Case Name: SWOPE VS. ADAMS COUNTY
Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Decision Date: 1874-05-11
Citations: 2 Walk. 498
Docket Number: No. 41
Parties: SWOPE VS. ADAMS COUNTY.
Judges: 
Reporter: Reports of cases decided by the supreme court of pennsylvania which have been omitted from the regular reports
Volume: 2
Pages: 498–499

Head Matter:
SWOPE VS. ADAMS COUNTY.
A County is not obliged to furnish fuel to heat the offices of the Recorder and Register.
Error to Common Pleas of Adams County. No. 41 May Term, 1874.
'Samuel Swope was elected Register and Recorder of Adams County in 1869, and entered upon the duties of his office. During the winters of his term he used coal from a quantity provided by the County Commissioners. The County afterward brought suit for the value thereof, and the Court instructed. the jury that the County was not bound to furnish heat for his office in the Court House. Verdict for the County for $46. Swope then took a writ of error, complaining of the refusal of the Court •to instruct the jury that the County was bound to furnish heat, &c.
David Wills, Esq., for plaintiff in error,
cited Act April 15, 1834, Sect. 11, P. Laws 539.
Wm. McClean, Esq., contra,
argued that the Commissioners were only required to keep the County buildings in good order .and repair ; but were not required to keep the offices warm.

Opinion:
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Common Pleas on May 11th, 1874, in the following opinion:
Per Curiam.
'The right'of the County officers to require fuel to be furnished to their offices by the County was decided in the case of Lyon vs. Adams, 4 S. & R. 443. C. J. Tilghman held, under the Act of March 27,1790, 2 Smith's Laws 520, that these officers were not entitled to the expenses which are simply incidental to the office and not to the building. Fuel is not within the meaning of that Act or the Act of April 15, 1834, P. Laws 539, which provides that the Commissioners of the County shall keep and maintain the public buildings in suitable and convenient order .and repair. Fuel is essential to the comfort of the officer, not to the building.
Judgment affirmed.