The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-19
MONTGOMERY CONFESS
LEGAL OPINION AS TO sUPERIN.
 PENDENT OF EDUCATION.
Attorney General Holds That MT. Cov- fngton Must Institute Quo Warrnnto Proceedings to
 Secure His once.

Attorney General Massey Wilson gave
 a formal opinion yesterday which will
 guide State Superintendent of Educa-
 ton I. w. Hill in possible contests be-
 tween outgoing and incoming county
 superitnendents regarding the success sion of offices.
 The purport of the opinion is paral-
 Tel with that given in the case of Pro-
 bate Judges, which says that the men
 elected November 8 shall go Into of flee as soon as they can qualify this year.
 The opinion was especially welcomed at this time by Superintendent Hill as a relief in transaction pending be- tween him and County Superintendent J. A. Thompson. of Montgomery Coun- ty, who on November Is presented his monthly pay roll for approval State Auditor Sowell refused to issue the warrant to cover the payroll without a favorable opinion from the Attorney General. This opinion was sought and 1t was announced yesterday.
 Under the opinion. Superintendent Hill will transact the regular business with the incumbent superintendents of counties until all contests which may arise are settled in the courts.
 The only contest known as yetNis in Montgomery County. 2 Superintendent Thompson refuses to surrender bis of-
 ice to c. W. Covington. who was elect ed to succeed him. MT. Covington hes received his commission from the Sec Hretary of State, but has not yet gone into of1ice and may be forced to insti- tute quo warranto proceedings to oust the present incumbent.
 Superintendent Thompson says that he does not wish to appear arbitrary n~. aA~ N IA A s~ qduty to hold over until October i, 1905, under the statute regulating elections Besides.l he claimsy the coming in of Superintendent-elect Covington would break abruptly on the school term and his books and papers would be chaos to tho, Incoming officer.
 The opinion of Attorney General Will son Is as follows:
 ITO Hon. I. W. Hill. State Superintend- ent of Education:
 Dear Sir--I think the terms of those of the County Superintendents who are elected and governed by the general law (Section a55l of the Code), expir- ed on the first day of October of this year, and that successors who were elected at the November election of the present year are entitled to their of- fees as soon as they qualify. sTf the incumbents do not surrender the offices. I think 1t will be neces-
 sary for their successors to take such legal steps as may be required to ob- tain possession of the of1ces. and of the books and papers pertaining there- to. Without possession of these 1t will
 be impossible for the newly elected of- ficers to discharge the duties of the
 offices. and in the meantime. Gin order
 that the public business may not suf- fer), I think you may properly con-
 tinue to transact the necessary busi-
 ness of the offices through the incumb- | ents. They are at least defacto off cers, and their acts as such will doubt
 less be valid so far as the public is lconcerned.
 Very respectfully, Massey L. Wilson, Attorney General" MT. Covington has not taken any steps to secure the office from MT. Thompson.