COMPENSATION DUE DEPUTY COUNTY CORONERS

COMPENSATION DUE DEPUTY COUNTY CORONERS

Deputy county coroners may be compensated for services rendered in such amount as shall be fixed by the board of county commissioners.

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                                                               November 21, 1950

Honorable Howard Bargreen
State Representative
Thirty-Eighth District
2821 Rucker Avenue
Everett, Washington                                                                                                              Cite as:  AGO 49-51 No. 390

Dear Sir:

            We have your letter of November 7, 1950, requesting an opinion from this office on the following question:

            "May a deputy coroner receive compensation from the county for official services rendered?"

            Our conclusion may be summarized as follows:

            A deputy county coroner may be compensated by the county for such services.

                                                                     ANALYSIS

            Chapter 60, section 3, Laws of 1905 (Rem. Rev. Stat. 4179) provides as follows:

            "Deputy coroners, duly appointed and qualified, may perform any and all the duties of the coroner in the name of the coroner, and the acts of such deputy shall be held to be the act of the coroner: Provided, that such deputy shall receive no compensation from the county."

             [[Orig. Op. Page 2]]

            Chapter 148, section 6, Laws of 1925, Ex. Sess. (Rem. Rev. Stat. 4200-5) provides, in part, as follows:

            "In all cases where the duties of any officer are greater than can be performed by the person elected to fill the same, said officer may employ, with the consent of the county commissioners, the necessary help, who shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by the board of county commissioners.

            "The officer appointing such deputies or clerks shall be responsible for the acts of such appointee upon his official bond."

            While repeals by implication are not favored, statutory provisions which are plainly inconsistent with subsequent acts must be considered repealed by the latter.  We believe that the situation with which you are concerned presents such an instance.  The statement cited above from Rem. Rev. Stat. 4200-5, which has been subsequently re‑enacted [[reenacted]]in the Laws of 1937, 1945 and 1949, now being Rem. Supp. 1949, Section 4200-5A, authorizes the employment of deputies and clerks under certain circumstances.  It also provides that such deputies and clerks shall receive as compensation such amount as shall be fixed by the board of county commissioners.

            You advise us that it has long been the practice, in your county, to compensate the deputy coroner for services rendered.  Administrative procedure of long standing must not be disregarded in determining the effect of statutes relating to such procedure.

            Accordingly, we are of the opinion that the provision of Rem. Rev. Stat. 4179, which states that a deputy coroner shall receive no compensation from the county, has been repealed by necessary implication of the language of Rem. Rev. Stat. 4200-5, and that such deputy is entitled to compensation as fixed by the board of county commissioners.

Very truly yours,

SMITH TROY
Attorney General

LAWRENCE K. McDONELL
Assistant Attorney General