McCrellis v. Curran
McCrellis v. Curran
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This case involves the title to the office of street commissioner of the city of New Brunswick. Most of the questions involved are identical with those presented in the case of Schneider v. Atkinson (just decided), in which the office of city surveyor of that municipality was the subject of the litigation. The term of each office is fixed by the same ordinance, passed under the authority of the same statute, and is of the same duration, i. e., three years. The only variation in the two cases appears in the history of the incumbency of the respective offices — the terms thereof were
We have already pointed out in our opinion, in Schneider v. Atkinson, that the “'term prescribed by law” is three years; and that under the act of 1904 entitled “An act concerning the term of office of certain officers in cities of the second class of this state” (Pamph. L., p. 151), each successive appointee holds for the full term of three years, whether appointed at the end of the term of his predecessor, or to fill a vacancy. This being so, the appointment of Jalin, on January 1st, 1910, to succeed Kemp, entitled Mm to hold the office until January 1st, 1913. The declaration of council, therefore, on January 8th, 1912, that the office was vacant, was contrary to the fact, and its action in electing Mc-Crellis was in violation of the statute of 1904, and entirely nugatory. The resignation of Jalin, to take effect July 1st, 1912, left the office vacant, notwithstanding the fact that thereafter Mc-Crellis, under color of his void election, assumed to perform the duties and receive the emoluments thereof. The office being vacant on January 1st, 1913, council, by its action on that day in electing Curran thereto, filled the vacancy which was then existing, and he became entitled to hold the office until January 1st, 1916.
It is suggested that this repealer was in turn repealed by section 5 of the act of Eebruary 15th, 1905 (Pamph. L. p. 14), entitled “An act relative to the time of election and appointment, and terms of office of officers elected or appointed m towns, townships, boroughs and other municipalities of this state.” This section is identical in its wording with that of section 5 of the act of Eebruary 28th, 1901, except that in the place of the words “any city” the words “any town, township, borough or other municipality” have been substituted. The argument is that the legislature, by the use of the words “or other municipality,” intended that the legislation should be operative, not only in municipalities of the classes specially named, but in all other municipalities, including cities. That this argument is unsound will appear from a reading of the opinion of the Court of. Errors and Appeals in the case of Wright v. Campbell, 14 N. J. L. 609. The primary purpose of the act of 1901 was to 'consolidate municipal, or charter,' elections in the various cities of the state with the general, or state, elections held therein on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each year. After the passage of that
The defendant is entitled to judgment on the special verdict.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.