Court Opinion

ID: 9726548
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:56:43.493347+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:28.366018
License: Public Domain

Emmert, J.
I concur in the opinion by my Brother Landis, but under §2-8232, Burns’ 1946 Replacement, each Judge participating must write his separate opinion.
The issue here is whether a Sheriff appointed by reason of the death of his predecessor holds for the remainder of the decedent’s unexpired term. I believe the provisions of §11 of Article 6 as amended in 1948 make it clear the appointee so holds.
There is no need to restate the Amendment. In Kirkpatrick v. King (1950), 228 Ind. 236, 243, 91 N. E. 2d 785, we held the clearly expressed purpose of the Amendment was to extend the term to four years, and to establish a definite uniform cycle “for the beginning and ending of all such terms throughout the state.” *419Before the adoption of the Amendment some Sheriffs did not begin their terms until more than a year after their election, and one Sheriff began his term in the middle of November after his election. No doubt the General Assembly and the voters who ratified the Amendment appreciated the fact that nominations and elections cost time and money, and that it would be in the public interest to permit a new Sheriff at least to get acquainted with the duties of his office before he was compelled to make another race for the second term. Moreover, the Amendment definitely fixed when the term of each elected Sheriff should begin. ',
This Amendment by its explicit terms supersedes every provision of the Constitution in conflict therewith, and no statute can add to or vary its terms. “In construing constitutional provisions, a rule of' general acceptance is ‘that which is expressed makes that which is silent to cease.’ Gougar v. Timberlake (1897), 148 Ind. 38, 48, 46 N. E. 339, 37 L. R. A. 644, 62 Am. St. 487.” State v. Patterson (1914), 181 Ind. 660, 664, 665, 105 N. E. 228. This court later approved this rule of construction in Robinson v. Moser (1931), 203 Ind. 66, 71, 179 N. E. 270, and In re Petition of Justice of the Peace Assn. of Ind. (1958), 237 Ind. 436, 147 N. E. 2d 16, 19. See also 5 Ind. Law Cyc., §11, p. 276.
The Amendment very carefully provided for' the elections of Sheriffs every four years, and when ho President of the United States was to be elected. This policy served to stimulate interest in the so-called “off year” general elections, and to make the election of a Sheriff in no wise dependent upon national issues. Electing a Sheriff for the remainder of an unexpired term would thwart the policies of and causes for the Amendment, which were deemed in the public interest and sufficient for its adoption.
*420I fail to find any expressed policy in the Constitution which would require an appointment plus an election during what would otherwise be the unexpired term of a constitutional officer except §18 of Article 5 of the Constitution, but this is limited to State officers and Judges of courts of superior general jurisdiction.
“When, during a recess of the General Assembly, a vacancy shall happen in any office, the appointment to which is vested in the General Assembly; or when, at any time, a vacancy shall have occurred in any other State office, or in the office of Judge of any court; the Governor shall fill such vacancy, by appointment, which shall expire, when a successor shall have been elected and qualified.” Section 18, Article 5, Constitution of Indiana.1
The effect of this provision could be to establish a new cycle for four-year State offices. If the Sheriff’s Amendment had intended an appointment only extended until the next general election, it would have said so.
When amended §11 of Article 6 became effective, it excluded the election of Sheriff at any other times than the general election of 1950 and each four years thereafter. No statute can change the times for elections. A Sheriff elected for the remainder of an unexpired term would still be Sheriff of the county. There is only one time in any four-year period for the election of a Sheriff of a county, and that is at the election the Amendment provides. Any other time makes the election void.
I would reverse the judgment.
Note.—Reported in 151 N. E. 2d 499.

. Vacancies in the General Assembly must be filled by elections. “He shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as may have occurred in the General Assembly.” Section 19, Art. 5, Ind. Const.