Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-03-13

+ The following is the legal opinion Of the AT
.torney for the Corporation respecting the time
at which the newly elected municipal officers
assume the duties and responsibilities Of their
respective Offices +. s s5. &.a 4..s-
To Hon. HUGH LATHAM, r5.4. Is E.
Mayor of Alerand11a g.
SIR In answer to the question, ~ hen do
the terms of the newly elected Corporation
Officers begin?" / respectfully submit that
section 4, of the Charter Of 1866, declares that
an election for members Of the Common Coun-
Gil shall be held on the first Tuesday OF March
in every year; andsl section: IA of the sane
Charter, it is provided that the Mayor shall be
annually elected by the qualified voters, 1T the
times and places, and in the manner that mem
bers of the Council are elected By sectionl7,
of the same Charter, it is ordered that the cleo
ton Of such other Corporation officers as areto
be chosen by the people, to wit : Auditor,
Guager, Collectors of Taxes, Superintendent of
Gas Works, &c, shall be at the times and
places and in the manner that the Mayor is
elected. Section 8, Of the Charter of 1866, as
we'll as section 9, of the Charter OF 1852, con-
fers upon the City Council the right to require
any officer, before entering upon the duties Of
his Office, to give bond and security, in per-
atty to be fixed by the City Council, for the
faithful discharge of his duties, and by virtue
of this authority the City Council, on March
18th, 1855, passed the act, requiring certain cf
the Corporation officers to submit such bonds
Joint Committee of the City Council, on FL
@nauce and Salaries, for thci, approval and &C
ceptance Section II, Of the Charter of 1866,
also provides, that in case Of the death, resig-
nation, DC, Of any such officer, or in case of
any person so elected refusing to give the re-
quired bond, &c, that then such vacancy shall
be flied by the City Council until the next an
nuai election,
From these extracts conclude, with refer
ence TO officers mentioned in section s. of The
Charter Of 1866, vino ire required by the said
act of March 18th, 1855, to give bon6s aud Sc
curity before entering upon their duties, lh3t
their terms of service and salaries commence at
the time sach bonds are accepted by the proper
committee, and continue untl their successors
shall have been qualiiod, according to law, to
take their places and thatlhe terms ofservicc
and salaries of such officers as are not required
to give bond or perform any other act before
entering upon the discharge of their duties,
commence from the time of their election and
continue until their successors are chosen.
power, without restriction, to appoint and re-
move all officers of the Corporation, whoseelec-
ton is not otherwiseT provided fer, such as the
Keeper of the Poor's House, Harbor Master,
&c is conferred upon the City Council, and by
the same section it is declared that each bra nch
OF the City Council shall have power to appoint
aud remove its own President, Clerk and Mes
sengar without restriction also.
30 With reference TO the officers appointed BY
the City Council in 1865, under the powers
conferred by the Charter OF that year, it only
remains to be said, that their terms of service
must certainly expire Immediately upon the
election and qualification of their successors, for
the reason tha, the Legislature has, as it had
well adjudicated right to do, repealed the Char
ter and the laws under which they were ap-
pointed, and directed in the Charter Of 1866,
that on the first Tuesday in March, 1866, per-
sors shall be elected by the people, to fill the
very Offices which they hold
II the Legislature, has the right to repeal or
a;roeate the Chatter, it certainly has the hight
that Charter. And when by Legislative en-
actment municipal Charter is repealed, IN toto,
all Offices created by such Charter, or in conse-
quence Of powers therein granted, are instant
" vacated and this is true, also, with reference
to such Offices as are reached by partial repeal.
When, therefore, that portion of the Charter
OF 1865 which conferred uponCpuiUii Nc right
to appoint certain officers was repealed, and
supplantcd by that portion Of the Charter Of
1866, which requires such officers TO be elected
on the first Tuesday 10 March Of every Yearly
toe people, though the Offices themselves were
not thereby vacated or abolished, yet he ten
ures thereof were reduced or enlarged to cor
respond with the strictly construed letter and
Intention OF the Charter Of 1866, which | coz
ceiye TO De- that the officers elected by the peo
pie each year, on the first Tuesday, in March,
shall commence their holding from the time Of
their qualification, and conclude their holdiag
upon the qualification Of their successors.
Very Respectfully, 60. D. L. SHOOT, p.
Mar 10, 1866. Atty for Corpn.