Also known as: public offices
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A governmental agency or position vested with authority to exercise sovereign powers. The entity or its occupant performs discretionary regulatory, enforcement, or record-keeping functions rather than purely ministerial tasks.
Pavel Petrov operates a factory cited by the state environmental agency for permit violations. During settlement talks the agency offers to reduce penalties if Petrov installs new equipment. When the state later sues for the full amount, Petrov seeks to introduce the agency's compromise offer. The court excludes the evidence because the negotiations involved a claim by a public office exercising its regulatory authority.
Judge Patricia Patel appears at a rally and publicly endorses Parker Phillips for mayor. The judicial conduct commission charges Patel with violating the prohibition on endorsing candidates for public office. Patel argues the appearance was private, but the commission finds the public nature of the event triggers the rule.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Prosperity Investments contributes the maximum amount to the attorney general's campaign weeks before the office seeks outside counsel for an enforcement action in the firm's specialty. The firm is later selected. The timing and amount support a finding that the contribution was made to obtain the government legal engagement awarded by the public office holder.
Patrick Phan sues the city after a sidewalk defect causes injury. The city offers its public works department's annual inspection log showing routine checks of that block. The log is admitted as a record of a public office setting out the office's activities.
Paula Pierce offers the county health department's death certificate listing the cause of death as accidental drowning. The certificate was filed by the coroner pursuant to legal duty. The court admits the record as one of a death reported to a public office.
Pilar Pena claims title under an old deed. She offers the county recorder's copy of the recorded deed to prove delivery. The court admits the copy because the record is kept in a public office and a statute authorizes recording deeds there.
A public official or public agency may sue in a representative capacity on behalf of the community to enjoin a public nuisance. The official acts through the authority of the public office rather than any personal interest. Private plaintiffs must instead show special harm different in kind from the general public or rely on statutory authorization for representative standing.
A lawyer or law firm may not accept a government legal engagement if political contributions were made for the purpose of obtaining or being considered for that engagement. Purpose is determined by examining the circumstances, including timing and amount. A longstanding pattern of support for aligned candidates can rebut an inference of improper purpose.
A judge shall not act as an arbitrator or perform other judicial functions apart from official duties unless expressly authorized by law. The prohibition turns on whether the functions are judicial in character and performed apart from the judge's public office responsibilities. Party consent and private timing do not remove the activity from the rule.
…92 U. S. 480, and Foster v. Kansas ex rel. Johnston , 112 U. S. 201, we considered whether persons had been removed from public office by procedures consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment's due process guaranty, and held on the merits that they had. And only last Term, in Gomillion v. Lightfoot , 364 U. S. 339, we…