Wilson v. Clark

Citations

• 63 Kan. 505
• 65 P. 705
• 1901 Kan. LEXIS 175

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Elections — Biennial Act of 1901 Constitutional. Chapter 176, Laws of 1901 (Gen. Stat. 1901, §§2751-2755), which provides for postponing the election of certain county and judicial officers for periods of a year, with a view to securing uniformity in the commencement of official terms and dispensing with frequent and unnecessary elections, does not conflict .with, section 2, article 1, of the constitution, providing for annual elections.</p> <p>2, - Power of Readjustment of Official Terms. For the purposes named the legislature has constitutional power to readjust the commencement of official terms by postponing elections for a reasonable time, and provisions for the filling of the offices during the interval between the end of one regular term and the commencement of another are not invalid.</p> <p>3. - Postponement of One Year Not Unreasonable. While the legislature cannot extend or abridge the terms of office fixed by the constitution, nor postpone elections so long a time as to deprive the offices of their elective character, the postponement for one year for the purposes stated is not deemed to be an unreasonable or unnecessary time, or to indicate a legislative design to make the offices appointive rather than elective.</p>