The St. Johns herald. (St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona Territory [Ariz.]) 1885-1903, 1885-02-12
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY.
TERRIToRY OF ARIZONA, APACHE County
THIRD JUDICIAL IsTRIcT-DIsTRICT
COUET. FEBRUARY TERM. 1857.

THIRD JUDICIAL DIST2ICT-DISTRICT
CoUKT. FEBRUARY TERM, 1857.
On the morning of February 3rd, 1895,
Jury called for the said term of the Dis
fret Court held in St. Johns, in said
county, were only empannelled and
sworn, thefe being twenty-five jurors
! present; after hearing the instructions
OF his honor Judge Sumner Howard, and
! his appointing Sol Bafth foreman of the
/ inry the Grand Jury retired for consul
/ tation.
Mr. Robert E. Morrison was elected
clerk of the Grand Jury and Mr.. Joseph
Hinsley interpreter.
| A committee Of the Grand Jury on the
Board of Supervisors report as follows
We, the said Committee have examin-
ed as close as possible into the condition
al a airs in the said Board as we could
during the time, and we report that az
ter the investigation we have learned
all the stub-hooks and bills have been
burned and destroyed; that no record
Of the proceedings OF the Board previous
70 April 3rd, 1893, can be found; that
in the minute book kept since said time
we find that the record of money allow
ances do not appear as is required by
law, JildL 10 lccOIu HIS DNtu Kept VI
whole meetings of Said Board.
We would suggest that the Board OF
Supervisors direct the clerk OF said
Board to keep = correct and accurate
account of all proceedings of said Board
and to keep safely all stnb-hooks and
all bills which are presented to said
Board and allowed.
We would further suggest that in view
of the fact that malieasance appears t.
have been committed by the clerk of the
Board of Supervisors, and Luther MAJ
tin, chairman in not keeping proper re-
cords in the proceedings of the Board OF
Supervisors. that we would recommend
that the District Attorney shall thor
oughly investigate this matter and if he
so deem it best, bring suit upon the Off
sial bonds of said officers for Il failure to
pc form their duties as public officers.
We would recommend that in future
the members OF the Board of Supervis-
ors see more carefully to the records Of
the minutes of the meetings and the re-
cord of allowances against the county.
We would say that all the Supervisors
of the Board OF Supervisors of the last
two years should be censured for the
negligent way in which the affairs fthe
Board are in. JAMES RICHEY,
Chairman.
THE COMMITTEE ON THE COUNTY TREAS
URER's OFFICE.
We, the members OF said Committee
would respectfully report that we have
made as thorough an examination of
said Office as we could in the short time
at our disposal. We find that since the
organization of the county no books of
accounts have been kept by the Treasu-
rer until about one year ago. We find
it utterly impossible for the indebted
ness of the county to be discovered by
these books or how much money the
county has on hand. We have discov-
cred that any number of warrants APP
pear upon the Trcasurer's books for
which no authority can be found in the
minutes OF the Board of Supervisors.
Among other things we have discover
ed, that during one year 81 600 had been
paid on interest on the jail bonds. We
would recommend that the District At
torney enquire into this thoroughly and
il possible recover 500 dollars, which we
think should not have been paid.
In the short time at our disposal we
have found it impossible to give a prop
er examination into the financial affairs
of the county, and we would recommend
shat the Board OF Supervisors employ a
competent expert for the purpose of ma
king complete and thorough eXamina-
ton into the financial condition of the
county; assist the different officers in
strengthening books OF accounts and
make report to the said Board OF Sup
erviso:s, showing the actual indebted
ness OF the county and the amount Of
money in the hands of the Treasurer
We would further recommend that the
Treasurer should inspect carefully every
warrant which comes into his hands for
payment, and If he discovers that any
warrants have deem issued for which
there is no authority or no allowances
appears to have been made by the Board
| of Supervisors, then ne shall refuse to
| pay the same.
I'VE have had before us, Mr. Bunch.
the present clerk of the Board, and he
states that he has devoted about three
weeks to the examination of county af-
| fairs and he has been unable to find out
what condition the county is in, and we
must state that we report the same.
We would further report that we have
discovered terrible extravaganza by the
Board OF Supervisors in the auditing of
bills presented against the county. For
! instance, evidence before us shows that
for certain printing, 100 dollars war al
/ lowed by the Board; that the same prin-
ting could have been done for the sum
of $50 dollars. as offered by the Albu-
querque Journal. We would request
that the Board of Supervisors should eX-
ercise the strictest economy in the al
lowancc OF bills against the county and
scrutinize ali accounts as carefully as
they do in their own private business.
ROBERT MORRISON.
Chairman of Committee
To the Grand Jury OF Apache County,
Arizana at Feb. term District Court:
Your Committee have done their duty
the best that time will permit; have
made an examination of the Sheriff Of
fee. We ae unable to ascertain any
thing as to the Office, rs there's nothing
in It that We can comprehend from such
an inve stigation as we can make; but
think that such investigation should be
made in connection with the Treasures
office, and the Office of the Board of SUI
pervisors and the minutes OF their pro-
ceedings. JAMES RIcnEY,
ROsALIo CoLoMo,
E. ID. JOHNSON,
Committee
The Committee on Probate Judge repog-