Agard v. Shaffer

GRAY, C.

The respondent, Agard, in a clerical capacity, assisted the recorder of San Diego County in the preparation of abstracts of mortgages to be furnished to the assessor of the same county, pursuant to the provisions of section 3678 of the Political Code. The board of supervisors of said county thereafter determined that the employment of respondent by the recorder was necessary to do such work, and allowed his claim therefor, amounting to $1,304. The county auditor refused to draw his warrant for the claim, and Agard brought this proceeding in the superior court, and obtained judgment requiring the auditor to draw his warrant on the county treasurer for the amount of the claim. The auditor appeals.

One contention of appellant is, that said section 3678 of the Political Code is in conflict with section 5 of article XI of the constitution, in that it leaves, in some measure at least, the regulation of the compensation of a county officer to the board of supervisors. We think this contention must be upheld.

The section of the code referred to reads as follows: “To assist the assessor in the performance of his duties, the recorder must annually transmit to the assessor, on or before the first Monday in April of each year, a complete abstract of all mortgages, deeds of trust, contracts, and other obligations by which any debt is secured, remaining unsatisfied on the records of his office,” etc. “When necessary, the board of supervisors of each county must provide for the payment of such additional clerical force as may be required to enable the county recorder to comply with this section.”

The said section 5 of article XI of the constitution provides as follows: “The legislature, by general and uniform laws, shall provide for the election or appointment in the several counties, of boards of supervisors, sheriffs, county clerks, district attorneys, and such other county, township, and municipal officers as public convenience may require, and shall prescribe their duties and fix their terms of office. It shall regulate the compensation of all such officers in proportion

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to duties, and for this purpose may classify the counties by population,” etc.

If the quoted section of the code is followed, it may well be that in some counties the board of supervisors will be of opinion that clerical assistance of the recorder to perform the official duties prescribed by the section is entirely unnecessary, and as a consequence such recorder will be compelled to pay his clerical help out of his own salary. In other counties an abundance of clerical assistance may be furnished the recorder and compensated directly from the county treasury. Thus it may be seen that the compensation of the recorder may be increased or diminished by the action of the several boards of supervisors under the statute. It was the purpose of the constitutional provision quoted that the legislature should regulate the compensation of all such officers in proportion to duties, and it was not intended that such compensation should be left either directly or indirectly to the discretion or regulation of the board of supervisors. This is clearly pointed out in