State v. Manly

Eccleston J. delivered the opinion of the court. The 1st sec. of the 8th article of the new constitution, makes Howard District a county, calling it Howard county; and declares that the inhabitants thereof, shall have and enjoy all such rights and privileges as are held and enjoyed by the inhabitants of the other counties in this State; and that is, civil and municipal officers, at the time of the ratification of the constitution, shall continue in office until their successors shall have been elected or appointed, and shall have qualified as such. The meaning of which surely is, that the civil and municipal officers of Howard District, shall continue in officer as such, until the election or appointment of officers under the new constitution. And that portion of the same article ¹⁴⁰ which declares, that all rights, powers and obligations, incident to Howard District of Anne Arundel county, shall attach to Howard county, is gratified, so far as relates to the officers, by deciding the new county, to be entitled to their services, although continued in office, as the officers of Howard District, until the election of their successors.

Such a construction would make this article harmonize with the 8th sec. of the 10th article, which provides that officers holding commissions, under the State, shall continue to hold and exercise their offices, according to their existing tenure, until they should be superseded. This has been construed to give the judges power to hold the county courts, through the State, and the Baltimore city court, until the election of new judges. But it has not been supposed that the style of either of the courts was changed, whilst the judges under the old constitution continued in office. In the proceedings before us, the court from whence they were removed, or intended to be removed, is called “Baltimore city court,” as late as September 1851.

And yet, there would seem to be quite as much propriety, in calling the courts for the counties, circuit courts, and Baltimore city court, the criminal court of Baltimore, in consequence of the names given to the courts, under the new constitution, as to call the court of “Howard District of Anne Arundel county,” Howard county court. The