Parker v. Richland Cnty.

• Decision Date: 21 February 1905
• Citation: Parker v. Richland Cnty., 214 Ill. 165, 73 N.E. 451 (Ill. 1905)
• Parties: PARKER v. RICHLAND COUNTY.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

214 Ill. 165

73 N.E. 451

PARKER

v.RICHLAND COUNTY.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 21, 1905.

Appeal from Appellate Court, Fourth District.

Assumpsit by William Parker against the county of Richland. From a judgment of the Appellate Court reversing a judgment for plaintiff, he appeals. Affirmed.

Appellant brought an action of assumpsit against appellee in the circuit court of Richland county, and there recovered a judgment for the sum of $600 and costs of suit. On appeal to the Appellate Court for the Fourth District the judgment was reversed, and judgment entered against the plaintiff for costs. Upon a certificate of importance the appellant brings the case to this court.

The declaration alleges that the plaintiff was elected county treasurer of Richland county in November, 1898, and, after duly qualifying and giving bond, entered upon the duties of his office on the 1st day of the following December; that said county is under township organization, and has less than 125,000 inhabitants; that by virtue of the law in relation to revenue approved February 25, 1898 (Laws 1898, p. 36), the office of supervisor of assessments was created, section 2 of which act provides that in counties under township organization of less than 125,000 inhabitants the county treasurer shall be ex officio supervisor of assessments in his county, and that he shall have a suitable office, to be provided and furnished by the county board, in which he shall keep, subject to the inspection of those who desire to consult the same, the assessment books returned to him as directed by law, shall keep his office open for business, etc., and may, ‘with the advice and consent of the county board, appoint necessary deputies and clerks, their compensation to be fixed by the county board and paid by the county.’ It is then alleged that the county board, on the 21st day of February, 1899, passed a resolution in the words and figures following, to wit: ‘Be it resolved, that inasmuch as the new revenue law of 1898 makes the county treasurer ex officio supervisor of assessments; and be it further resolved that he be allowed $300 per annum for that purpose.’ Pleas being filed to the declaration and issues joined thereon, a jury was waived, and the case submitted to the court, by agreement of the parties, on a stipulated state of facts. The agreement of facts applies also to a suit by the county against the plaintiff for money alleged to belong to the county, wrongfully retained by him as county treasurer. At the conclusion of the trial numerous propositions were submitted by the defendant to be held as the law applicable to the case, some of which were held, others modified, and still others refused. So far as appears from the abstract, the plaintiff submitted no proposition whatever.

The facts agreed upon, so far as we deem them material to the decision of the case, are as follows: Prior to the election of the plaintiff on September 14, 1898, the board of supervisors of the county fixed his compensation and expenses for the term of his office at $1,200 per year, to be paid out of the fees and earnings of the office when collected by him. This allowance included salary, necessary clerk hire, and all expenses of his office of every kind and description, during the four years commencing December, 1898, except stationery and fuel. The resolution provided that no additional sum or sums of money should be allowed to said officer by the board of supervisors during the said four years for the performance of any financial duties pertaining to the office of treasurer. It was further agreed that the resolution of February 21, 1899, set out in the declaration, was adopted by the county board, and has never been rescinded or repealed. The stipulation, then, is that he was duly elected, qualified, and entered upon the duties of his office, as set forth in the declaration, and has received $1,200 for each of the four years of his term, according to the resolution of the county board on September 14, 1899; that in his report for 1899 he took $300 for his compensation as supervisor of assessments, which was approved by the board; that at the June meeting in 1900 he presented a bill for salary as supervisor of assessments for one-half year for $150, which was disallowed, and at the...