State v. Harden

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals reversed John Harden's conviction for unlawfully selling liquor in Point Pleasant, holding that the town council held sole power to grant the license under which the sale was made. The court first held that section 46 of Article VI of the West Virginia Constitution, reserving to the legislature power to pass laws regulating or prohibiting liquor sales, permits the legislature to vest sole licensing authority in municipal councils and thereby withdraw the function from the county courts, since section 24 of Article VIII commits county police affairs to the county courts only so long as the legislature leaves licensing there. It then held that chapter 40 of the Acts of 1891, a complete revision of Point Pleasant's organic law, conferred sole licensing power on the council by implication from section 35's direction that the council prescribe the manner of granting 'licenses of all kinds,' read with section 40's adoption of prior powers. Judge Miller, dissenting, joined by Judge McWhorter, would have held that neither the 1891 act nor the void 1883 circuit-court charter amendment conferred sole licensing power, so the conviction should stand; Judge Brannon concurred solely because he thought the 1891 act gives the council the licensing power.