Sewickley Township v. McKelvey

Citations

• 61 Pa. Super. 175
• 1915 Pa. Super. LEXIS 290

Syllabus

<p>Public officers — Township supervisors — Minutes and boohs— Bight of inspection by taxpayer — Act of June H, 1911, P. L. 9bB.</p> <p>An individual member of a board of township supervisors cannot be subjected to the penalty provided by the Act of June 14, 1911, P. L. 942, for a violation of tbe provisions of the act which directs that the minutes and books of the board “shall be open for the inspection of any taxpayer at all reasonable times” where it is not made to appear that the books were in the special custody or control of the defendant, or that they were not actually open for inspection, or that the defendant cooperated with any other member of the board in withholding the books from the taxpayers’ scrutiny.</p> <p>It would he a harsh and unwarranted construction of the words of the statute to hold that in the proceedings of the board at its meetings, the omission or refusal of a minority member to concur in the action of the majority in an effort to perform the duties prescribed by the statute, subjected him to the penalties which the law applies to appropriate cases.</p>