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You are all aware, I am sure, from the
Minority Report and from your knowledge
of the subject that there are a wealth of
duties and responsibilities which now de-
volve upon the clerk of the court, many of
them have no association with the court
structure, so to speak, and are not respon-
sive to the administration of justice.
However, our Committee could not reach
a conclusion as to a possible division of
these responsibilities between an elected
and an appointed clerk or two elected and
two appointed officials. Accordingly our
recommendation is simply this: that the re-
sponsibility be shifted to the legislature
and we hope that in its wisdom it can cope
with the situation and best adapt the or-
derly administration of justice as well as
the other duties of the clerk within what-
ever manner it may provide for the selec-
tion, whether it be appointive or elected.
Accordingly, I urge you to oppose this
amendment and adopt the majority view
which is that the matter of clerks of the
court as to selection and term be left to
the legislature and your vote in opposition
to this amendment will sustain the Ma-
jority Report as you have done in many
other instances.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Dulany.
DELEGATE DULANY: I would like to
yield three minutes to Delegate Marion.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: Mr. Chairman,
as I observed some moments ago in oppos-
ing the amendment offered by Delegate
Johnson, I believe that the clerks are a
very important integral part of the in-
ternal administration of the court system
and if they are not so now, they should be
under this new constitution.
As Delegate Johnson has observed, the
Majority Report of the Committee leaves
an inconsistency between the method of se-
lection of the superior court clerk and the
district court clerk and I submit that there
should be no such distinction for the proper
administration of the court system extend-
ing from top to bottom from the Court of
Appeals down to the district court.
We have provided that the clerk of the
Court of Appeals be appointed, that the
clerk of the Intermediate Court of Ap-
peals be appointed, that the clerk of the
district court be appointed, but for some
reason a bare majority of the Committee
wished to leave the selection of the clerk
of the superior court to the manner pre-
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scribed by law and I submit that there is
not any slightest doubt that the legislature
would provide that that clerk be elected.
In the federal system there is an ap-
pointed clerk at the district court, I believe,
and it works well. Ladies and gentlemen
of the Committee of the Whole: We should
provide for a system in which court clerks
should do court duties and we should pro-
vide that the clerk of the superior court
as well as the clerk of the district court
perform judicial functions and administra-
tive duties in connection with his respective
courts.
At the present time what we have is a
political figure elected on a partisan po-
litical battle in each county in the middle
of the administration of justice and ad-
ministration of the courts.
We have the possibility by adopting this
amendment to put the final correct and re-
fining touch to a properly administered ju-
dicial system.
I urge your support of our amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd.
DELEGATE MUDD: Mr. Chairman,
may I yield three minutes to Delegate
Henderson.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Henderson.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: Mr. Chair-
man, I do not believe that at the judicial
level the clerk who performs strictly ju-
dicial duties should be subject to the court
direction and I know that in many cases
that has worked out.
I recall that Mr. Luther Pittman, who
was the deputy clerk before he became
clerk, was originally selected by the court
and that is true in many other places, but
I was persuaded to join the vote with the
majority on this proposition because of the
numerous practical problems which are
presented in unscrambling the office of the
clerk.
One thing which has not been mentioned
or was only mentioned in passing was the
fact that under our new proposal, the
whole judicial system will be paid for by
the state. It will no longer be a county
function. Under the new article on local
government, the counties will acquire home
rule in many departments where they have
not enjoyed it in the past.
It may well be that some of the func-
tions presently occupied by the clerk of the
court, that is, the state official and one who
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