Office

A right to exercise a function or employment, and take the fees and emoluments belonging to it.

3 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 149; 23 Ind. 449; 36 Miss. 273.

The term is ordinarily used with respect to the power conferred on individuals to exercise public functions, and in this connection "public oflfice" is a more discriminating term. An "office" in this sense implies a delegation of a part of the sovereign power to an individual.

See 3 Me. 481.

The office exists and survives as an entity apart from the incumbent (28 Cal. 382; 29 Ohio St. 347), but it has been said that the essence of the office is the power and jurisdiction of the officer (62 Pa. St. 343). Offices are either civil or military. Civil offices are either executive, judicial, or legislative.