Brodie v. Campbell

Citations

• 17 Cal. 11

Syllabus

<p>The full term of office of Judge Norton, of the Twelfth District Court, commenced with his qualification, January 2d, 1855, and expired six years thereafter; and the only election at which his successor could be elected was the general election in November, 1860.</p> <p>The Act of May 15th, 1854, creating the Twelfth Judicial District, is merely amendatory of the Act of May 19th, 1853, and not independent of the general provisions of this latter act. The Act of 1854 must be construed in connection with the original Act of 1853, as much so as if it constituted from the day of its passage a part of that act; and by the fourteenth section of that act, Judge Norton, as the appointee of the Governor under the Act of 1854, was entitled to hold office until the election and qualification of his successor.</p> <p>It is competent for the Legislature to provide for filling the office of District Jndge during the interval between the day of election and the qualification of his successor, by authorizing him to hold until such successor be elected and qualified.</p> <p>Although the right to an office is derived by election from the people, it is competent for the Legislature to render the enjoyment of the right dependent upon various conditions, as to the ascertaining of the result of the election, the issuing of the commission, and the qualification of the officer.</p> <p>Where the statute does not fix the commencement of the term of a District Judge, by the designation of a day certain, but requires a commission to issue to him, and his oath of office to be indorsed thereon, and leaves its issuance to the Governor without prescribing the period within which this shall take place, Courts will look to the qualification of the officer to ascertain the date at which his term begins.</p> <p>The presumption is, that the Governor will issue the commission within a reasonable time; and the Constitution appears to have contemplated the first of January as the proper date at which D