County commissioner

“ Who would doubt, if these petitioners were the unquestioned commissioners of the county, that mandamus would lie to compel the clerk to recognize them, and record on the county books their proceedings as such? Does the fact that certain parties are contesting their rights as commissioners oust the court of jurisdiction, or forbid it to compel other county officers to recognize them? Must the office of county commissioners remain practically vacant, and the affairs of the county unadministered, pending a trial of a right of office between contestants? Surely not; public interests forbid. ”

“ And so, county government everywhere was conceived in a spirit of negation. The people elect their boards of supervisors or county commissioners, hoping thereby to keep their fingers on the public purse through direct agents. The supervisors, in their turn, undertake to regulate the finances of the sheriff, the district attorney, the county clerk and the rest. But, lo, these officers are no subordinates of theirs; they are the people’s humble servants. The supervisors may set out upon a program of economy and efficiency, including, let us say, the standardization of supplies. ”

“ We have seen from the act organizing the county that the three commissioners named were empowered to name the county officers, to serve until the general election of 1884. In pursuance of their duties the commissioners, Messrs. Critchfield, Swain, and Weisenfels, at their first formal meeting on November 14, 1883, appointed the following county officials: J. L. Vinson, sheriff; H. Wamsley, assessor; S. S. Bennett, probate judge; Charles Goodwin, superintendent of schools; J. J. Kanawyer, treasurer; J. O'Keefe, surveyor; A. J. Allen, coroner; S. T. Jones, sheep commissioner ”

“ When the county court of one county shall think it expedient to build a bridge or causeway, and shall appoint a commissioner on its part as provided in the preceding section, and the court of the adjoining county shall refuse to appoint a commissioner, * * * the circuit court of the county refusing may issue a writ of mandamus to the county court to show cause why an order shall not be entered up, directing the appointment of the commissioner, and the erection of such bridge or causeway, etc. ”

“ The sole fact that its proceedings as a court of law are of record cannot, in our opinion, deprive it of the power to appoint, by record, agents to make contracts, and to transact business not of record.
With regard to the contention that the commissioner exceeded the authority given by binding Bullitt county to pay for the entire work, an examination of the county record shows that while the court sought to secure joint action with Jefferson county in building the bridge, it determined to proceed without that county, if necessary. ”

“ Striking out the provision authorizing county treasurer to appoint an attorney. Regulating tax collection procedure. Fixing compensation of unskilled laborers. Correcting 1915 tax roll. Creating a county auditor. Increasing salary of sheriff, etc. Levy of taxes to meet cost of sanitary trunk sewer. Regulating management of penitentiary and workhouse. Creating commissioner of charities.
Too often the motive of the legislators has not [Pg 117] been to make the county the state’s more obedient servant, but to “bleed” it to the utmost for political purposes. ”

“ The said General Board of Commissioners, in Executive Council assembled, have this day chosen, and by these presents do hereby appoint and authorize Dr. Martin Robison Delany, of Chatham, County of Kent, Province of Canada, Chief Commissioner; and Robert Douglass, Esq., Artist, and Prof. Robert Campbell, Naturalist, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of the United States of America, to be Assistant Commissioners ”

“ This board is usually constructed on one of two plans: Either it consists of three or five members, the county being divided into commissioner districts; or else it is constituted of the chairmen or other member of each of the several town boards. The former plan prevails in Minnesota, Iowa, and other states; the latter in Wisconsin, Michigan, most of Illinois, and in other states.
The commissioners have charge of county roads and bridges, county buildings and other county property, and the care of the county poor. ”

“ Such commissioners, being duly sworn, shall perform all their duties in the manner and under the same regulations and restrictions as are provided in the case where they are performed by the county commissioners, and the subsequent proceedings, including the right of appeal, shall be the same. ”

“ Shannon commissioned Francis Meyer and F. P. Brown commissioners and Henderson Rice sheriff, but Brown and Rice would not accept the commissions. The probate judge and Francis Meyer organized the countv on Jan. 7, 1856. Five days later the second session of the probate judge and commissioners' court was held at Meyer's house and David McCammon was appointed sheriff. He gave bond and qualified on Jan. 18, on which date the court held its third session and J. S. Waitman was appointed commissioner. This was the first time that a full board of commissioners had existed. ”

“ Thereupon it shall be the duty of said county commissioners to assign to such citizens work in improving any of the public highways in said county, or in constructing and equipping any public utility in and for said county. The wages due each citizen for said services shall be paid to him, weekly, by the treasurer of the county in which the services are performed, on the warrant of the county auditor and order of the said commissioners. ”

“ The members of the county boards will not follow the example of some of our present county commissioners and personally descend to the management of the details of administration. They will learn the art of delegating authority without losing control. And just as the people will have simplified their problem of citizenship by concentrating their attention on the governing group, so the representative body will focus administrative responsibility in a chief subordinate. ”

“ He has also been clerk of the board of county commissioners, has been county sealer of weights and measures and in all these offices has discharged his duties with notable promptness, efficiency and fidelity. Over the record of his public career there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He is actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good and in discharging his duties is thoroughly prompt and reliable. ”

“ III. A majority of the supervisors of any school commissioner district may increase the salary of said school commissioner; the increased salary must be levied upon the towns composing such commissioner district.
Q What must county officers do, before entering upon the duties of their office?
A. Take the oath prescribed by State Constitution in Art. XII,
Sec. I.
Q. What county officers are required in addition to the oath prescribed to execute a bond for the faithful performance of their duties?
A. Sheriff, county treasurer, surrogate and county superintendents of the poor. ”

“ The sections of this act subsequent to the first section shall take effect and be in force from and after their passage.'At the next general election a majority of votes cast in the county was in favor of the removal.
Thereupon Newton, and a number of other citizens of the town of Canfield, filed their petition in the Court of Common Pleas for Mahoning County praying for an injunction restraining the board of county commissioners from removing the county seat to Youngstown. ”

“ Any precinct in any organized county of this state shall have the privilege of voting to aid works of internal improvement, and be entitled to all the privileges conferred upon counties and cities by the provisions of this act; and in such case the precinct election shall be governed in the same manner as is provided in this act, so far as the same is applicable, and the county commissioners shall issue special bonds for such precinct, and the tax to pay the same shall be levied upon the property within the bounds of such precinct. ”

“ Supervisors were created as elective officers in New York in 1691, but they were executive and representative officers from the very start. And the same may be said of the town assessors in New Jersey (1693) and the county assessors in Pennsylvania. But the real precedent for “electing everybody” was set in Pennsylvania in 1703 when the sheriffs were first chosen by the people—a step which was followed in 1726 by the establishment of elective county commissioners. ”

“ This particular, therefore, was no more than another requisition of greater clearness and precision; and by no means a foundation for the charge of fundamentally wrong and unjust.
The fifth particular was, "That provincial commissioners be named, to hear and determine appeals, brought on the part of the inhabitants, as well as the proprietaries." There was already subsisting a provision for the appointment of county commissioners of appeal; by whom the act might be, and actually has been (as we shall presently show) justly and impartially executed with regard to the proprietaries ”

“ The county commissioners were the persons authorized by the act to ascertain and determine whether 'such assent' had been given; and necessarily so, because, on the ascertainment by them of the fact of 'such assent,' they were charged with 'the duty'-that is the language-of making the subscription, and the duty of issuing the bonds. They were equally charged with the duty of ascertaining the fact of the assent. The record evidence of their proceedings shows that their order for the election was made 33 days before the election was to be held ”

“ Being a commissioner ‘for restraining the transport of grain out of the county of Surrey,’ he dissented from the view of his fellow-commissioners that they should regard their county as their family and send from it nothing that it wants, holding on the contrary ‘that markets shoulde be free for alle men to bye ... ”

“ H. Brents; county sheriff, Charles S. Painter; county clerk, Dorsey M. Hill; county auditor, W. J. Honeycutt; county treasurer, Philip B. Hawley; county prosecuting attorney, Lester S. Wilson; county assessor, Richard J. Berryman; county superintendent of schools, Grant S. Bond; county surveyor, Lewis W. Loehr; county coroner, Winfield D. Smith; commissioner first district, Geo. Struthers; commissioner second district, John H. Morrow; commissioner third district, J. N. McCaw (hold over) ”

“ Moreover, even with regard to those areas specifically delegated to the county government by statute or constitutional provision, the Commissioners Court sometimes does not have the power to make decisions. Within the county government there are numerous departments which are controlled by officials elected independently of the Commissioners Court and over whom the Commissioners Court does not exercise control. The Commissioners view themselves primarily as road commissioners. ”

“ The commissioners are generally empowered to conduct the District's business. They have the power to subpoena witnesses and to administer oaths in investigating District affairs, Tenn.Code Ann. § 6-2616 (5) (1955) , and they serve for only nominal compensation. Tenn.Code Ann. § 6-2615 (Supp.1970) . Plainly, commissioners who are beholden to an elected public official for their appointment, and are subject to removal procedures applicable to all public officials, qualify as 'individuals who are responsible to public officials or to the general electorate' within the Board's test. ”

“ Any vacancy on the Commission shall be filled by the Board of Supervisors for the unexpired term. Each member of the Commission shall serve until his successor is appointed and qualified. Not more than one member shall be an adherent of the same political party. No member shall hold any other salaried county office, nor shall he have been, within the year next preceding his appointment, an active executive officer in any political organization. ”

“ The bonds recite that they were issued in conformity to law, and in pursuance of the election held on the 6th of April, 1869. It is true they refer to the wrong statute, but falsa demonstratio non nocet. The bad here does not hurt the good. The act of the commissioners was the act of the county, and the county is conclusively bound by what they have done. As between the county and a bona fide holder, no question involving the infirmity of the securities can be raised. ”

“ Even under the most favorable circumstances there remains an important duty for a state commission to supervise the work of the county assessor or board of assessors to the end that the letter of the law may be obeyed with the utmost uniformity throughout the state. Such a commission must see that the county does injustice to neither individuals nor the state through inequal assessment and that the tax sales are in accordance with the law. ”

“ Commission government was for many years a fad in this country, and it has become discredited, so that of late we have been doing away with commissions and coming to single heads for departments having executive functions and some minor legislative functions, such as park boards, and police boards, and have been trying to concentrate responsibility in that way. In Erie County and throughout New York a commission elected by the people governs our counties. The board of supervisors is a commission government. It has never been creditable—always bad, even as compared with our city governments. ”

“ A careful examination of those decisions fails to support this position. The opinion that the act was invalid because it was special legislation, applicable only to certain counties, would seem, indeed, to be thus modified. But the adjudication that the constitution did not permit the appointment of commissioners to take the place of the justices of the peace for the county, and perform the duties of the county court, stands unimpaired, and as such is binding upon us. ”