Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of Section 402(e) of the Second Class Township Code  

In Martin v. Donegal Twp., ___ A.3d ___, 2024 WL 4557856 (Pa. Oct. 24, 2024), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected arguments by three former township supervisors that they were deprived of their constitutional rights after township voters reduced the size of a township board from five to three members under Section 402(e) of the Second Class Township Code and none of them were successful in the election for the new three-member board. 

The Court ruled that one former supervisor lacked standing because her term in office naturally expired in January 2022 and was not shortened by the implementation of the Section 402(e) reduction, which resulted in an election in November 2021 for new terms effective in January 2022. Meanwhile, another supervisor initially had standing at the outset of the litigation, but because his term would have expired in January 2024, it would be impossible to “issue a meaningful order practically affecting” him. A third supervisor had standing because his term would have expired in January 2026, necessitating the Court’s constitutional analysis.  

The Court ruled that Article VI, Section 7 of the Pennsylvania Constitution is not implicated in circumstances not involving removal of public officials and that the voters’ decision to move from five to three members of the board of supervisors did not “remove” those officials. Instead, application of Section 402(e) “shortened his existing term and provided him an opportunity to win a new term of office” and, had he won, his new term would have been two years longer. The Court found that the former supervisor’s “lack of success at the ballot box does not mean application of Section 402(e) in this context violates Article VI, Section 7.” Therefore, the most recently 3 elected members of the township’s board of supervisors will remain in office.