Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/130/335/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 05:56:06+00:00

Document:
Under §§ 823 and 839 of the Revised Statutes, the clerk of a district court in the Territory of Utah is not entitled, for his personal compensation, over and above office expenses, to more than $3,500 a year.
This view is not affected by the provisions of § 7 of the Act of June 23, 1874, c. 469, 18 Stat. 253, or those of § 1883 of the Revised Statutes.
This is an action at law brought by the United States in the District Court of the Third Judicial District, Territory of Utah, upon the official bond of Oscar J. Averill, as Clerk of the Third Judicial District Court of the Territory of Utah, on which the other defendants were sureties, to recover the sum of $5,253.33, being an alleged surplus of fees and emoluments received by the said Averill as clerk between August 5, 1879, and December 31, 1883, in excess of the amounts which he was entitled to retain for his personal services, and the reasonable and necessary expenses of his office during that period, and for which it was claimed he was bound to account to the United States. The cause was heard in the district court upon a general demurrer to the complaint, on which judgment was rendered for the defendants. The judgment of the district court was affirmed on appeal by the supreme court of the territory. To reverse that judgment, the United States prosecute this appeal.
"That in lieu of the compensation now allowed by law to attorneys, solicitors, and proctors in the United States courts, to United States district attorneys, clerks of the district and circuit courts, marshals, witnesses, jurors, commissioners, and printers, in the several states, the following and no other compensation shall be taxed and allowed."
"And no clerk of a district court or clerk of a circuit court shall be allowed by the said Secretary [the Secretary of the Interior] to retain of the fees and emoluments of his said office, or, in case both of the said clerkships shall be held by the same person, of the said offices, for his own personal compensation, over and above the necessary expenses of his office, and necessary clerk hire included, also to be audited and allowed by the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, a sum exceeding three thousand five hundred dollars per year, for any such district clerk, or circuit clerk, or at and after that rate for such time as he shall hold the office."
These provisions did not apply to the clerks of the territorial courts.
"making appropriations for the civil and diplomatic expenses of government for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, and for other purposes,"
this clause to take effect from and after the date of said act, and the accounting officers will settle the accounts within its purview accordingly."
"That in lieu of the compensation now allowed by law to attorneys, solicitors, and proctors in the United States courts, to United States district attorneys, clerks of the district and circuit courts, marshals, witnesses, jurors, commissioners, and printers, in the several states and in the territories of the United States, the following and no other compensation shall be taxed and allowed."
accounting officers were required to settle "accordingly," necessarily included accounts for the compensation of the clerks of the district courts of the Territory of Utah, which were to be settled according to the requirements of § 3 of the act 1853.
"The following and no other compensation shall be taxed and allowed to attorneys, solicitors, and proctors in the courts of the United States, to district attorneys, clerks of the circuit and district courts, marshals, commissioners, witnesses, jurors, and printers in the several states and territories, except in cases otherwise expressly provided by law."
"No clerk of a district court or clerk of a circuit court shall be allowed by the Attorney General, except as provided in the next section, and in section eight hundred and forty-two, to retain of the fees and emoluments of his office, or, in case both of the said clerkships are held by the same person, of the fees and emoluments of the said offices, respectively, for his personal compensation, over and above his necessary office expenses, including necessary clerk hire, to be audited and allowed by the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, a sum exceeding three thousand five hundred dollars a year for any such district clerk, or for any such circuit clerk, or exceeding that rate for any time less than a year."
the accounts of the officers of courts in place of the Secretary of the Interior. The exceptions contained in § 840 have reference to the clerks of the circuit and district courts in California, Oregon, and Nevada, who are authorized to retain, for their personal compensation, out of fees received, not exceeding $7,000 a year. Section 842 grants additional compensation to clerks and marshals for special services in prize causes.
We think that section§ 823 and 839 must have the same construction that §§ 1 and 3 of the act of 1853 were required to have, after the enactment of the act of 1855, and that they apply to the allowance for compensation to the clerks of district courts in the Territory of Utah. There is no indication in the language of those sections of the Revised Statutes of any intention to change the meaning of §§ 1 and 3 of the act of 1853, as modified by the act of 1855, as such meaning stood on the 1st of December, 1873. In the absence of such indication, §§ 823 and 839 of the Revised Statutes must be accepted as the law on the subjects which they embrace as it existed on the 1st of December, 1873. United States v. Bowen, 100 U. S. 508; Cambria Iron Co. v. Ashburn, 118 U. S. 54, 118 U. S. 57.
by him above said amount shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States."
We do not perceive that this section changes the law as it then existed in the particular in question. There is no express repeal of the provision of the act of 1855, nor anything inconsistent with it. The act of 1853 -- that is, the entire act -- is extended over and made to apply to "the fees of like officers in said Territory of Utah" -- that is, to "the fees and costs to be allowed clerks, marshals, and attorneys" in the district courts in Utah, subject to the special provision of § 7 as to the compensation of the district attorney. The allowance of fees covers the allowance of compensation to be retained out of fees in the settlement of accounts by the accounting officers of the Treasury. At the most, this legislation was redundant so far as the compensation of the clerks of the district courts in Utah was concerned.
"The fees and costs to be allowed to the United States attorneys and marshals, to clerks of the supreme and district courts, and to jurors, witnesses, commissioners, and printers in the territories of the United States, shall be the same for similar services by such persons as prescribed in chapter sixteen, title 'The Judiciary,' and no other compensation shall be taxed or allowed."
to be retained by clerks of the district courts in Utah for personal compensation than is by the provisions of chapter 16 of the title mentioned prescribed to be allowed to be retained by the clerks of the district courts named in § 839 for personal compensation. Section 1883 is in the same language in both editions of the Revised Statutes, but in the second edition, a marginal reference is made to § 7 of the Act of June 23, 1874, hereinbefore quoted, passed after the Revised Statutes were enacted.
The judgment of the supreme court of the Territory of Utah is reversed, and the case is remanded to that court, with a direction to reverse the judgment of the Third Judicial District court of the Territory of Utah, dismissing the complaint, and to take such further proceedings as may be conformable to law, and not inconsistent with the opinion of this Court.
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE FULLER, was not a member of the Court when this case was argued, and took no part in its decision.

References: § 7
 § 1883
 § 3
 § 840
 v. 
 v. 
 § 7
 § 839
 § 7