Board of Supervisors v. Coons

Citations

• 121 Va. 783
• 94 S.E. 201
• 1917 Va. LEXIS 74

Syllabus

<p>1. Counties — County Officers — Compensation — Discretion of the Board of Supervisors. — A. board of supervisors may not withhold action fixing the amount of, or what is the same thing in effect, place a condition or conditions upon the payment of the salary or compensation allowed by law to an officer whose office or position is not created by the board of supervisors but by law. Such an office or position is not the creature of the board of supervisors but of the law. By the law, therefore, and not by the board of supervisors, except as they may act in accordance with the law, must the salary or compensation of such office or position be fixed. For any failure of such an officer to discharge his duties which are prescribed by law, the remedy of mandamus will lie. To allow boards of supervisors to withhold any action aforesaid, or to place a condition or conditions upon the payment of the salary or compensation aforesaid, would be to allow such boards to nullify the election of the officer to the extent of the emoluments of the office allowed by law thus denied him.</p> <p>2. Clekks op Coukt — Discretion of Board of Supervisors in Fixing Compensation. — The board of supervisors of a county has no discretion to refuse to act in fixing the compensation and other allowances of a county clerk allowed by law at something, within the limits prescribed by statute; nor, if it acts, to impose a condition or conditions upon the payment of such compensation, on the ground that the clerk has not performed, or is not performing his duties as such.</p> <p>S. Counties — County Officers — Discretion of Board of Supervisors— Time of Payment of Salary. — A board of supervisors undoubtedly has a discretion as to fixing the time or times of payment of salaries and allowances of county officers, if exercised for good and sufficient cause — such as the condition of the county treasury in the lack of funds to pay same at a certain time or times in the year, because of some situation a