State ex rel. Steen v. Bishop

Citations

• 242 N.E.3d 801
• 2024 Ohio 1489

Syllabus

The magistrate correctly concluded that relator is entitled to a writ of quo warranto ousting respondent from the office of the governor-appointed investment expert member of the State Teachers Retirement System board (\STRS board\) and reinstating relator to that office. R.C. 3307.05(C) defines the governor's authority to appoint an investment expert to the STRS board, and it requires the appointment to be for a four-year term. The absence of language in R.C. 3307.05(C) that an appointee to a full four-year term of office as an investment expert member of the STRS board \shall hold office\ for four years does not require the conclusion that the appointee serves at the governor's pleasure and can be removed at will. The general assembly knows how to express that a public officer serves at the pleasure of the governor, and it did not do so here. The governor's authority to appoint an investment expert to the STRS board does not include the authority to unilaterally remove the appointee. Respondent's objections are overruled, relator's motion for summary judgment is granted, and a writ of quo warranto is granted.