119 Fla. 86 | Fla. | 1935
The controversy which gives rise to this opinion will be found more particularly related in the previous opinion of this Court herein on February 25, 1935. See State, ex rel. Crim v. Juvenal,
An inspection of said Chapter 16105, Acts of 1935, shows that it is not only patently defective in referring in body and title to a non-existent statute of Florida, to-wit: Chapter 62116, Act of June 6, 1911;* as the object of its operation, but furthermore is a special and local Act of the Legislature practically and potentially applicable only to Broward County and attempted to be enacted in a manner contrary to Sections 20 and 21 of Article III of the State Constitution. It is therefore utterly null and void. This Court judicially knows that Broward County is the only county that possibly could ever have not less than 10,000 nor more than 22,000 population according to Federal census for the specified and limited year, 1930. So the attempted Act must be dealt with as a special and local law intended to operate only in Broward County, and must be tested by the requirements of validity pertaining to such special and local laws when attempted to be passed by the Legislature in disregard of what is provided with reference thereto by Sections 20 and 21 of Article III of the State Constitution.
Relator having shown himself to have been appointed and to have qualified and served as the County Probation Officer of Broward County pursuant to the provisions of Section 3690, C. G. L., 2325 R. G. S., is entitled to be paid for his services the legal compensation provided by law to be paid to such officer, notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter 16105, Acts of 1933, which we hold to be unconstitutional and therefore ineffective for the reasons hereinbefore stated. Hence the motion to quash the amended alternative writ of mandamus should b denied.
In Board of County Commissioners of Hillsborough *88
County v. Savage,
It is obvious, therefore, that Section 2325 R. G. S. being a section of the permanent and general statutes of the State of Florida by reason of its incorporation into the 1920 Revised General Statutes as a general law, there is no force to the respondents' objection that it is violative of Section 21 of Article III of the Constitution.
Neither is said Section 2325 R. G. S. (3690 C. G. L.) unconstitutional as an unauthorized delegation of legislative power to the County Commissioners in violation of Article II and Section 1 of Article III of the Constitution of Florida. When said statute is construed in the light of what was recently held by this Court in Ex Parte Lewis,
Unlike the situation presented to the Supreme Court of Maine in State, ex rel. Young, v. Butler,
There is nothing in the State Constitution to make invalid an act providing for the unconditional creation for a county purpose of a local county office, but remitting to the decision of other local county officers, the determination of when there is in the particular county sufficient local news to require the Governor to fill the office in the first instance in *90 order to have the legislative Act begin to operate in such particular county. See Ex parte Lewis, supra.
Motion to quash amended alternative writ of mandamus denied, with leave to file further return within ten days, in default of which the Clerk will enter a final judgment awarding relator a peremptory writ at the costs of respondents.
WHITFIELD, C. J., and ELLIS, TERRELL, BROWN and BUFORD, J. J., concur.