28 S.D. 41 | S.D. | 1911
This action was brought to determine who was entitled to hold the office of treasurer of a certain school district in Gregory county. At -the annual school election held in June, 1909, one C. was elected to such office for a term of three years. He afterwards left the state, and on June 17, 1911, the county superintendent >of schools appointed defendant and respondent to fill the vacancy in such office. At the regular annual school election for the year 1911, held'on June 20, the voters of such school district attempted, by their votes, to elect plaintiff
The sole question presented by the record herein is whether or not appointments to fill a vacancy in the office of a member of a school board hold for the remainder of the original term of office, or only until the first annual school election thereafter. The answer to this question lies in the construction that should be placed upon section 91, c. 135, Taws of. 1907, which reads as follows: “Whenever a vacancy may occur, from any cause, in any school district office under the supervision of the county superintendent, he shall fill such vacancy by appointment, and such officer shall hold sucli office until the next election, when the vacancy shall be filled by a vote of the people.” From appellant’s brief, we are led to infer that, respondent had taken the position that the cases of McGee v. Gardner, 3 S. D. 553, 54 N. W. 606, and In re Supreme Court Vacancy, 4 S. D. 532, 57 N. W. 495, supported his claim that his appointment held for the whole of the uuexpired term of C.; but we think a most casual reading of the opinions in those cases will show that the facts therein were such that nothing said by the court in those opinions can aid us in the determination of the cause now before us.
The judgment of the -trial court is reversed, and said court is directed to enter an order sustaining appellant’s demurrer to respondent’s return.