Bisbee daily review., 1911-10-13
PRECINCT OFFICES
 ELECTIONS VOID
Construction Placed By Dep. uty District Attorney
 Fianigan

As considerable interest is being taken in the question or whether jus Eces Of the peace and cOnstables should be elected at the election to be he q on December I2. and uotwith- standing the fact that the governors call did not include any nomination of such officers, the board of super visors at their meeting held on Oc- tober 10 decided 10 place of the bal. lot the names of all those who had filed nominating petitions, a Review reporter called yesterday on the dep uty district attorney. E. J. Fianigan. who had advised t:,e board that the election was unauthorized. for his views on the subject. He said:
 The enabling act requires the con- stiJutional convention to provide by ordinance that in case the constitU. ton should be ratified. and the ter, -itory should be admitted to state hood, an election should be held for the officers Of a full state government, including a governor. members or the legislature, one representative in con gross, and for such other officers as such convention should prescribe. The enabling act further provided that until the admission 10 statehood, and the election and qualification of officers under the provisions Of the constitution. the present territorial and county officers should hold their respective offices.
 Election ordinance No. 2 was passed by the convention 10 carrl put these provisions Of the enabling act, in part. and by section 2 of that ordinance it was provided that al the forthcoming election. officers for the full state government, including all the elective state. county and precinct officers and members Of the legislature provided for lby the con stitutiOn. and a representative in con- gress, should be eected by the pco- pie.
 If now wc turn to the constitution to ascertain what officers were pro yided for. we find there is no provis- ion made for precinct officers except as the same is found in the territorial statutes. which are continued in force, except as they are repuguant to the constitution. The state officers, judges of courts and county officers, as dis tinguished from precinct officers, are expressly provided for in the cOnsti- tuition itself. and an election of such officers called for. but no provision made for justices Of the peace or constables.
 There IS hardly a doubt that this res:lt was not the intention of the members Of the convention. but was due tO an oversight on their part if the construction I place upon it is correct; but there is no way of find ing out what they meant except by reading what they said. as it is em- bodied in the written law.
 Under our statutes, a clear dis tinction is made between county and precinct officers: the statute defines who sha be county officers and who shall be considered precinct officers and the distinction is recognized in many sections of the law. Therefore any cases from other jurisdictions holding that justice Of the peace or a constable Is a county officer under the law of such state or terri tcry IS not applicable to the situa- sion in this territory because the law says otherwise, and there can be no interpretation contrary to the