OFFICE

“Office” is defined to be a right to exercise a public or private employment, and to take the fees and emoluments thereunto belonging, whether public, as those of magistrates, or private, as of bailiffs, receivers, or the like. 2 Bl. Comm. 36. Rowland v. New York, 83 N. Y. 372; Dailey v. State, 8 Blackf. (Ind.) 330; Blair v. Marye, 80 Va. 495; Worthy v. Barrett, 63 N. C. 202; People v. Duane, 121 N. Y. 367, 24 N. E. 845; U. S. v. Hartwell, 6 Wall. 393, 18 L. Ed. 830. That function by virtue whereof a person has some employment in the affairs of another, whether judicial, ministerial, legislative, municipal, ecclesiastical, etc. Cowell. An employment on behalf of the government in any station or public trust, not merely transient, occasional, or incidental. In re Attorneys’ Oaths, 20 Johns. (N. Y.) 493. The most frequent occasions to use the word arise with reference to a duty and power conferred on an individual by the government; and, when this is the connection, “public office” is a usual and more discriminating expression. But a power and duty may exist without immediate grant from government, and may be properly called an “office;” as the office of executor, the office of steward. Here the individual acts towards legatees or towards tenants in performance of a duty, and in exercise of a power not derived from their consent, but devolved on him by an authority which quoad hoc is superior. Abbott. Offices may be classed as civil and military; and civil offices may be classed as political, judicial, and ministerial. Political offices are such as are not connected immediately with the administration of justice, or the execution of the mandates of a superior officer. Judicial are those which relate to the administration of justice. Ministerial are those which give the officer no power to judge of the matter to be done, and require him to obey the mandates of a superior. It is a general rule that a judicial office cannot be exercised by deputy, while a ministerial one may. Waldo v. Wallace, 12 Ind. 569. “Office” is frequently used in the old books as an abbreviation for “inquest of office,” (Q. v.) Lucrative office. See Lucrative. Office book. Any book for the record of official or other transactions, kept under authorityof the state, in public offices not connected with the courts. Office copy. A copy or transcript of a deed or record or any filed document made by the officer having it in custody or under his sanction, and by him sealed or certified. Office found. In English law. Inquest of office found; the finding of certain facts by a jury on an inquest or inquisition of office. 3 Bl. Comm. 258, 259. This phrase has been adopted in American law. 2 Kent, Comm. 61. See Phillips v. Moore, 100 U. S. 212, 25 L. Ed. 603; Baker v. Shy, 9 Heisk. (Tenn.) 89. Office grant. A designation of a conveyance made by some officer of the law to effect certain purposes, where the owner is either unwilling or unable to execute the requisite deeds to pass the title; such, for example, as a tax deed. 3 Washb. Real Prop. 537. Office hours. That portion of the day during which public offices are usually open for the transaction of business. Office of honor. See Honor. Office of judge. A criminal suit in an ecclesiastical court, not being directed to the reparation of a private injury, is regarded as a proceeding emanating from the office of the judge, and may be instituted by the mere motion of the judge. But, in practice, these suits are instituted by private individuals, with the permission of the judge or his surrogate ; and the private prosecutor in any such case is, accordingly, said to “promote the office of the judge.” Mozley & Whitley. Political office. Civil offices are usually divided into three classes,political, judicial, and ministerial. Political offices are such as are not immediately connected with the administration of justice, or with the execution of the mandates of a superior, such as the president or the head of a department. “Waldo v. Wallace, 12 Ind. 569; Fitzpatrick v. U. S., 7 Ct. CI. 293. Principal office. The principal office of a corporation is its headquarters, or the place where the chief or principal affairs and business of the corporation are transacted. Usually it is the office where the company’s books are kept, where its meetings of stockholders are held, and where the directors, trustees, or managers assemble to discuss and transact the important general business of the company; but no one of these circumstances is a controlling test. See Jossey v. Georgia & A. Ry., 102 Ga 706, 28 S. E. 273; Milwaukee Steamship Co v. Milwaukee, 83 Wis. 590, 53 N. W. 839, 18 L. R. A. 353; Standard Oil Co. v. Com., 110 Ky. 821, 62 S. W. 897; Middletown Ferry Co. v. Middletown, 40 Conn. 69. As to various particular offices, see Land Office, Petty Bag Office, Post Office, etc.