107 Ga. 745 | Ga. | 1899
An action was brought by Alexander against Ison, chief of police of the city of Griffin, and the sureties upon his official bond, for damages alleged to have been occasioned by the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of the plaintiff by Ison in the guard-house of that city. The petition was dismissed on demurrer, and Alexander excepted. The act of February 15,1876, amending the charter of the City of Griffin (Acts of 1876, p. 142), among other things provided that the marshal of that city should “give bond in such sum, and with such security, and take süch oath before entering upon the discharge of [his] duties, as the mayor and council may prescribe.” By the act of December 2, 1884 (Acts of 1884-5, p. 293), the office of marshal was abolished and that of chief of police created, with a provision that this official “be required to give bond in the same manner that said marshal was required to do.” Pursuant to these statutes, Ison gave a bond, payable to the Mayor and Council of the City of Griffin, in the sum of $2,000, the condition of which was that he should “well and truly demean himself in the office to which he [had] been elected, and well and truly account for all moneys coming into-his hands by reason of said office.” Presumably, the terms of' this bond were fixed by a municipal ordinance.
"We are quite sure that the General Assembly, in enacting' the legislation above recited, never contemplated that an individual citizen aggrieved or injured by a tort at the hands of' the chief of police would have a right of action upon that official’s bond for damages thus occasioned. Upon general principles, a citizen upon whom the chief of police committed a. tort would have no such right, for the obvious reason that there-is no privity of contract between him and the bonded officer or his sureties. Being an entire stranger to the contract, it would require express legislative authority to give him a right of action thereon. Apparently, the bond taken in the present-
Judgment affirmed.