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81 Ark. 39

State v. Sams

Supreme Court of Arkansas

Decided December 3, 1906

Supreme Court of Arkansas · decided 1906-12-03

Petition for quo warranto; 1. Did the county court have the power to declare a vacancy in the office when none in fact existed, and proceed to fill the vacancy by appointment? Compare Acts 1895, 463; Kirby’s Digest, § 7230; Mansf. Dig., § 5893; Acts 1889, 156; Kirby’s Digest, § 7342; Acts 1899, 353 § ,13; Kirby’s Digest, § 7228. The statute prescribes no time within which a road overseer shall qualify after he is elected.

Relies on Whittaker v. Watson · Payne v. Rittman · Louisiana & Northwest Railroad v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

writ denied · Decided 1906-12-03

How this case has been cited

Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently February 1977

16 state decisions

5019061910192019301940195019601970decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Riddick, J.

¶1One Charles D. Fossett was in September, 1906, elected road overseer of a road district in Greene County of this State. He failed to qualify as such on or before the 1st day of October following, and the county court which convened in regular session on that day declared the office vacant, and appointed P. H. Sams to fill the same. Sams thereupon qualified, and assumed to discharge the duties of the office. Afterwards the State, on relation to the Attorney General, filed a petition in this court, alleging that Sams.was usurping the office of road overseer without right, and to which De Fossett is entitled, and asked that a writ of quo warranto issue against Sams, and that he be compelled to show under what authority he holds such office,

¶2In response to such petition Sams, among other defenses, denied that this court has authority to issue such writ in a case of this kind. We are of the opinion that the objection is well taken. Under the Constitution this court has no original juris-; diction to issue writs of' quo warranto to prevent usurpation of the office of road overseer. Const. 1874, art. 7, § § 4 and 5; Louisiana & N. W. Rd. Co. v. State, 75 Ark. 443; Ex parte Snoddy, 44 Ark. 221.

¶3As the law does, not expressly vest jurisdiction to hear anil determine such an action in any other court, it falls within the general jurisdiction of the circuit court. The remedy for usurpation of office of road overseer is by an action in that court brought either by the State or the person entitled to the office. Whittaker v. Watson, 68 Ark. 555; Payne v. Rittman, 66 Ark. 201; Const. 1874, art. 7, § 11; Kirby’s Digest, § § 7981-7989.

¶4Writ denied and petition dismissed.

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