State ex rel. Fair v. Hamilton

Citations

• 92 Wash. 347
• 159 P. 379

Syllabus

<p>Statutes — Construction—Ambiguity — Intent — Extrinsic Evidence — Justice of Peace — Constables—Term of Office. The ambiguity in 3 Rem. & Bal. Code, § 6533-1, providing for the election of justices of the peace and constables “quadrennially” and limiting the term of office to “two years” after election, admits of extrinsic evidence to ascertain the intent; and the intent to provide a four-year term is clear and will be given effect, where it appears from the senate and house journals that the bill as originally introduced provided for elections “biennially,” which was by amendment changed to “quadrennially,” showing that the omission to change the term also was an inadvertence.</p> <p>Justices of the Peace — Term—Constitutional and Statutory Provisions — Counties—Officers. Const., art. 11, §§ 4 and 5, requiring uniformity in county government, and art. 6, § 8, requiring county officers to be elected biennially, apply only to executive and administrative county officers and not to justices of the peace and constables, since they properly belong to the judicial department of the state and are not county officers.</p> <p>Counties — Officers — Statutes. Const., art. 6, § 8, requiring county officers to be elected biennially, must be construed in connection with art. 11, § 5, conferring power on the legislature to prescribe the duty of county officers and fix their term of office.</p> <p>Statutes — Titles and Subjects. The titles of acts “relating to justices of the peace and constables” in cities having a specified population, and “relating to justices of the peace and constables and the compensation of justices,” in cities of a specified population, are sufficient without being a complete index of the acts.</p> <p>Statutes — Amendments—Construction. An amendatory act relating to the election of justices, quoting parts of the act amended, and containing the word “hereafter,” is not ambiguous as providing for a future election to be held at a past time; since “hereaft