A Constitutional Deadlock in Benton County
A dispute over an appointed county commissioner’s term creates a legal stalemate between state law and the constitution.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Commissioner-elect C. E. DeBow from the Prosser district asked to be allowed to take his place on the board. Anticipating such a request, the old board had asked the attorney general for an opinion on the status of Commissioner McNeill, who is serving by appointment to fill the unexpired term of Dr. French. McNeill holds that the law permits him to serve out the entire term until 1924, while the state constitution provides that appointments to fill unexpired terms in elective offices shall hold only until the next general election. The attorney general refused to give a definite opinion and suggested it was a matter for the courts to decide. Mr. DeBow says that he will again make a request to be allowed to take his place on the board at the January meeting, and if he is again refused, will take the matter into court.
“After citing this apparent conflict between the constitution and the state law the attorney general refused to give a definite opinion.”
Conflicts between local governance, legislative mandates, and constitutional law remain a core feature of municipal politics today, particularly when incumbents challenge their replacements' legal standing.
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