IVEY v. TOWN OF CHERRY GROVE BEACH, 244 S.C. 363 (1964)

137 S.E.2d 277

James P. IVEY, Respondent, v. TOWN OF CHERRY GROVE BEACH, Appellant.

18229Supreme Court of South Carolina.
June 23, 1964.

Page 364

Messrs. Stevens Holt, of Loris, for Appellant, cite:As to there being an adequate remedy at law when a public official is discharged from his office: 60 S.E.2d 59, 217 S.C. 118; 187 S.C. 191. As to it not being necessary that the Mayor and Town Council give a police officer a hearing before he can be removed and suspended from his office: 78 S.C. 171; 162 S.C. 29.

J.M. Long, Esq., of Myrtle Beach, for Respondent, cites:As to injunctive relief being proper here, as there is no adequate and complete remedy at law: 217 S.C. 118, 60 S.E.2d 59. As to Respondent being entitled to a hearing before he can be removed and suspended from his office: 217 S.C. 118, 60 S.E.2d 59.

June 23, 1964.

LEWIS, Justice.

This is an appeal by the defendant, Town of Cherry Grove Beach, South Carolina, from an order of the lower court, issued on January 17, 1964, restraining the defendant from discharging the plaintiff, James P. Ivey, as its chief of police. The action is solely for injunctive relief.

The plaintiff alleged that he was appointed chief of police of the Town of Cherry Grove Beach for a term of one year beginning May 1, 1963, and that he was wrongfully discharged by the town on November 15, 1963, before his term of office had expired. The plaintiff sought and obtained the order under appeal restraining the town from discharging him. No injunctive relief was sought, however, beyond the term of office as alleged.

The order under appeal restrained the authorities of the town from discharging the plaintiff but, admittedly, such order did not extend beyond May 1, 1964, the date on which the plaintiff’s alleged term of office ended. Since the term of office, which the plaintiff sought to have preserved for him by the restraining order, has expired, the issues raised in this appeal have become moot; and the appeal must be

Page 365

dismissed on that ground. Cantwell v. Williams, 35 S.C. 602, 14 S.E. 549; Kirkland v. Aiken County Board of Education, 227 S.C. 268, 87 S.E.2d 680.

Appeal dismissed.

TAYLOR, C.J., and MOSS, BUSSEY and BRAILSFORD, JJ., concur.