Public officers are appointed in the United States, under the provisions of the Constitution, by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the exception that to Congress is given the power to vest in the President alone, or in the heads of departments o• courts of law, the appointment of Inferior otlieers.' Ambassa dors, public »ministers and consuls, and Supreme Court judges are specified as not belonging to this 'inferior' elass, hut beyond that the distinc tion is not clearly defined. lu the various States the appointment of public officers is regulated by statutes, and even in the case of Supreme Court judges election is common. The appointee in most cases is required to take an oath to per form faithfully the duties of the office. A bond is often required where the officer has charge of financial interests o• his duties affect property rights. Where lie performs official nets before giving Mind or taking oath, such acts will be valid unless he has been speeially prohibited by statute or Constitution from holding the office before the bond was filed or the oath admin istered.
Compensation of officers may be fixed by law or may he obtained from fees. It is provided in the United States statutes that no officer of the Government who holds an office with a salary of $2500 or more shall receive extra compensation for performing the duties of any other olliee un less expressly authorized by law. Where an of ficer has been removed, his salary will continue until proper notice of the appointment of his successor has been given him. Compensation does not begin until an offieer is liable to duty.
The law will presume that a public officer i-; acting within the scope of his duty until the re verse has been shown. Where discretionary power is given. the officer is made the exclusive judge of the facts. The officer is liable for wrongful nets both to the injured party and to the State. in the first ease remedy is by netion, in the sec ond by indictment or impeachment. The order of a superior is no bar to an action arising from an unlawful net of the inferior. nor is neg ligence on the part of a subordinate ground for bidding the head office• responsible. Contracts made by public officers are governed by the gen eral law• of ;Jemmy and they cannot Idnd the Government beyond the extent of their legal au thority. If an appropriation is exceeded, the
officer is liable. A court officer cannot be held if acting under the proper order of a court hav ing jurisdiction, but may be where there is no jurisdiction. If a sheriff seize property which is by law exempt. he is personally responsible.
The method of removing a public officer of the United States is not provided for in the Consti tution, and the question arises whether the power belongs to the President alone or whether he must receive the consent of the Senate. The question has several times come before Congress, and the power of the President to net alone sustained by a very close vote. By statutes of 1867 and 1869 it was provided that a civil of ficer appointed by the advice and consent of the Senate shall hold his place until removed by the same authority, but that during a recess of the Senate the President may suspend such officer and appoint another to fill the duties of the posi tion. The President is to make a nomination within thirty days after the beginning of the next session of the Senate; and in ease the Sen ate directly refuse to confirm, he may nominate another person. These statutes are known as the tenure-of-office acts (q.v.). State officers may in many cases be removed by the Governor; the subject is governed by statutory enactments, which vary greatly in the different. States. Elec tive offices cannot be vacated by an executive officer without showing cause, such as malfeas ance or embezzlement. A term of office may be extended or reduced by action of the Legislature unless such action be prohibited by constitu tional provision or the office be elective in its nature. Officers of the United States courts hold during good behavior, but those of the Ter ritorial courts do not fall within the clause of the Constitution already referred to, and depend upon the action of Congress for the limitation of their terms. If neither State nor National Con stitution prescribe the length of a term, the subject is under legislative control, and may be extended or shortened, or the office abolished altogether. See such titles as DIRECTOR; SECRE GUYER NOR ; PRESIDENT, et e. ; and consult authorities under such titles as CONTRACT; TORT; AGENT: -ADM INISTRATIVE Lew; 31 LIN ICIPALTTY, etc.
OFFICE, 114n.Y, CONGREGATION OF THE. See INQUISITION,