the question of the constitutionality of the act of February 16, 1914, entitled “An act to amend Section 5649-3&, of the General Code, as amended April 16, 1913, providing for the time of meeting of the county budget commissions.” It is clear from the facts averred in the answer, and admitted by the demurrer for the purposes of the demurrer, that if this act is constitutional the defendant is entitled to sit as a member of the county budget commission of Hamilton county. If this act is unconstitutional, then, for the same reasons, the act of April 16, 1913, in so far as it purports to amend Section 5649-3&, General Code, is also unconstitutional, and it will be unnecessary in this opinion to refer further to that act, except the repealing clause, which in terms purports to repeal Section 5649-3b, General Code.

The county budget commission is a uniform commission, with uniform duties and authority in each of the counties of the state, yet this amend[7]*7ment does not provide that the several county budget commissions shall be uniformly constituted. On the contrary, in some counties the mayor of the largest municipality within the county, the city solicitor of the same municipality and the county auditor constitute the county budget commission. In other counties, the mayor of the largest municipality within the county, the county auditor and the president of the board of education of the school district containing the largest municipality within the county constitute this commission. This amendment further provides that when the president of that board of education is not an elector, then that board of education shall designate one of its members who is an elector to serve as a member of the county budget commission. No provision whatever is made for the selection of a third member of this commission where no member of the board of education of the school district containing the largest municipality of the county is an elector.

It appears, therefore, that under the provisions of this amendment this uniform county budget commission, possessing uniform authority in each of the several counties of the state, may not only be constituted in three different ways, but in some instances this third member may be designated by persons who are not electors of the state, and under some circumstances no third member of this commission can be chosen at all.

It may be claimed that the general assembly has the right to make this classification of counties upon the basis of urban and city population, but such a classification with reference to a board or [8]*8commission charged with the performance of uniform duties and clothed with uniform authority in each of the several counties of the state, regardless of the proportion of city and urban population, would be a mere arbitrary classification that cannot be permitted under our constitution.

Even if such a classification were proper, it is conceded that the duties of this commission are official duties. Therefore, they must be performed by an officer legally elected or appointed to the office to which these duties attach. It is hardly necessary to say that the designation of a person to sit as a member of this commission by persons not electors of this state would not be a legal appointment, even if under our constitution the office to which these duties attach were an appointive one.

It is also possible under the laws of this state that no member of the board of education of the school district containing the largest municipality of the county would be an elector. In such event this amendment provides no possible way for the selection of a third member of the budget commission, and for this reason also this law would not have uniform operation throughout the state. It is true that such a contingencjr is not probable, but in testing the constitutionality of the law we are dealing not with the probabilities but the possibilities that may arise in the course of its operation, and we cannot overlook the provisions of other statutes of our state under which conditions might lawfully arise that would prevent the uniform operation of the law in question.

[9]*9It is contended further on the part of the relator that Section 5649-3&, as amended April 16, 1913 (103 O. L., 552), and as amended February 16, 1914 (104 O.

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Bluebook (online)
91 Ohio St. (N.S.) 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-pogue-v-groom-ohio-1914.