Taylor v. Johnson

172 Ohio St. (N.S.) 394
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 12, 1961
DocketNo. 36724
StatusPublished

This text of 172 Ohio St. (N.S.) 394 (Taylor v. Johnson) 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
Taylor v. Johnson, 172 Ohio St. (N.S.) 394 (Ohio 1961).

Opinion

O’Neill, J.

The initial question presented here is: Did the mayor have a right of appeal to the Court of Appeals from the judgment entered in the Common Pleas Court reinstating Taylor as chief of police of the city of Eastlake?

Taylor asserts the following two grounds for his position that the mayor had no right of appeal: (1) Section 119.12, Revised Code, which is part of the Administrative Procedure Act, is applicable to this case, and, therefore, the civil service commission had the exclusive right to appeal in this case; (2) even if the mayor had the right to appeal under the Appellate Procedure Act, the mayor was not a litigant or a party to the case in the Common Pleas Court and, therefore, had no right of appeal.

Taylor cites Owens v. Ackerman, Safety Dir., 72 Ohio Law Abs., 552, 136 N. E. (2d), 93, in support of his contention that the Administrative Procedure Act is applicable to this appeal.

This court does not agree with the contention of Taylor that Section 119.12, Revised Code, is applicable to this appeal. Section 119.01, Revised Code, defines the agencies to which Section 119.12 is applicable. Reference is made in Section 119.01 to the civil service commission, but a careful reading of both sections makes it clear that this reference is to the state Civil Service Commission and not to a municipal civil service commission.

The case of Gray, Mayor, v. State, ex rel. Putnam, Chief [396]*396of Police, 24 Ohio App., 445, 157 N. E., 905, decided May 4, 1927, which was prior to the enactment of the Administrative Procedure Act, succinctly states the rule of law which this court believes to be controlling in this case and articulately sets forth the reasoning and public policy supporting such rule.

The question litigated in that case was whether the mayor of the city had the right to appeal from the judgment of the Common Pleas Court reinstating the chief of police who had been removed by the mayor. The chief of police took the position that the mayor had no authority to prosecute error from the judgment of the Common Pleas Court. The chief of police relied upon Grall, Mayor, v. King, 14 Ohio App., 88, where it was held that a mayor who had removed a chief of police was not a party to an action on appeal to the Common Pleas Court and could not prosecute error proceedings from the judgment of that court restoring the chief to his office. The view of the Court of Appeals was that the only parties in interest were the city and the officer whose office was in question, and that error proceedings could not be prosecuted in the name of the city unless authorized by the city council.

Judge Mauck of the Fourth District Court of Appeals, in discussing the Grail case, in his opinion said:

“If this position is sound, it leads to an undesirable result. The executive department of the municipal government is alone concerned with the appointment and removal of the chief of police. The responsibility for the chief’s conduct must be borne alone by that department, and particularly by the mayor, the chief executive of the city. It would be unfortunate if the judgment of the Common Pleas Court, determining and fixing executive powers, duties, and responsibilities, could be reviewed only by authority of the council that is charged with no responsibility in the premises. If, as is conceivable, the judgment of the Common Pleas Court in any case is erroneous, the result would be that the chief of police would be fastened upon the executive department of the city by the legislative branch of the municipal government, and the chief would be beholden for continued tenure in office, not to the mayor, but to the city council. So anomalous a situation ought not be tolerated unless the law clearly requires it.

[397]*397“It is true that the case on appeal in the common pleas is the same proceeding that was heard before the civil service commission, and that the proceeding before the civil service commission was, in effect, a review of the propriety of the mayor’s action in removing the chief of police. The fact, however, that an administrative officer or body first hears the matter that is subsequently appealed to a judicial tribunal, does not prevent the officer or body first acting in the matter from becoming an actual party to the proceeding on appeal in the courts. Indeed, the rule seems to be that the original administrative officer or body does, of necessity, become a party to the appellate proceedings.”

The judgment of the Common Pleas Court in the Gray case included the following:

“That said Eolio G. Putnam be, and he hereby is, reinstated and restored to said office of chief of police of said city of Marietta, Ohio, and to all things he has lost by reason of such removal; and said John W. Gray, as mayor of said city, and said city of Marietta, Ohio, are each and both hereby ordered and directed to permit said Eolio G. Putnam to immediately enter upon and perform the duties of said office of chief of police of said city of Marietta, Ohio.”

Of this order, Judge Mauck had this to say in his opinion:

“If the common pleas had authority to enter the foregoing specific order against Mr. Gray, as mayor, it was clearly such a final order as would enable Mr. Gray to prosecute error thereto. It is argued, however, that the common pleas had no jurisdiction to make any further finding than that no sufficient grounds existed for the removal of the chief of police, and that in so far as the entry undertook to impose an order upon the mayor it was surplusage and void. Conceding, however, that the express order against the mayor is void, the judgment determining that Putnam was entitled to the office carried with it an implied order quite as broad in its implications as the express order above quoted. The judgment that no sufficient grounds existed for the removal of the chief of police as effectively circumscribed the mayor’s future official action as the express order above quoted could have done. It was, in effect, a requirement that the mayor restore to Putnam the insignia [398]*398of Ms office, that he issue police orders through him, and that he co-operate with him in the conduct of police affairs. It was also, in effect, an injunction against his appointing another to fill the office of the cMef of police. It may be true that the judgment now sought to be reviewed is not such a judgment as would support a proceeding iii contempt of court if the mayor should ignore the same, but it at least constitutes a predicate for an action in mandamus, to which the mayor would have no defense, and consequently effectively and finally controls Ms official action.

“We therefore conclude that because the judgment of the common pleas does affect the official conduct of the mayor he has a right in his official capacity to have reviewed in this court the judgment that so affects him.” (Emphasis supplied.)

The syllabus of the Gray case, which states the applicable rule of law, is as follows:

“1. Executive department of municipal government is alone concerned with appointment and removal of chief of police, and must bear responsibility for chief’s conduct.

“2.

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Related

Gray v. State, Ex Rel. Putnam
157 N.E. 905 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1927)
Ohio Contract Carriers Ass'n v. Public Utilities Commission
42 N.E.2d 758 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1942)
Kearns v. Sherrill
30 N.E.2d 805 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1940)
Landrey v. Harmon
5 Ohio App. 217 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1916)
Grall v. King
14 Ohio App. 88 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1921)
Owens v. Ackerman
136 N.E.2d 93 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1955)
Smith v. Mayfield Heights
108 N.E.2d 861 (Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
172 Ohio St. (N.S.) 394, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-johnson-ohio-1961.