Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-05-05
Attorney General Standish Formu-
lates An Opinion Regarding the
Present Law.
A Lengthy Article Detailing the
Status of the North Dakota
Fair Exhibit.
Another Convict Tireing of Re
straint Makes Good Hi Escape
From the Bastile,

district judges is constitutional, and in
support thereof he has rendered the fol-
lowing communication, which has been
filed with the state auditor:
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA,
ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE.
Arthur W. Porter,
Auditor, State of North Dakota.
DEAR SIR: In respect to your inquiry
as to the constitutionality Of the act of
our last legislature, fixing the salaries
ofthe district judges at $500 per annum,
I have to say that I believe the same
valid.
While We were a territory our district
judges were appointed by the president,
their salaries fixed by congress and paid
by the federal government. When We
became a state that mode of appoint
ment and the laws of congress fixing the
salaries of our district judges and re-.
quiring the government to pay them
were abrogated.
From that time forth these subjects
became a matter of state legislation and
state control exclusively.
Section SO of the state constitution
reads thus:
The judges of the supreme and district
courts shall receive such compensation for
their services as may be prescribed BY law.
While compensation shall not be increased
or diminished during the term of which
a Judge shall have been elected.
Had this been the only provision in the
constitution in relation to the pay of
our judges, district and supreme, from
the time u constitution went into
effect until our legislature should meet
and fix a definite salary by passing at
statute defining what it was to be.
they would have been acting without
salary.
Seeing the defect that had been made
in section SO of the constitution, the
constitution makers, when they reached
section Is of the schedule to the consti-
tuition made this provision to tenn.
porarily provide for what the salaries of
the supreme court and district court
judges should be-, from the time the
state constitution should go into opera
ton until such time as some state legis-
lature should pass a definite law on the
subject of judges salaries, by making
the following provision in section Is of
the schedule to the constitution, to-wit:
Until other wise provided by law. The
Judges of the supreme court shall receive
tor their services the salary of four
thousand dollars (S4,OOO) per annum. nav
able quarterly. And the district iudpes
snal! receive for their services the salary
OF three thousand dollars (S9S!OOO) per
annum, payable quarterly.
The phrase until otherwise provided
by law means. until otherwise provided
by statute; and both this schedule and
section SO authorized the legislature to
at any time pass a district Judge salary
act, which could definitely fix by statute
the salary that district judges should
receive; whether that salary should he
greater or less than it was to be until
otherwise provided by a statutory enact
ment; but after it had been once so
fixed, it could not be lessened or IN
creased, so as to change the salary for
existing judicial terms of those holding
the office of district Judge at the time the
law should be passed. This being the
first time any statutory enactment has
been passed in this state to fix the
judges salaries, it is within the power
specially delegated, although it makes
that salary greater than the constitu-
ton makers fixed it.
Aside from this the executive, minis.
terial, and judicial branches of the
government are not authorized to hold a
statute to be unconstitutional without
clear evidence that it is go.
w. H.. STAND1sH,
Attorney General.
Fun With Uncle Hiram.