Opinion ID: 2322364
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Doctrine of Incompatibility

Text: Although this decision rests on the explicit prohibition against dual officeholding in the Hopkinton Town Charter, we are well aware that [t]he simultaneous holding of more than one public office has been a traditional subject of public concern. Cummings v. Godin, 119 R.I. 325, 332, 377 A.2d 1071, 1074 (1977). Accordingly, we shall address the impact of the doctrine of incompatibility in this case. This Court previously has recognized the doctrine of incompatibility as the principal common-law concept dealing with officials who hold dual public offices with potentially overlapping duties. [6] See State v. Brown, 5 R.I. 1, 9-11 (1857). The doctrine of incompatibility, still widely accepted today as a viable basis under which an individual may be divested of his or her public office, expressly forbids the holding of incompatible offices. Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 121 R.I. 64, 66-67, 394 A.2d 1355, 1356-57 (1978); Cummings, 119 R.I. at 333, 377 A.2d at 1074; McCabe v. Kane, 101 R.I. 119, 122, 221 A.2d 103, 105 (1966); In re Opinion of the Governor, 67 R.I. 197, 201, 21 A.2d 267, 270 (1941); State ex rel. Metcalf v. Goff, 15 R.I. 505, 506, 9 A. 226, 226 (1887). See also 3 McQuillin, Municipal Corporations § 12.67 at 367 (3d ed. 2001); 5 Stevenson, Antineau on Local Government § 76.05[9] (2d ed. 2007). The primary inquiry in this analysis, whether the positions indeed are incompatible, depends in large part on the particular facts of each case, especially with respect to the functions and duties of the pertinent offices. The doctrine was set out by this Court in Goff more than a century ago, and is two-fold. First, incompatibility does not depend upon the incidents of the offices, as upon physical inability to be engaged in the duties of both at the same time. Goff, 15 R.I. at 506, 9 A. at 226. Secondly, two offices are incompatible if one is subordinate to the other, and subject in some degree to its revisory power; or where the functions of the two offices are inherently inconsistent and repugnant. Id. at 507, 9 A. at 227. See also State v. Lee, 78 N.D. 489, 50 N.W.2d 124, 126 (1951) (Incompatibility of offices exists where there is a conflict in the duties of the offices, so that the performance of the duties of the one interferes with the performance of the duties of the other.). Accordingly, the question of incompatibility is to be determined from the nature of the duties of the two offices, and not from a possibility, or even a probability, that the defendant might duly perform the duties of both. Goff, 15 R.I. at 508, 9 A. at 228 (quoting Brown, 5 R.I. at 11). In its original pronouncement of the rule, this Court explained that the holding of two incompatible offices results in a resignation of the first-acquired office because no person simultaneously can serve the public trust impartially when inconsistent duties and liabilities are involved. Brown, 5 R.I. at 9-10. See also Goff, 15 R.I. at 506, 9 A. at 226 (It is well settled that, when a person accepts an office incompatible with one which he then holds, he thereby impliedly resigns or vacates his former office.); 3 McQuillin, § 12.67 at 367 ([T]he mere acceptance of the second incompatible office per se terminates the first office as effectively as a resignation.). In explaining the premise upon which the rule of implied resignation is based, we stated that the resignation can be thought of as one of election, though not properly one of individual choice. There is no room for an actual election, unless it exists simply in choosing to accept a second, incompatible office. Once that act is done, the law implies an immediate resignation of the prior office, accompanied by a surrender of all claim and title to that office. Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 121 R.I. at 67, 394 at 1357. This rule is designed to serve firm public policy objectives, not the least of which is to ensure continuing certainty with regard to who holds public office. Id. Because of the unambiguous nature of this forfeiture, the public never is left wondering which office has been vacated. Id. Whether two public offices are incompatible is a question of law to be determined by this Court upon examining the nature of the offices and their relationship to one another. See Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 121 R.I. at 69-70, 394 A.2d at 1358 (holding as incompatible the positions of Superior Court justice and District Court judge because a Superior Court justice has the power of review over a District Court judge); Opinion of the Governor, 67 R.I. at 205, 21 A.2d at 271 (holding as incompatible the offices of member of the General Assembly and member of the Board of Elections); Goff, 15 R.I. at 508-09, 9 A. at 227-228 (holding as incompatible the offices of deputy sheriff and judge of the District Court because of the supervisory role a judge of the District Court has over a deputy sheriff); Brown, 5 R.I. at 11 (holding as incompatible the offices of colonel of the line and major general of the division). Cf. McCabe, 101 R.I. at 123-26, 221 A.2d at 106-07 (declining to hold as incompatible the offices of the Supreme Court clerk and state senator, although noting that the simultaneous holding of the two positions may give rise to a potential conflict of interest). Although our previous cases provide useful guidance, to proceed with our analysis we must conduct a careful examination of the character and functions of the offices of school committee member and town councilman, as well as their relationship with each other. The relationship between a town and a school district is defined by a number of potential contracts between these entities. Indeed, the Town of Hopkinton and the Chariho Regional School Committee enter into lease agreements; they contract with one another for water usage and distribution; the Hopkinton Town Council fills vacancies on the Chariho Regional School Committee; [7] and the Town of Hopkinton is the appropriating and taxing authority for the town's share of the Chariho Regional School District budget. The Town of Hopkinton holds title to and operates the realty upon which the Ashaway and Hope Valley Schools (two schools in the Chariho Regional School District) are located. Although the Town of Hopkinton owns the real property upon which the schools physically are situated, the Chariho Regional School District is responsible for all maintenance obligations and the payment of all expenses associated with the [property]. Because of their joint responsibilities with respect to these properties, the Hopkinton Town Council and the Chariho Regional School Committee may disagree over issues arising with respect to the maintenance, upkeep, and operation of the buildings. For instance, in a February 2009 Chariho Regional School Committee meeting, the minutes indicate an extended dialogue concerning the lease for the Ashaway School and specifically the gas line on the premises. Although that particular issue apparently has been resolved, not every dispute necessarily will end as amicably. Clearly, if permitted to hold both positions, Felkner may be faced with a potential clash of duties concerning a particular school building. He would have a vote as a member of the Hopkinton Town Council, which operates as landlord to the Chariho Regional School District; he also would have a vote as a member of the Chariho Regional School Committee, which stands as tenant to the Town of Hopkinton. If a dispute were to arise concerning improvements or alterations to either the Ashaway or Hope Valley Schools, the closing of one or both of the existing schools, or the building of a new school, it is unclear which role Felkner would play when casting his vote-school committee member or town councilman. Moreover, and perhaps even more fundamentally, Felkner, as a school committee member, is obliged to make his first and greatest concern the educational welfare of the students attending the public schools. G.L. 1956 § 16-2-9.1(a)(11). Yet, as a sitting town councilman, Felkner is charged with the competing duty of representing, first and foremost, the interests of the people of the Town of Hopkinton. The discord presented by these conflicting responsibilities is patent; Felkner cannot, as a member of the Chariho Regional School Committee, act principally for the children of all three towns (Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton) when he has a concurrent duty to further the interests of the citizens of the Town of Hopkinton. Because of the myriad of responsibilities and conflicting duties stemming from Felkner's dual positions, there is a great likelihood of a potential clash of duties that would result in a gross incompatibility of offices. Public policy demands that one who holds a public office discharge his or her duties with undivided loyalty; and a public officer, in holding a position of public trust, stands in a fiduciary relationship to the citizens that he or she has been elected to serve. See Trist v. Child, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 441, 450, 22 L.Ed. 623 (1874). We are of the opinion that an individual cannot properly act contemporaneously as a school committee member and as a member of the town council without encountering some significant discordant interests and issues during such simultaneous tenure. In the case before us, school committee member Felkner's duties to the entire Chariho Regional School District can readily run counter to town councilman Felkner's loyalty to the citizens of the Town of Hopkinton. We have no doubt that Felkner was selected by his constituents to two elected positions because he offered ideas and plans that were favorable to the respective public constituencies. However, by serving on these two distinct bodies, he will be confronted with issues in which both the Chariho Regional School Committee and the Hopkinton Town Council have separate interests. Such a conflict inevitably would result in the silencing, to at least one of these constituencies, of Felkner's voice as their elected official. Because of this very real possibility, the common-law doctrine of incompatibility serves to force the officeholder to abandon one of the positions. Accordingly, we conclude that the doctrine of incompatibility serves as an impervious and insurmountable bar to dual officeholding in this case. By accepting a seat on the Hopkinton Town Council, and taking the oath of office, Felkner has vacated his seat on the Chariho Regional School Committee. We need not decide whether the Chariho Regional School Committee had the authority to determine whether Felkner resigned from the committeean issue of concern nonetheless because, before reaching that question, it was incumbent upon Felkner to satisfy his right to title to the office and not merely attack the Chariho Regional School Committee's procedure in ousting him. See Seemann, 606 A.2d at 1310. Because Felkner cannot prove his own title for the reasons set forth in this opinion, we need go no further.