Court Opinion

ID: 9570630
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:24:49.015455+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:13:26.852414
License: Public Domain

Williams, J.
— This is an appeal from a judgment of the superior court permanently enjoining the City of Seattle and its Civil Service Commission from extending civil service status to the position of warrant server with the Seattle Traffic Violations Bureau.
Gaetano Massie, Dave B. Grimsrud, Emil H. Deskins and James Paul McKay, the respondents, were hired as warrant servers for the Traffic Violations Bureau of the Municipal Court of the City of Seattle. After they had been so employed for some time, the Civil Service Commission of the *602city placed the position of warrant server in the civil service system and, were it not for the institution of this action, the four respondents would have lost their jobs. The question is whether the Civil Service Commission has authority to place the position of warrant server within the civil service system. We hold that the commission does not have that authority and, with the exception later noted, affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The position of warrant server for the Traffic Violations Bureau was created by city ordinance. The Traffic Violations Bureau is a part of the Seattle Municipal Court (RCW 35.20.131) which was established by the state legislature (RCW 35.20) pursuant to the authority of the Constitution of the State of Washington. Article 4, section 1 of our constitution provides in part that “The judicial power of the state shall be vested in •. . . such inferior courts as the legislature may provide.” The city and the commission, appellants, concede that the position of warrant server is within the judicial department of the city and that respondents are employees of the court.
The Seattle Civil Service Commission was created by the charter of that city and has the responsibility of personnel management — the hiring, promoting, disciplining and firing of those city employees who hold positions within the civil service system. The commission has no responsibility for the operation of any department of the city government except its own.
The placement in the commission of control of the incidence of employment of personnel directly connected with the operation of the municipal court is improper as an invasion of the independence of the judiciary. The doctrine of separation of powers applies. As is said in Mann v. County of Maricopa, 104 Ariz. 561, 564, 456 P.2d 931 (1969) quoting from Smith v. Miller, 153 Colo. 35, 384 P.2d 738 (1963):
The judiciary has its exclusive powers and functions, to-wit: it has judgment and the power to enforce its judgments and orders. In their responsibilities and *603duties, the courts must have complete independence. It is not only exiomatic (sic), it is the genius of our government that the courts must be independent, unfettered, and free from directives, influence, or interference from any extraneous source. It is abhorrent to the principles of our legal system and to our form of government that courts, being a coordinate department of government, should be compelled to depend upon the vagaries of an extrinsic will. Such would interfere with the operation of the courts, impinge upon their power and thwart the effective administration of justice. These principles, concepts, and doctrines are so thoroughly embedded in our legal system that they have become bone and sinew of our state and national polity.
The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government of our state have recognized and respected the distribution of powers as provided by the constitution. The Governor, for example, recognized that the judiciary is a separate and independent branch of the government when he vetoed legislation which placed in the county commissioners the appointment of clerks of the district courts. Senate Journal, Thirty-seventh Legislature (1961) at 1211. The legislature has exempted all employees of the state judiciary from the state civil service system, RCW 41.06.070. In turn, the Supreme Court has refused to interfere with executive (State v. International Typo. Union, 57 Wn.2d 151, 356 P.2d 6 (1960); State v. Fair, 35 Wash. 127, 76 P. 731 (1904)) and legislative (Hoppe v. State, 78 Wn.2d 164, 469 P.2d 909 (1970); Seattle v. Hill, 72 Wn.2d 786, 435 P.2d 692 (1967)) action. For application of the doctrine in other states see Mann v. County of Maricopa, supra; Powers v. Isley, 66 Ariz. 94, 183 P.2d 880 (1947); In re Interrogatory of Governor, 162 Colo. 188, 425 P.2d 31 (1967); People ex rel. Riordan v. Hersey, 69 Colo. 492, 196 P. 180, 14 A.L.R. 631 (1921); Norman v. Van Elsberg, 262 Ore. 286, 497 P.2d 204 (1972).
We note that, in some instances, the legislature has authorized civil service status for court employees. RCW 35.20.131 states that the director of the Traffic Violations *604Bureau shall be subject to city civil service laws, and that employees of the bureau who are under civil service on the effective date of the act shall be continued in such employment and classification. RCW 3.30.090, which authorizes a violations bureau for a justice court, provides that the employees thereof “shall be city employees under any applicable municipal civil service system.” RCW 3.46.140, which provides for a municipal department of a justice court, has a similar provision. The validity of these statutes has not been adjudicated, and we express no opinion as to them.
It is argued that the city charter requires the inclusion of the warrant servers in the civil service system. The Seattle Municipal Court is not established by the charter, but by the state legislature, which has exclusive power to do so. In re Cloherty, 2 Wash. 137, 27 P. 1064 (1891).
One further matter remains: The judgment purported to adjudicate the civil service status of all officials and employees of the judicial department, rather than apply only to the four respondents who were before the court. As has been seen in this opinion, the principles which apply to the-respondents are also applicable to employees of the judiciary, generally. However, we must confine ourselves to the problem before the court, which is the personal complaint of the four gentlemen. The trial court’s order will therefore be modified so as to apply to the respondents, only. As so modified, the judgment is affirmed.
Callow, J., concurs.