The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN MIKE COX, ATTORNEY GENERAL CONST 1963, ART 7, � 5: SHERIFFS: Constitutional requirement that county
officer have principal office at county seat A county sheriff's principal office must be maintained at the
county seat as required by Const 1963, art 7, � 5. The mere designation of one
of several offices throughout the county as the principal office is not
sufficient to meet this requirement. To satisfy the constitutional requirement,
the office must, in fact, serve as the sheriff's principal or primary office. Opinion No. 7215 June 30, 2008 Honorable Jud Gilbert Honorable Phillip Pavlov In separate requests, you each have asked for guidance
concerning the requirement in Const 1963, art 7, � 5 that the principal office
of certain county officers be located at the county seat. You ask whether the
mere designation of one of several offices throughout the county as the
principal office is sufficient to meet this requirement, and, if not, you ask
what factors should be considered in determining whether an office is the
"principal" office of a sheriff for purposes of complying with Const 1963, art
7, � 5. Const 1963, art 7, � 5, found within the Constitution's article
on local government, provides: "The sheriff, county clerk, county treasurer and
register of deeds shall hold their principal offices at the county seat." In the
Address to the People, the framers at the Constitutional Convention of 1961
explained this provision to the voters, stating that it represented a revision
of the 1908 Constitution. By adding the word "principal" to art 7, � 5, "these
county officers will be enabled to establish additional offices in other parts
of the county, if needed." 2 Official Record, Constitutional Convention 1961, p
3390. 1 Similar to this constitutional provision, various statutory
provisions also recognize that, in order to perform his myriad duties, the
sheriff may maintain more than one office within the county, provided his
principal office is located at the county seat. For example, MCL 45.16 provides
that a jail may be located anywhere in the county: Each organized county shall, at its own cost and expense,
provide at the county seat thereof a suitable courthouse, and a suitable and
sufficient jail and fireproof offices and all other necessary public
buildings, and keep the same in good repair. However, and notwithstanding
the provisions of section 11 of Act No. 156 of the Public Acts of 1851, as
amended, being section 46.11 of the Compiled Laws of 1948, a jail may be
located anywhere in the county. [Emphasis added.] Additionally, MCL 51.83 provides that the sheriff shall maintain
an office at the place where the courts of the county are held: It shall be the duty of the sheriff of every county to keep
an office at the place where the courts for such county are held, of which
he shall file a notice in the office of the clerk of the county; and to keep
the same open during the usual business hours of each day, Sundays excepted. However, the requirement that the principal office must remain
at the county seat is recognized in MCL 46.11, which provides in relevant part: A county board of commissioners, at a lawfully held meeting,
may do 1 or more of the following: * * * (b) Determine the site of, remove, or designate a new site
for a county building. The exercise of the authority granted by this
subdivision is subject to any requirement of law that the building be
located at the county seat. [Emphasis added.] Therefore, while sheriffs may establish and maintain more than
one office within the county in which they serve, they may not maintain their
principal office outside the county seat. Your question asks what factors other than physical location
should be considered in determining whether the office designated as the
"principal" office is, in fact, the principal office as required by art 7, � 5.
The Michigan Constitution and relevant statutes identified above do not define
the term "principal office," nor do they specify those activities that must take
place at the principal office. The term, therefore, must be construed using
established principles of constitutional interpretation. "The first rule a court
should follow in ascertaining the meaning of words in a constitution is to give
effect to the plain meaning of such words as understood by the people who
adopted it." Bond v Ann Arbor School Dist, 383 Mich 693, 699; 178
NW2d 484 (1970). "[W]e adopt the meaning which the ordinary citizens who
ratified the constitution would attach to the words under consideration."
Kuhn v Dep't of Treasury, 384 Mich 378, 384; 183 NW2d 796 (1971).
Words in the Constitution must be given the meaning most reasonably derived from
their context or setting. See Koontz v Ameritech Services, Inc, 466 Mich
304, 318; 645 NW2d 34 (2002). In the context of art 7, � 5, the term "principal" is a word of
common usage and understanding. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th
Edition (2001) defines "principal" as "most important, consequential, or
influential: CHIEF." Black's Law Dictionary, Revised 4th Edition
(1968) offers a similar definition: "Chief; leading; most important or
considerable; primary; original. Highest in rank, authority, character,
importance, or degree." In addition, Roget's Super Thesaurus, 2nd
Edition (1998), regards the following words as synonyms for the word
"principal": "main, major, chief, leading, primary, dominant, foremost, supreme,
star, key, most important." In a Letter Opinion of Attorney General Frank J. Kelley to
Prosecuting Attorney Wesley J. Nykamp, dated April 11, 1975, the following
discussion was provided concerning a sheriff's principal office: The term "principal office" referred to in Const 1963, art
7, � 5, does not necessarily mean the place where the majority of the
functions and duties of the sheriff are carried out; it refers to the place
where the sheriff maintains his office and spends most of his time while
carrying out the functions of his office. As noted above, the adjective
"principal" was appended to the word "office" to permit the establishment of
additional offices in other parts of the county. Thus, in view of the modern
and rapid means of transportation and communication, there is no reason why
the sheriff may not locate his principal office away from the jail and,
inasmuch as the legislature has specifically authorized construction of a
jail outside the county seat, 1846 RS, ch 13, � 16, supra, Ottawa
County may construct its jail at a place other than Grand Haven [the county
seat] so long as the sheriff maintains his principal office in that city. While this 1975 opinion refers to the time the sheriff spends
carrying out the functions of his office, this temporal component must be read
reasonably as recognizing that the law enforcement duties of a sheriff are not
solely administrative and can require that considerable time be spent out of the
office. In any event, the mere designation of an office as the "principal"
office is not controlling for constitutional purposes; the office must actually
be the sheriff's chief, primary, or main office to meet the requirements of art
7, � 5. 2 In the absence of Michigan case law defining what among the many
activities and duties of a sheriff must take place at the sheriff�s principal
office, a number of factors might reasonably be considered in resolving the
inherently factual question of whether the designated principal office is, in
fact, the "principal" office for purposes of complying with art 7, � 5. They
include, for example: the location where the administrative records and files
used by a sheriff on a daily basis are maintained; the location where the
sheriff's secretary or executive staff report to work on a regular basis; the
location where the public wishing to conduct business with the sheriff's office
would be expected to appear; and the location where the day-to-day duties and
administrative functions of the sheriff that must be carried on in an office
setting are conducted. It must also be borne in mind that the manner in which
sheriffs most efficiently organize their various offices may vary greatly
depending on the overall size of their departments, the population and geography
of their counties, the experiences that dictate the law enforcement needs of
their counties, and numerous other factors, all of which may play a role in
determining which of several offices is the "principal" office. It is my opinion, therefore, that a county sheriff's principal
office must be maintained at the county seat as required by Const 1963, art 7, �
5. The mere designation of one of several offices throughout the county as the
principal office is not sufficient to meet this requirement. To satisfy the
constitutional requirement, the office must, in fact, serve as the sheriff's
principal or primary office. MIKE COX 1
State Senator
The Capitol
Lansing, MI
State Representative
The Capitol
Lansing, MI
Attorney General
2
See People v Barber, 14 Mich App 395, 401; 165 NW2d 608 (1968) (the
character of a thing is determined by its substantive nature and not by the
label attached to it).