The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1889-01-22
SUPREME COURT
OF TIE STATE OF FLORIDA.

SUPREME COURT
OF TIE STATE OF FLORIDA
TALLAHASSEE, Fla, January Is, 1899 !
To lion. Fr0ncis p. Fleming, G0cernor Of tile
State Of F2orida:
SIR We have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt Of your communication of the 18th inst
GOu state that certain persons who were elected
to county offices at the general election held en-
the 9th day of November last, have failed to
give bond and qualify within sixty days after
such election, and thereby such offices have be-
come vacant, and you ask our interpre alton of
the Constitution to the power of the Gov
ernOr to ill by appOln mcnt such or other va
cancies that may OccurGn elective county Offices
and il 50, Tor what time the appointment should
be made
Considering Section 6 of Article VIII, and
Sections 8 and 10 of Article XVIII, together it
is plain that the first election OF the following
county officers, viz Clerk Of the Circuit Court
Sheriff, Consabes County Assessor of Taxes
Tax Collector, County Treasurer, Superintendent
OF Public Instruction, and County Surveyor and
Justices of the Pc .ce, and all elective county
officers, was to take place on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in November A. D., 1888
BY Section IA OF Article XVIII it is provided
that 1.-The terms of office of all county officers
unless otherwise provided, shall commence on
the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Janu-
ary next after their election"
The elective county officers. chosen at the
election in November last, haye not been ex-
cepted from The provisions of the last section as
to the commencement of the terms for which
they were elected
requires that all county officers. except Assist
ant Assessors OF Taxes, shall, before entering up
the duties OF their respective Offices, be COM
missiOned by the Governor, but provides that no
such commission shall issue to any such officer
until he shall have filed with the Secretary of
ooI o,ol,o
and upon such conditions as the Legislature
shall by law prescribe, approved by the County
Commissioner OF the county in which such Off
Ger resides and by the Comptroller The last
Legislature passed an act. chapter 1924 Laws of
1897, approved June 2, 1887, prescribing the
sums and conditions of the bonds to be given
bv such officers. The bove section OF the Con-
stituton also provides as follows: If any per-
son elected or appointed 10 any county Office
shall fail to give bond and quality within sixty
days after his election. the said office shall be-
come vacant"
The question of your power to fill vacancies
Occasioned by the allure OF persons elected to
county offices TO give bond and qualify within
the sixty days just mentioned, involves a cOnsd-
Grafton of several sections o! the Constitution.
Sections 6, and 8 of the schedule, or eighteenth
article, are rs follows:
Section 6. The term of office for all appoint
ees to fill vacancies in any of the elective offices
election and qualification OF successor at the
ensuing general election.
Section T. In all cases of elections to fill
vacancies in office such election shall be tor the
uneXpred term.
Section g. A general election shall be he'd in
each county in this State on the first TneSdtv
after the first Monday in November, A ID. 1898,
and every two years thereafter, for all elective
State and county officers, whose terms of office
are about to expire, or for any Office that shall
have become vacant.
Thee three sections cover vacancies in elect
i've county Offices and vacancy OF the charar-
ter specified by you must in view Of Section Z, OF
Article VIII, supra, be held in be within
their meaning Considering Sections and
Z of the schedule together, we see that
the former conempaies the nlllng OF
vacancy by Appointment and The latier by
an election. Though the word dppolntees
may sometimes include in its Specification any
person elected or designated by popular volc
for Office, such construction OF 1t IN the
connection in which it is presented here is, we
think, un,enable. If such had been the sense
in or purpose for which it was used, there
would have been no necessity for the next or sew
enh section. Again. the latter section shows an
express intention that any person elected to fill a
vacancy shall hold for the balance O the uneX
pired term whereas the former section is equally
explicit in providing that one appointed to the
vacancy shall hold only to The qnalifica-
general election to fill the remainder of such
vacancy Ii we should give to the word appoint
ees, rs used in the sixth section, n Specification
including persons chosen AT popular election,
we would be net with the anomaly that by
this section of the Constitution it is provided
that person elected to vacancy in an elective
office shall hold for one period OF time, whereas
bv the seventh section he is 10 hold for an en-
tirely different period
Our understanding Of these two sections,
as applicable to elective county offices,
is that when vacancy occurs in any
of them, an appointment to NIL such va
cancy may be made by the Governor. and that
such appOntee holds until the qualification of
the person who may be chosen at the ensuing
general election to fill the residue of the term,
cfter such election.
That this is the correct Interpretation is made
more apparent by the ninth section, in providing
that general election shall be held on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November
and every two years thereafter, for. among