The Dickinson press., 1890-10-25
Increased Jurisdiction Again.

In the matter of the extension of
the jurisdiction of the county court,
which is to be voted On ut MI next
election, the supporters of the "1ndc-
pendent ticket" will advocate nom
extension, and us they must do it on
some ground. they will and L doing
it on the ground of economy; that is,
%ostensibly OH that ground, while the
real ground is that if the proposition
to extend should carry, their candidate
for county Judge would not be eligible.
The law provides that in the case of
the extension of jurisdiction of county
courts to civil cases where the amount
in controversy is not more than $1,000
and criminal cases below the grade of
felony, in such cases the county
judge must have the same qualifca-
tions rs judge of the district court,
that is, he must be an attorney at law.
If the jurisdiction is not extended
by a vote of the people, then the
county judge has only the labors and
duties which belonged to the judge
of probate under the old law. Now
with regard to the expense: Under
the present law the county judge
with only probate jurisdiction) has a
salary which is based upon the popu-
lation of the county. In this county
the salary cannot be less than $500
nor more than $500 per year. If the
jurisdiction is extended he 1.-THE judge)
will be entitled to one-half more
| $3.50 or 5000 at the outside, making
his salary $3.50 or 5000. This shows
the additional expense. Leaving
out of the calculation the value of the
convenience to the public of such a
court, always open for disposal of
petty suits and the final disposal of
| all criminal cases below the grade of
felony, there would DO II saving to
the county Of more than the addition
al salary by way Of costs. The judge
gets no fees. and all court costs in
| civil and criminal cases are required
to be collected by him and paid over
to the county treasury. AS it has
been and will continue to he if the
jurisdiction is not extended, in all
cases of mlsdcmeanors or where the
maximum fine is over 800, there
first has to be an examination before
a magistrate, the sheriff has to serve
subpoenas on the witnesses. Some.
times the witnesses are numerous
and have to come many miles; the
examination sometimes lasts several
days, and all these costs, in some
cases amounting to over $500, have
to be paid by the county And this
does not end the matter, for all the
magistrate a do is to discharge tho
defendant or to send him to trial a
the district court, where the same eX
pense has to he repeated, while if tin
jurisdiction of the county court wa
extended the whole matter could be
disposed of at one hearing. The &C
cused can have the benefit of a speed!
trial, and in case he was unable tt
give bail the county would not b.
required to be at the expense D
boarding him for five or six months
perhaps, in the county. Jail, waitin,
the next term of district court. o.
this proposition we wish to make n,
special fight. The candidate which
the PRESS supports for judge car
qualify and fill the office whichever
way the question is decided: but az
there are always two sides to ques
tions of this kind, we only ask oul
friends to consider the matter fairly
with a view to true economy and tt
the best interests of our county.