Opinion ID: 1304136
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Definition of Public Official

Text: At common law, one must be a public official in order to be prosecuted for misconduct in office. State v. Hess, 279 S.C. 14, 301 S.E.2d 547 (1983); see, State v. Furey, 128 N.J.Super. 12, 318 A.2d 783 (1974); State v. Begyn, 34 N.J. 35, 167 A.2d 161 (1961); State v. Weleck, 10 N.J. 355, 91 A.2d 751 (1952); see also McAninch and Fairey, The Criminal Law of South Carolina, 453 (2d ed. 1989). There is much discussion in the briefs and before the trial judge as to how South Carolina defines a public official for purposes of common law criminal prosecutions. The trial judge dismissed the indictments for common law misconduct in office against John Gilreath, Joel Wilson, and Rogers Carroll, all officials with the Highway Department, holding that they were public employees and not public officials. [19] Answering the question, what is a public official at common law, requires us to examine some of the various definitions applied to misconduct in office. In State v. Hess, supra , we found that a police chief, a senior official of a municipality, was a public official. In analyzing the common law crime of misconduct in office, we held that Hess' non-elected position as the Chief of Police was sufficient to sustain his conviction for common law misconduct in office. Id. The rule enunciated in Hess was that a conviction for misconduct in office required the existence of a duty owed to the public. In Sanders v. Belue, 78 S.C. 171, 58 S.E. 762 (1907), a superintendent appointed by a county board was held to be a public officer. In deciding Sanders, we established the distinction between a public officer, one who is charged with exercising some sovereign power in the performance of his duties, and an employee, one who merely performs duties under the direction of an employer. Id. An important factor in our Sanders analysis was that the public be concerned about the performance of the official duties. Id. In State v. Crenshaw, 274 S.C. 475, 266 S.E.2d 61 (1980), we examined the duties of a city police officer and found him to be within the scope of a public official. Again, a common thread lies in the exercise of the powers of or representation of the sovereign. In State v. Wannamaker, 213 S.C. 1, 48 S.E.2d 601 (1948), we looked specifically at the Highway Department. In Wannamaker, we examined the extent the defendant's duties pertained to the public interest. A reading of the common law definitions of public official shows the greater the duty to the public at large, the more likely it is that the individual will be a public official. Under the applicable definition of a public official for common law misconduct in office as set forth in Hess, supra, the case at bar is not a close call factually. Although not appointed or elected to office by the public or specific arm of the government, the duties of the indicted Highway Department officials were of great concern to the public at large. Each official indicted had control over matters falling under the sovereign powers of the state. The public funds under the control of each official were also significant. Duties involving highway safety and large amounts of public funds can be held to have no less public impact than the duties of the police chief in Hess. Accordingly, the trial judge erred in finding that Gilreath, Wilson, and Carroll were not public officials subject to prosecution for common law misconduct in office. [20]