Omaha daily bee., 1885-09-12
What II Cost The C0UDtY for Justice
Shops.
Many Cases, Few Convictions.

Council Bluffs Cores pondence.
Few of the taxpayers realize, and, In
fact, have little chance to know, what 1t
costs to maintain the justice shops. The
meeting Of the county board, and the
filing of bills for the past quarter, gives a
little Insight Into the amounts which the
county has to pay for comparatively
nothing. The BEE man went through
the accounts of Justice Fralney, and
gathered some facts and figures which
are strikingly Illustrative of the expense
OF maintaining the criminal law. This
Justice presents fee bills In eighty
three criminal cases. 1t seems
that In most Of the cases there was DO
cause of action and the expense was
wholly needless. OF the cases seventy
one were dismissed, and only In twelve
cases was there any witnesses sworn. This
is a large percentages of needless arrests,
seven out of every eight cases being dis-
missed or the defendant discharged. 1t
is well known that any one can get q war
rant no matter whether there Is any
thing to the cause of complaint or not.
irresponsible parties get mad over some
trifle, or want to force some one to pay q
bill, and they dash into q justice office
and file an information. Before the day
of trial, either their temper has cooled or
the matter has been settled, and the case
is dropped while the county Is called on
to pay elght.dollars up.
The seventy-one cases In which there
was no conviction coat the county a total
of $3.50 60, or an average of 81. 60 each,
This includes the justice fees and the
fees of the officer. The twelve cases In
which there was some declsion reached
vera of a varied character, some being
for the purpose of having a glandered
horse shot, some for recovering some
stolen trlnket, and only enc or two
bound over to the grand jury. Pos.
sibly there were two or three out
Of the whole lot In which there
was some violation of the criminal law of
such Importance as to warrant the %officers
of the law 10 invoking Its power to pun
ish the offender, and If out of the whole
batch there. are finally two or three Of
tenders punished for anything more than
q technical %offense, 1t will be surprising.
Those twelve cases cost the county
$2l8.4 40, and the total costs for the
eighty three cases amounted to $758.
For actual convictions of real crimiuals,
supposipg there are out of the whole
batch two or three, will amount to $3.50
or more apiece.
shows about the same state Of facts only
on a smaller scale. He had fourteen
cases, and not q single conviction. The
cost of these CASES amounted to $99
Most of them were brought to him by
changes of venue, being started else-
where, and while he may not be respon.
sible for any undue expense, yet 1t illus-
trstes that the system al practiced by the
Justices is an expensive one, aud real
violations of the criminal law are few In
comparison with the foolish csses on
which the county LIS throwing away its
money.
The accounts of N. Shurz show that In
his courtthere were fifty five cases, and that
thirty five were discharged or dismissed,
and there were twenty cases which re-
suited in conviction, or in binding over
to the district court, or in some such dis.
position. The total cost In these thirty
five cases, for Justice, constable, and wit
nesses, WAS 1888 20. In this court there
is a bettar showing for the money called
for than in any of the others.
All the bllls be whitfield down 80 far
as possible, but the trouble lis that the
present law permits of abuses to arire,
and the just and unjust bills are alike
carried through to a payment, and those
who present them are obliged to atand
the blunt of the ~fault.fndipg.
1t Is urged by thoae who have bsen In
position to watch these bills from yesr
to year, that the next Legislature should
change the law, that In cities and large
towns the justices can be paid a salary
fixed by the county board, and then there
will be less temptation to allow cases to
be brought and costs put upon the coun.
ty without cause. The justice can do a
great deal to either increase or diminish
these costs, for by entertaining cases
which have no shadow of a foundation,
other costs besides those of the Justices
are made, each officer and Witness having
a fee bill to swell the amount of the
whole.