Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-03-02
Dorothy Gets
Janitorship
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS VICTOR.
lous IN HEARING HELD AT Al.
HlATopAv

The Wapello county board Of super.
visors and the newly appointed jani-
TOR OF the court house, @. H. Dorothy,
We're the victors in the first round of
the partnership fight when Judge c.
{ w. Vermilion decided in their favor
this morning in the hearing held at
Abba.
The hearing was on the objections
Med by the board to the motions for
restraining order preventing the re-
n1oval Of Kitterman tomorrow morn
Ing, and for a writ of certiorari. Judge
Vermilion sustained the objections
and overruled the demurrer fled by
the plaintiffs to the answer Of the
board,
The effect OF this ruling by the court
Will be to remove Kitterman from Of
noe and place Dorothy in his position.
Tomorrow morning Kitterman will
turn over his keys and Dorothy will
become the janitor of the Wapello
county court house.
There Is a probability that the case
VIII be appealed to the supreme court.
The attorneys for the various par
ties In the controversy and the other
who attended the hearing at Abba
this morning returned on Burlington
No. 6 this afternoon. The party in.
cluded Dorothy and Kitterman., Attor-
neys Lewis. Whitemore, and Cornell,
and Supervisors Wilson anu Reinier.
When asked for statement this
afternoon Attorney Whitemore said:
The statute provides in effect that
after an old soldier Of the civil war Is
once appointed to position in the
public works in the state of Iowa, and
OF the counties. cities and towns there
Of. he shall not be removed except for
lncompetency or misconduct shown af-
Ter g. hearing upon due notice, upon
stated charges, and with the right Of
such employe or appointee to review
by writ of certiorari.'
The board of supervisors and other
defendants contended that because Mr..
kittermai1 was appointed to the posi-
ton Of janitor for the period of one
year from March /, 1906. his term of
ofhce therefore expired with the end of
that year and the board consequently
was not removing him when they plac-
ed another in his position.
BY demurrer to the showing of de-
Tend lnts Mr.. Kitternnan contended that
the public officers could not circumyent
the provisions Of the statute by limit
! ing the term Of office; that the legis-
Nature fixed the only grounds for oust-
ing the old soldier as being alone his
or misconduct, and did
Ehot authorize his removal because his
Nappointed term Of Office had expired,
and that because the board did not seek
TO Justify the change in appointees by
making any claim that Mr.. Kitterman
was incompetent or guilty Of miscon-
duct he therefore by virtue of the pro-
visions Of the statute could not be re-
moved, citing three New Jersey cases
under q somewhat similar law where
tho courts In each Of the three cases
held one thus appointed as janitor Of
county court house could not be re-
moved simply because the term for
which he was appointed had expired
where the law did not regulate such
term, and there was no resolution or
bylaw Of the board fixing the term B
BY overruling Mr.. Kitterman's de-
mufrer to the answer of the defendants
Judge Vernilion in effect held that
Whore an old soldier was appointed to
sa position In the public service for q
sstated, time, although the term Of suoi,
ipHce was not regulated by law, the
authorities could at the end of such
slime employ another person for the
place regardless of the act, and without
making any charges against the old
soldier or giving him hearing and
that this did not constitute removal.
The case will probably be appealed
to the supreme court Immediately,
Attorney John w. Lewis, special
counsel for Dorothy, made q similar
statement this afternoon. County At
sitorney Seneca Cornell represented the
SS,nard at the hearing