Jimison v. Adams County

Citations

• 130 Ill. 558
• 22 N.E. 829

Syllabus

<p>1. Statutes—construction—whether retrospective, or prospective only. It is a general rule, that a statute will be construed to be prospective, only, and not retroactive, in its operation, unless it clearly appears that the legislature intended it to have a retrospective effect. In the absence of a clear manifestation of such intent, statutes will be so construed as not to prejudice or affect past transactions.</p> <p>2. County supebintendents of schools—compensation. Superintendents of schools do not belong to that class of county officers whose compensation is to be fixed by the county board, as provided in section 10, of article 10, of the constitution. The constitution (section 5, article 8) vests the power of fixing their compensation in the legislature.</p> <p>3. Section 27 of the act concerning fees and salaries, in addition to certain commissions, allowed them four dollars per day for such number of days as the county board might fix. Under this law a county board, in 1882, fixed the compensation of such officer at $800 per annum, being four dollars per day for two hundred days in each year of his four years’ term. In 1885, section 20 of the School law was so amended as to give county boards the power to limit the time of superintendents, provided, in certain counties having from seventy-six to one hundred schools, such limit should not be less than two hundred and fifty days: Held, that the amendment in 1885 had no application to superintendents then in office, whose compensation had been previously fixed so as to give them the per diem on fifty additional days in each year.</p> <p>4. If the amendatory act of 1885, relating to schools, was intended to increase or diminish the compensation of county superintendents of schools during their terms of office, it would be in that respect unconstitutional, such officer being a municipal officer, within the meaning of section 11, article 9, of the constitution.</p> <p>5. If the four dollars per diem should remain