Opinion ID: 2172607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The statutes involved.

Text: The appellant contends under his issue III that he, as treasurer of the Town of Leonardtown, was a public officer within the meaning of Sec. 138 of Art. 27 of the Code (embezzlement by elected or appointed public officers required by law to account) and, therefore, could not be prosecuted and convicted under Sec. 129 of Art. 27 proscribing embezzlement by cashiers, servants, agents, officers or clerks to any body corporate. The Court of Special Appeals held that the appellant was a public officer within the meaning of Sec. 138 but that he could, also, be tried and convicted under Sec. 129. We agree with the affirmance of the conviction under Sec. 129 but not for the reasons stated by the Court of Special Appeals. For the purposes of this opinion, we accept, without deciding, the assumption of the parties and of the Court of Special Appeals that the appellant was a public officer within the meaning of Sec. 138 and proceed to a discussion of his contention that public officers may only be prosecuted under that section and not under Sec. 129. An examination of the legislative and judicial history of the two sections demonstrates the fallacy of this contention. Sec. 129 was first adopted by Chapter 162 of the Acts of 1820 and punished embezzlement by a cashier, servant, agent or clerk    to any person or persons whosoever, or to any body corporate or public. Here, it should be noted that officers of neither public nor private corporations were subject to prosecution thereunder. Sec. 138 relating to embezzlement by the described public officers was first enacted by Chapter 196 of the Acts of 1854 (erroneously designated in the 1967 Replacement Volume of the 1957 Code as Ch. 196 of the Acts of 1884). Obviously, at that time there was neither conflict nor inconsistency between the two Acts, because the Act of 1820 had no application to public officers of bodies politic as distinguished from cashiers, servants, agents or clerks. Both Acts were codified as Secs. 49 and 50 of Art. 30 of the Public General Laws of 1860 in which the phrase in the 1820 Act, any body corporate or politic appears as any body corporate. This Code was adopted by the General Assembly by Chapter 1 of the Acts of 1860 in lieu of and as a substitute for all the Public General Laws and the Public Local Laws, heretofore passed by the Legislature of Maryland. Appellant, therefore, argues that this change in phraseology was intended to eliminate bodies politic from coverage under Sec. 129. This contention is answered by the decision of our predecessors in State v. Denton, 74 Md. 517, 22 A. 305 and Denton v. State, 77 Md. 527, 26 A. 1022, holding that embezzlement by a clerk to the county commissioners is punishable under that section. In the former it was contended, just as here, that the appellant was a public officer, not subject to prosecution under Sec. 75 (now Sec. 129) although it was not conceded that he was subject to prosecution under Sec. 80 (now Sec. 138). In holding that he was not a public officer, but, as clerk, was subject to prosecution under present Sec. 129, the Court said, at page 521 of 74 Md., The fact that he is clerk to a public corporation does not put him outside of Sec. 75 (now Sec. 129), because that section is broad enough to embrace public as well as private corporations. It should be noted that at the time of that decision in 1891, Sec. 129 did not include officers as distinguished from cashiers, servants, agents or clerks. Thus the reason is apparent why the State Treasurer, indicted under Sec. 138, could not be charged under Section 129. See State v. Archer, 73 Md. 44, 20 A. 172 (1890). With this background in mind, we turn to a consideration of Chapter 329 of the Acts of 1914. That Act amended Sec. 129 to include officers of any body corporate among those within its purview. In view of this Court's decision in Denton, it is apparent that officers of public as well as private corporations were intended by the Legislature to be included in the section. There is no dispute, nor could there be in view of Sec. 94 of Art. 19 of the Code of Public Local Laws (Flack, 1930) that the Commissioners of Leonardtown are a public body corporate. We, therefore, hold that the appellant, even though assumed to be a public officer was subject to prosecution under Sec. 129. It is unnecessary to decide whether he, also, could be prosecuted under Sec. 138.