delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is аn appeal from the granting of a motion by the district court, Carter County,, to quash a petition for a writ of mandamus. The petition sought a writ ordеring Vernon Preuss, sheriff of Carter County, to reinstate Clayton Holly to his former position a,s undersheriff of Carter County.
In April 1975, Sheriff Pruess asked Undersheriff Holly to resign. The undersheriff refused and asked for a written statement of the reasons for termination. The sheriff then fired the under-sheriff. The undersheriff made another request for a written statement of cause for termination. This request was again refused. After the parties consulted with the county attorney and *424 the county commissioners, the undersheriff agreed to abide by an informal written attorney general’s opinion on this question:
“Whether an undersheriff, appointed to hold office during the pleasure of the sheriff, may be discharged from office without such cause as is enumerated in the Dеputy Sheriff Tenure Act, section 16-3705(5), Revised Codes of Montana, 1947.”
The attorney general’s opinion was:
“An undersheriff may be discharged from office without such cause as is enumerated in sеction 16-3705(5), R.C.M.1947.”
After seeking legal advice, the undersheriff decided the attorney general’s opinion was in error and brought this action.
The only issue before the Court is the one present from the outset: Is an undersheriff a deputy sheriff for the purposes of section 16-3705, R.C.M.1947, and thus tenured and terminablе only upon written notice and for cause.
For many purposes the two terms, deputy sheriff and under-sheriff, are interchangeable. In his argument, the undersheriff cites
Shirran v. Dallas,
There are differences between the two positions however. The undersheriff is paid more than a deрuty sheriff, section 25-604, R.C.M.1947; he is required to fill any vacancy in the office of sheriff until a successor is elected and he is covered by the sheriff’s bond, section 16-2704, R.C.M.1947.
The undersheriff urges that section 16-3701, R.C.M.1947, is pertinent here:
“* * * The whole number of deputies allowed the sheriff is *425 one undersheriff, and in addition not to exceed the following number of deputies: * *
He аlleges it indicates the undersheriff is a deputy sheriff. The statute deals with the number of deputy employees allowed the county clerk, the clеrk of court and the sheriff in various county classes and it does indicate the undersheriff is to be included as a deputy for the purpose of thе statute, limiting the number of deputy employees. However, the statute makes a distinction between the undersheriff and the deputies by naming both, indicating there is a difference.
In the final analysis the issue here is whether by enacting section 16-3705 which gives tenure to deputy sheriffs, the legislature repеaled by implication section 16-2703 which states:
“The sheriff, as soon as may be after he enters upon the duties of his office, must, except in сounties of the seventh and eighth classes, appoint some person undersheriff to hold during the pleasure of the sheriff Such undersheriff has the same powers and duties as a deрuty sheriff.” (Emphasis supplied.)
In
State ex rel. Charette v. District
Court,
“* * * Unless there is clearly and manifestly a conflict between the two Acts in question, the court will not declare that therе is an implied repeal. Repeal by implication is not favored by this or any court, and every effort will be made by the courts to recоncile the Acts in question to avoid such repeal. * * *”
In
State Aeronautics Comm. v. Bd. Exam.,
“ * * it is a canon of statutory construction that a later statute general in its terms and not еxpressly repealing a prior special or specific statute, will be considered as not intended to affect the speciаl or specific provisions of the earlier statute, unless the intention to effect the repeal is clearly manifested or unavoidаbly implied by the irreconcilability of the continued operation of both, or unless there is something in the general law or in the course of lеgislation upon its subject matter that makes *426 it manifest that the legislature contemplated and intended a repeal.’ ”
The Court reaffirmed these rules in
Teamsters v. Montana Liquor Control Board,
“ ‘The general rule is thаt for a subsequent statute to repeal a former statute by implication, the previous statute must be wholly inconsistent and incompatible with it.’
“ ‘Where one statute deals with a subject in general and comprehensive terms and another deals with a part of the same subject in a mоre minute and definite way, to the extent of any necessary repugnancy between them the special will prevail over the general statute. * * *’
“ ‘The presumption is that the Legislature passes a law with deliberation and with a full knowledge of all existing ones on the same subject, and does not intend to interfere with or abrogate a former law relating tot he same manner unless the repugnancy between the two is irreconcilable.’ ”
While it is true the legislature has expanded the coverage of the deputy tenure provisions to include every deputy in every county, there is no “necessary repugnancy” between section 16-3705 and section 16-2703, unless the terms “deputy sheriff” and “undersheriff” are absolutely equivalent. The terms “deputy sheriff” and “undersheriff” are not absolutely equivalent, the legislature has treated the two as different, setting a different rate of pay and granting special responsibilities to the person holding the office of undersheriff. The most that may be said is thаt the undersheriff is a special class of deputy. It is clear from the rules set out above that repeal by implication of specifiс provisions of the earlier statute will not be found, unless the intent to repeal is clearly manifested or unavoidably implied by irreconcilability of the continued operation of both statutes. No such intent or irreconcilability appears here. While there is *427 no question the lеgislature could expand the coverage of the tenure act by repealing section 16-2703 and inserting the word “undersheriff” in section 16-3705, this Court cаnnot. The clear unambiguous statement in section 16-2703 that the sheriff must appoint someone “undersheriff to hold during the pleasure of the sheriff” is not rеpealed by the grant of tenure to deputy sheriffs in section 16-3705. Each statute applies to the class of county law enforcement оfficers it names.
The undersheriff argues the two statutes may be reconciled by holding the undersheriff may be terminated at will, but remain on as a deputy shеriff at the lower pay and may be terminated as a deputy only for cause. To so hold would require section 16-2703 to be amended to read “appoint some deputy sheriff undersheriff” instead of reading as it does “appoint some person undersheriff”. (Emphasis supplied.)
As the sheriff points out, the distinction between an under-sheriff and a deputy sheriff in the area of tenure is not without basis in poliсy. Representative government requires an elected official be able to implement new or different policies and a fully tenured carryover staff might resist such changes. Having the undersheriff, who is the sheriff’s second in command, not-tenured serves to make the sheriff’s administration of his office more efficient and effective. Further the undersheriff would be more loyal to the sheriff’s policies than would necessarily be true if the undersheriff was a tenured carryover from a prior defeated administration.
The decision of the district court is affirmed.