Green v. State Civil Service Commission
Green v. State Civil Service Commission
Opinion of the Court
In support of the judgment below it is insisted in the first place that a proceeding in injunction will not lie in a case such as is here presented. The ground upon which the relief prayed for is sought is that the defendants, as public officers, threatened to exercise powers not conferred upon them by law to the injury of plaintiff and others. The law is well settled that in such a case, where no other mode of protecting the rights of the complaining party is specially conferred, injunction is the proper remedy. A taxpayer has sufficient interest to maintain an action to enjoin public officers from the commission of acts in excess of legal authority and requiring the expenditure of public money. State, ex rel., v. City of Newark et al., 57 Ohio St., 430; Elyria Gas & Water Co. v. City of Elyria, 57 Ohio St., 374.
It is alleged in the petition and insisted here that the first paragraph of Section 7 of the act in question violates Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution in that it delegates to the state civil service commission legislative power to “amend and enforce rules for carrying into effect Section 10 of Article XV of the Constitution of Ohio and the provisions of this act, and such rules shall have the force and effect of law.” The last-named section of the constitution provides that'appointments and promotions in the civil service of the state, the several counties, and cities, shall be made according to merit and fitness, to be ascertained, as far as practicable, by competitive examinations’,' and that “laws shall be passed providing for the enforcement of Qhatjprovision." The legislature, one of the.co
In 1 Dillon on Municipal Corporations (5 éd.), it is said, at Section 397, in discussing civil service laws: “Various objections to the constitutionality of these statutes have been considered by the courts
In Opinion of Justices, 138 Mass., 603, it is said: “We >think the legislature has the constitutional right to provide for the appointment of such commissioners, and to delegate to them the power to make rules, not inconsistent with existing laws, to guide and control their discretion and the discretion of the officers of the state or of the cities in whom the appointing power is vested. This is not a delegation of the power to enact laws; it is merely a delegation of administrative powers and duties.” These principles are also sustained in Opinion of Justices, 145 Mass., 587; Gregory v. Kansas City, 244 Mo., 523; Board of Education v. The State, ex rel., 80 Ohio St., 133; Union Bridge Co. v. United States, 204 U. S., 386.
It is also contended that the second paragraph of Section 14 of the civil service law violates Section 18 of Article I of the Constitution, in that it authorizes the commission to suspend laws. The paragraph referred to provides: “Positions in the competitive class may be filled without competition
This does not confer power upon the board to suspend the law, but the law itself defines certain circumstances and conditions which, when the administrative commission finds them to exist, shall constitute a situation, in which the requirements of the statute may be omitted. The part of the board in the matter is simply to ascertain whether such a situation exists. When that fact is ascertained and properly authenticated by the board, the law authorizes the board to follow the procedure prescribed in the statute itself.
Nor do the provisions of this statute deny the equal protection of the law in violation of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States. The right of the employes of a municipal government in any state to hold employment is not such a right as comes within the meaning of the words “privileges and immunities of citizens of
Suggestion is also made that some of the provisions contained in the civil service act under consideration provide for the fixing of rules and duties in an unreasonable way and with unreasonable penalties. None of such provisions can affect the rights of the plaintiff in this case and they are not involved here. If,' when a proper case is presented, any of these provisions should be found to be invalid for any of the reasons stated, such invalidity would not affect the constitutionality of the entire law. They might fall* and the general scheme of the enactment be still preserved and be. effective.
The duties imposed by these provisions, as well as those above referred to, undoubtedly assist in the effort to improve the civil service of the state, which is the desirable end sought to be attained in the passage of the law and in the adoption of the amendment to the constitution referred to.
The prescribing of the plan is a matter within the legislative will which, when exercised, must be judicially enforced. Every intendment must be indulged in favor of the validity of the act until it is disclosed that some constitutional requirement has been disregarded.
A serious question, however, is presented by an
Section 7 provides for the powers and duties of the commission. Subdivision 3 enacts that the commission shall “make investigations, either sitting as a body, or through a single commissioner, the chief examiner, or through a local public official or other persons designated by the commission, concerning all matters touching the enforcement and effect of this act and the rules prescribed thereunder.” It is insisted by the defendant in error that under these provisions the state commission was clothed with full power to conduct the investigation proposed to be made in this case. It is claimed that “all matters touching the enforcement and effect of this act and the rules prescribed thereunder,” necessarily embrace matters connected with municipal as well as state service since all are covered by the act. It is not contended that the investigation so to be made by the átate commission is followed by the power of removal or that any
It is urged by plaintiff that the investigation, authorized to be conducted by the state commission in Section 7, subdivision 3, must be limited to matters touching the enforcement and effect of the act and the rules prescribed thereunder so far as they affect the state and county service as described in subdivision 2 of Section 1. The rules.which the state commission is "empowered to put into effect are described by Section 9 as being for the “classified service of the state and the counties thereof.”
The municipal civil service commission is provided for in Section 19. That section, after providing for the appointment of a municipal civil service commission of each city of the state, enacts : “Said municipal commission shall have and exercise all other powers and perform all other duties Avith respect to the civil service of such city and city school district, as herein prescribed and conferred upon the state civil service commission with respect to the civil service of the state; and all
Section 22 of the act provides that “Whenever a civil service commission shall have reason to believe that any officer, board, commission, head of department or person having the power of appointment, lay off, suspension or removal, has abused .such power by making an appointment, lay off, suspension, or removal in violation of the provisions of this act, it shall be the duty of the commission to make an investigation, and if it shall find that any such violation of the provisions or the intent and spirit of this act has occurred, it shall make a report thereof to the governor, or in the case of a municipal officer or employe to the mayor or other chief appointing authority, who shall have the power to remove forthwith such guilty officer,” etc. It will be observed that this power is not confined to the state civil service commission, but is conferred upon “a civil service commission” which “shall have reason,” etc. There is a manifest intent and purpose to keep the municipal officer and employe separate from those who are in the “state serAnce.” subject to the rules prescribed and enforced by the state commission.
As above stated, Section 19 provides for the ap
In view of the comprehensive provisions of the statute with reference to the duties of the different commissions in all other respects, it would seem clear that the maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius would here apply. The learned court of appeals did not give to this special provision the conclusive effect which we think is required by correct interpretation.
The enforcement of the view we have taken will not weaken in any way the arm of the state in the exercise of a supervisory power over the conduct of the mayor of a city. Section 4268, General Code, provides that “In case of misconduct in office, bribery, any gross neglect of duty, gross immorality, or habitual drunkenness of any mayor, upon notice and after affording such mayor a full and fair opportunity to be heard in his defense, the governor of the state shall remove him from office.” The section also provides for the procedure by which this result may be attained.
• The municipality of Urbana has not exercised its right under the recent amendment to the constitution to frame and adopt a charter for its government and is therefore subject to the general laws of the state touching that subject. State, ex rel. Toledo, v. Lynch, 88 Ohio St., 71.
• In this posture we are not aware of any provision of the constitution as amended which would prevent legislation clearly conferring the powers of intervention in local affairs which are claimed by the state commission. But, as indicated,
The judgment will be reversed and the cause remanded with instructions to enter judgment and decree for plaintiff.
Judgment reversed. .
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.