Madsen v. Brown

The majority holds that a duly elected mayor of a city may be removed from office by a court decree because he shot and killed a dog that had been running loose in the city. Utah Code Ann., 1953, § 77-6-1, which the majority holds authorizes that result, was never intended, in my view, to permit a court to nullify an election on such flimsy grounds. Because the Court construes § 77-6-1 to permit a handful of citizens to override the voice of the majority on such frivolous grounds, I dissent.

Section 77-6-1, which is part of the criminal procedure code, provides for the removal of individuals…