109 P. 144 | Mont. | 1910
delivered .the opinion of the court.
Mandamus to compel the board of county commissioners of Silver Bow county to appoint a justice of the peace in and for South Butte township.
Prior to September 22, 1908, there were six organized townships in Silver Bow county, vis., Silver Bow, South Butte, Meaderville, Walberville, German, and Red Mountain. On the last-mentioned date the board of commissioners made an order abolishing all the townships excepting Silver Bow, and extending the boundaries of that township, so that they became coterminous with the boundaries of Silver Bow county. This order was made to become effective on the first Monday of January, 1909. At the general election held in November, 1908, there were but two justices of the peace elected in the county; that is, two for the newly extended township of Silver Bow. In February, 1909, this proceeding was commenced. The district court, after trial, directed the peremptory writ to issue, and, from the judgment and an order denying a new trial, the.defendant board appealed.
May the board of county commissioners in any county of this state limit the number of townships in that county to one!
Furthermore, in the absence of anything to indicate a contrary intention, we must assume that the framers of our constitution and the members of the legislature in speaking of municipal townships used the word “township” in the ordinary, popular sense of the term, according to the context and the
Since we are left to determine the legislative intent in order to answer the inquiry submitted above, and there does not appear to be, in terms, any express grant of the power sought to be exercised, it would seem to do violence to the most elementary rules of statutory construction to assume that the legislature intended a construction to be placed upon the language employed in section 2894, which would render nugatory the right guaranteed to a defendant by section 9589. While there is ample authority in the board to change the boundaries of a township, or to abolish a township altogether, a due regard for other provisions of the Codes requires that such authority be exercised with this limitation: That there shall always be at least two townships in every county. In abolishing all the townships in Silver Bow county but one, the board exceeded its authority, and its order of September 22, 1908, is void.
We do not find any error in the record. The judgment and order are affirmed.
Affirmed.