The record-union., 1896-08-14
County and Township Officers.

Eds Record Union: The recent Re
publican County Convention held in
this city has nominated full county
ticket except candidates for the offices
of Assessor and School Superintendent.
The writer has been honored with the
nomination of Justice of the Peace of
Sacramento Township. It is owing to
the latter circumstance that I have
looked up the law in the premises and
have found as follows: Up to the year
1898 all county and township officers,
except Supervisors, Assessors and
School Superintendents, were elected
every two years. In 1893 the Legisla-
ture passed an Act to establish a uni
form system of county and township
governments, in which Section 81 emu
merates the county officers and Section
5S the township officers, whose tenure
of office is established by Section 60,
which says that ''all elective county
and township officers" except those
otherwise provided in the Act, shall be
elected at the general election to be
held in November, 1894, and every four
years thereafter
Section 40, relating to counties of the
eighth class subdivision 26) says that
1.-The officers mentioned in Section ST.
except Supervisors, Assessors and
School superintendent, shall be
elected every two years." 1t is this ex-
ception made for the counties Of the
eighth class that is supposed to destroy
the uniformity of the governments, and
is therefore unconstitutional, but as it
relates only to offices mentioned in Sec
tion 81, which enumerates county Off
GERS only, the uniformity of township
offices is in no way affected by it, con-
sequently their tenure of office as estab-
hshed by Section 60, namely, four
years, remains in force.
On the other hand, it is doubtful as
to whether or not the exception of uni
formity created by Section ITO invali-
dates the two-year term for the eighth
class only or the whole of Section go.
which creates the tenure of office In
the one ease, all counties would have
the four-year tenure; in the other, the
two-year term, which was the rule up
to 1893, would still be in force
Section oS, after enumerating the
township officers, provides that in town
ships containing cities in which City
justices are elected there shall be but
one Justice of the Peace. This is the
case in this city, and the question
arises as to whether or not the election
and tenure of office Of our City Justice
are to be controlled by the Act Of the
Legislature referred to, or by the Po-
litical Code and statutes enacted on the
subject. The language of the Act above
mentioned, saying that ''but one Jus
tice Of the Peace shall be elected" In
my judgment, entirely eliminates the
office of the City Justice from its con-
troll and leaves the control with the Po-
Htlcal Code, namely, the tenure of Of
nee not to exceed two years.
In conclusion, 1 will say that the Of
fee of City Justice is a municipal one.
and the question as to whether the
election may be held by the township or
the city is still an open one, the Su-
preme Court, in the case of the people
vs.. Henry, in 1881, having failed to
hnally pass upon it for the reason that
the Police Judge, having already been
installed in Office, ought not to be dis
turbed." NJ. S. WAHRHAETTc