Montana Attorney General Opinion 16-95

Opinion No. 95. Justice of the Peace-Official Bond- Premium-Liability for Counties. HELD: Chapter 45, Laws of 1935, authorizes the county to pay the pre- miums on surety bonds of Justices of the Peace, but it is not retroactive. Mr. L. D. Glenn County Attorney Harlowton, Montana May 4, 1935. You have inquired whether under the provisions of Chapter 45, Laws of 1935, the payment of the premium on a surety bond for a justice of the peace is an obligation of the county. The Attorney General, in an opin- ion in Volume 10, Report and Official Opinions of Attorney General, page 266, held that a county is not re- quired to pay the premium on a surety bond of a justice of the peace since the latter is not a county officer but a township officer, and Section 6236, R. C. M. 1921, was not broad enough to include township officers. While said Chapter 45 broadens said Section 6236 to include township officers, it is not expressly retroac- tive. Section 3, Revised Codes, pro- vides that no law is retroactive unless expressly so declared. Chapter 45, therefore, would not authorize pay- ment of the premium on a surety bond furnished before the Act went into effect on February 20, 1935.