State Ex Rel. Huckabee v. Hough
State Ex Rel. Huckabee v. Hough
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The petitioner, W. W. Huckabee, was elected sheriff of Kershaw county at the general election, on November 5, 1912, and was commissioned on January 1, 1913, for a term of four years. On April 20, 1915, after notice and a hearing, his Excellency, the Governor, found, from the evidence adduced at the hearing, that said sheriff had neglected and refused to enforce the law regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors in his county, and suspended him from office, until the end of his present term.
On June 25, 1915, the Governor appointed and commissioned the defendant, Hough, as sheriff of said county, in place of petitioner. This action was brought to test the legality of Huckabee’s suspension, as well as the right of Hough to perform the duties of the office.
The action of the Governor was based on section 841 of the Criminal Code, which reads: “Any constable, deputy constable, sheriff or magistrate, who shall neglect or refuse to perform the duties required by this chapter, shall be subject to suspension by the Governor.” Petitioner contends that, in so far as this section confers upon the Governor power to suspend a sheriff, it is unconstitutional. If that be so, the suspension was without authority of law and cannot be sustained, unless it can be referred to some other power vested in the chief executive.
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The minds of the framers of the Constitution evidently adverted to the principle above stated, and the consequent importance of providing therein for the removal and suspension of unfaithful officers. It is equally certain that they had in mind the material difference between the removal and suspension of officers, because they provided for both, and safeguarded both by express limitations and restrictions.
We next inquire whether the suspension can be sustained by referring it to any other power vested in the Governor. In State v. Bowden, supra, it was settled that the power of appointing to office is not a prerogative of the Governor’s office. As corollary to that decision, it was held in State v. Rhame, 92 S. C. 455, 75 S. E. 881, Ann. Cas. 1914b, 519, and McDowell v. Burnett, supra, that the power of removal or suspension from office is not an inherent function of the chief executive. It follows, as a result of those decisions, that the Governor can neither appoint to office nor suspend nor remove from office, unless the power to do so is conferred upon him by the Constitution or statutes. It is also pointed out in those cases under what circumstances the power to remove or suspend will be implied from the power to appoint.
What is here said must be taken as especially applicable to constitutional officers. Those holding offices created by the *94 legislature hold them subject to the legislative will. The power that creates an office can impose such limitations and conditions upon the manner of filling it, and the tenure, and the exercise of the duties of the office, and may modify or abolish any of these or the office itself, as its wisdom may dictate, when no provision of the Constitution is contravened in doing so. State v. Rhame, supra; Lillard v. Melton, 103 S. C. 10, 87 S. E. 421.
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The result is that the Governor had no power to suspend or remove the petitioner, or to appoint the defendant in his place.
The judgment of this Court is that the attempted suspension of the petitioner .and the. appointment of the defendant, Hough, in his place were without authority of law and of no effect, and that the petitioner is entitled to exercise the duties of his office as sheriff of Kershaw county. •
Reference
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- State Ex Rel. Huckabee v. Hough.
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- Constitutional Law. Public Officers. Sheriffs. Suspension. Vacancies. Appointments. 1. Constitutional Law — Public Officers. — When the Constitution creates an office, fixes its term, and prescribes the mode of filling it, the legislature cannot abolish the office, vary the term, prescribe a different mode of filling it, remove or suspend the officer, unless authority for such action can be found in the Constitution. 2. Constitutional Law — Public Officers. — Const., art III, sec. 27, providing for the removal of officers in certain specified cases, gives the legislature by implication the power to provide for the temporarily filling a vacancy so created, until the office can be filled in the manner prescribed by the Constitution. 3. Constitution — Public Officers. — Const., art. IV, sec. 22, providing for the suspension of certain officers in specified cases, negatives the exercise of such power upon any constitutional officer for any other offense or under any other circumstances, unless otherwise provided in the Constitution or statute enacted to provide the manner of removal, under art. Ill, sec. 27. 4. Constitutional Law — Public Officers — Sheriffs.—Criminal Code, sec. 841, is unconstitutional in so far as it attempts to authorize the indefinite suspension, in effect a removal, of a sheriff, whose mode of election and term of office is prescribed by the Constitution, before trial and conviction in the manner prescribed by Crim. Code, sec. —, or other statute enacted under Const., art III, sec. 27. 5. Sheriffs and Constables — Suspension—-Statute.—Const., art. V, sec. 30, provides that the qualified electors of each county shall elect a sheriff for the term of four years. Article III, sec. 27, provides that officers shall be removed for incapacity, misconduct, or neglect of duty in such manner as provided by law, when no mode of trial or removal is provided in the Constitution. Article IV, sec. 22, provides that the Governor, upon affidavit that any officer who has the custody of public or trust funds is probably guilty of embezzlement, shall direct his immediate prosecution, and upon true bill found shall suspend him and appoint one in his stead until he shall have been acquitted, and that in case of conviction the office shall be declared vacant and the vacancy filled as may be provided by law. Cr. Code 1912, sec. 841, provides that any sheriff who shall neglect or refuse to perform the duties required by the chapter relating to the sale of intoxicants shall be subject to suspension by the Governor. Held, that the section was unconstitutional, since, when the Constitution creates an office, fixing its term and prescribing the mode of filling it, the legislature is without power to abolish the office, vary the term, or suspend or remove the officer, while the specification by the Constitution of the circumstances under which the Governor may suspend officers clearly negatives that it was intended that he should exercise the power otherwise than provided. 6. Officers — Office of Legislative Creation — Control by Legislature. —Officers holding officés created by the legislature are subject to the legislative will, since the power that creates an office can-impose such limitations and conditions upon the manner of filling it, the tenure, and the exercise of its duties as its wisdom may dictate, and may modify or abolish any of them, or the office itself, so long as no constitutional provision is contravened. 7. Officers ■ — • Suspension and Removal by Governor. — The Governor can neither appoint to office nor suspend or remove from office, unless the power to do so is conferred upon him by the Constitution or statute. 8. Sheriffs and Constables — -Suspension and Removal by Governor.— The only power of the Governor to remove a sheriff is after trial and conviction in the manner prescribed by the statutes enacted under Const., art. Ill, sec. 27, providing that officers shall be removed for incapacity, misconduct, or neglect of duty in such manner as may be provided by law, when no mode of trial or removal is provided in the Constitution. 9. Public Officers- — Suspension and Removal. — A suspension is the temporary withdrawal of the power to exercise the duties of an office; a removal is a complete and final deprivation of official tenure. 10. Constitutional Law — Public Officers — Vacancy—Appointment.— A suspension from office creates no vacancy which may be filled hv appointment. Footnote. — Failure to enforce laws as' ground for removal of public officer, see notes 29 A. & E. Ann. Cas. 1913d, 32; 50 L. R. A. (N. S.) 841; 16. 912 to 919. Right of appointing power to remove officer when term of office is fixed. 32 A. & E. Ann. Cas. 914b, 524; 15 L. R. A. 95 to 99. Right of public officer holding for fixed term to notice and hearing before removal for cause. 29 A. & E. Ann. Cas. 1913d, 1209. Proceedings for removal as civil or criminal in nature. A. & E. Ann. Cas. 1915b, 1145.