Tappy v. State ex rel. Ervin

82 So. 2d 161, 1955 Fla. LEXIS 3888
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 8, 1955
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 82 So. 2d 161 (Tappy v. State ex rel. Ervin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tappy v. State ex rel. Ervin, 82 So. 2d 161, 1955 Fla. LEXIS 3888 (Fla. 1955).

Opinions

SEBRING, Justice.

- The Attorney General of Florida, on the relation of John S. Byington, brought this quo - warranto proceeding to determine whether or not the appellant, Thomas N, Tappy, was entitled to hold- the office of county judge' of Volusia County, Florida. The information in the cause was filed on January 27,-1955. On the return .day Tappy moved to quash the information and with said motion filed his answer. Tappy’s motion to quash the information was denied and on motion of Byington for the entry of a final judgment of ouster notwithstanding the answer a judgment of ouster was entered. Tappy has appealed from the judgment.

The information upon which the judgment was entered contained, in substance, the following averments: The Honorable Dan McCarty, then Governor of Florida, died on September 30, 1953. Upon his death, the powers and duties of the office of Governor devolved upon The Honorable Charley Johns, then holding ‘the office of President of the Florida Senate, until the installation in said office of Governor Le-Roy Collins, who had been elected to the office at the 1954 general election, for the unéxpired portion of the regular term to which the late Governor McCarty had been elected, to wit, for the part of said term beginning January 4, 1955, and ending the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 1957.

. At the 1952 general election Honorable Robert H. Wingfield was elected County [163]*163Judge of Volusia County for the four-year,, term beginning on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 1953. While holding this office, Judge Wingfield was elected, at the 1954 general election, to the office of Circuit Judge.for the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida for. the regular 6-year term beginning on Tuesday, January 4, 1955.

Prior to December 30, 1954, Judge Wing-field duly qualified for the office of circuit judge and thereupon received his commission; and in a letter to Acting Governor Johns, dated December 30, 1954, (stamped as received in the Governor’s office on Monday, January 3, 1955) he notified the Acting Governor that he was resigning his office of County Judge to take effect “as of midnight on [Monday] January 3, 1955.” Thereafter, on January 3, 1955, said letter of resignation was filed in the office of the Secretary of State with the endorsement thereon by Acting Governor Johns that he had accepted the resignation.

Meanwhile, by letter dated December 28, 1954, Acting Governor Johns notified the Secretary of State that he had, as of said date, appointed the appellant, “Thomas N. Tappy, County Judge of Volusia County, to succeed Robert H. Wingfield, until the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 1957, to fill vacancy created by election and qualification of Robert H. Wing-field, to office of Circuit Judge, Seventh Judicial Circuit,” and requested of the Secretary of State that he “prepare the necessary papers and forward the same to” the appellant. As appears from a notation on this letter, the letter was received in thé office of the Secretary of State on December 30, 1954, and the “necessary papers” were immediately sent to the appellant.

On Monday, January 3, 1955, Tappy filed in the office of the Secretary of State his oath of office as said county judge, and a bond, dated January 4, 1955, in the principal amount of $5,000, executed by Tappy as principal and Continental Casualty Company as surety, conditioned that he, Tappy, would faithfully perform the duties of the office. Endorsed on the bond was a notation by the Comptroller of Florida, • “Approved as to surety and amount, Jan. 3, 1955, C. M. Gay, Comptroller. Attention is called to the fact that the bond has not been approved by County Commissioners.”

On January 3, 1955, there was issued to Tappy a commission signed by Charley E. Johns, as Acting Governor of Florida, and attested by R. A.. Gray as Secretary of State, reciting his appointment as County Judge of Volusia County for the period from midnight of Monday, January 3, 1955, to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 1957. Thereafter,, on January 18, 1955, Tappy filed in the office of the Secretary of State another bond dated January 4, 1955, which bore the notation “Duplicate” and was stamped “Jan. 3, 1955,-Secretary of State, Tallahassee, Fla.” . This bond bore the written .approval of the Chairman and members of the Board of County Commissioners of Volusia County, and of C. M. Gay, Comptroller of the State of Florida. '

After Governor Collins took office on Tuesday, January 4, 1955, he notified the Secretary of State, in writing, dated January 10, .1955, that he had, as of January 10, 1955, appointed “John S. Byington, County Judge of Volusia County, succeeding Robert H. Wingfield, until the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, 1957, to fill the vacancy created by the election and qualification of Robert H. Wing-field to the office of Circuit Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit.” Accompanying the notification was a letter directed to .the Secretary of State in which Governor Collins took notice of the prior appointment of Tappy by Acting Governor Johns, and stated, with reference thereto, as follows : • “I take the position that the said office of County Judge has remained and is now vacant notwithstanding the purported appointment and commission issued by the Acting Governor to Mr. Tappy, - because (1) of the want, of authority in the Acting Governor to fill a vacancy commencing during or concurrent with the commencement of my term of office; and (2) due to the fact that the official bond of the said Thomas N. Tappy was not approved by the [164]*164Board of County Commissioners for Vo-lusia County, Florida, as required by Section 7, Article VIII, of the State Constitution [F.S.A.], prior to the issuance of the commission to him by the Acting Govern- or.”

On January 17, 1955, John S. Byington filed in the office of the Secretary of State his oath of office as County Judge of Vo-lusia County, a loyalty oath executed pursuant to the provisions of Section 876.05 to 876.10, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., and a properly executed surety bond’in the principal amount of $5,000, dated' January 13, 1955, upon which was endorsed the written approval of the State Comptroller and the Board of County Commissioners of Volusia County. On the same day a commission was issued to John S. Byington reciting his appointment to the office as of January 17, 1955.

Upon these allegations of the .information it was charged by the Attorney General that the commission issued to Tappy by Acting Governor Johns was invalid and of no effect, and vested no right in Tappy to the office of County Judge for the period stated therein, for the reasons: “(a) that no vacancy existed in the said office of County Judge until [Tuesday] January 4, 1955; that the exercise of the powers and discharge of the duties of the office of Governor by Acting Governor Johns terminated on January 4, 1955, upon installation to, and assumption of duties by, Governor Collins of that office; that while Governor Collins was not installed in, and did not assume the duties of his said office until approximately noon, January 4, 1955, the official unexpired term to which he was elected commenced immediately after midnight, January 3, 1955; that the vacancy in said office of County Judge and the term of office of Governor Collins commenced simultaneously, and the power to fill said vacancy was not vested in Acting Governor Johns but was vested in Governor Collins.

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Bluebook (online)
82 So. 2d 161, 1955 Fla. LEXIS 3888, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tappy-v-state-ex-rel-ervin-fla-1955.