St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-17
pILING UpTRE FEES
HOW SHERIFF CHAPEL MANA
GES TO SWELL HIS IN
COME.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW.
HIS REAL MOTIVE FOR NOT
MAKING LEVIES
FOR
IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW.
Personal PRO- @RTY TAXES
Was That He Might Add on An
other Before Doing SO-A Vii
famous System.

The board of county commission
ers held another meeting yesterday
afternoon, and completed its work
of reviewing the delinquent personal
property tax list. The commission
ers have stricken probably some
1000 names in all from the list
persons whose tax was so small that
it would not pay the cost of looking
after it. The peculiar part of it
is that this wedding out cannot be
done, according to law, until after
fees have been piled up by the clerk
of court and sheriff, as stated in
yesterdays G l 0 b e.
Instead of the list being first sub
mitted to the county commissioners
and the trif1ing claims dropped, it is
sent to the clerk of court, who has
warrants made out for all the de-
linquents, his fee for this service be-
ing % cents for each warrant. These
warrants are given to the sheriff to
be served. Sheriff Chapel simply
had them mailed to the directory adj
dress of each of the persons on
whom service was desired. In cases
where the warrants were returned,
the persons were reported as not to
be found. Some few got scared on
receipt of the warrants, and came in
and settled up. These had to pay, in
addition to the tax charged against
them, the 25 cents fee of the clerk of
court and the 81 fee charged by the
Sheriff for serving the warrant
by mail. All the others were then
reported to the county commission
ers as "unsatisfied,' the sheriff sub
hitting at the same time his bill
for $2,5S4 for serving the war
rants.
THE LAW PROVIDES
that the county must pay the sheriff
a fec of 81 for the service of a war
rant in each case where the claim was
returned unsatisfied, but the very first
requirement of the law is that the
sheriff must levy upon property for the
satisfaction of the claim, if any can
be found. Sheriff Chapel did not make
a levy in a. single instance, Deputy
Giberton, as stated in yesterday s
G l o b e, explaining to the board that
the reason fer this was because the law
was thought to be defective and in case
a levy We're made on lea Sed or mort
gagged property, like furniture bought
on the installment plan, it would get
the sheriff into trouble. This seemed
plausible, but there is another reason
why smooth Sheriff Chapel refrained
from making the required levies. For
every levy made there would be ad-
ditional fees, and Sheriff Chapel is not
a, man to turn uD his nose when a fee
Is in sight. BY returning to the county
commissioners the claims unsatisfied
and then having them sent to him
again to serve a citation in each case,
it brings in another fee of 81 in each
case, with all the rights to the fee for
making the levy still reserved.
Those ceaims not thrown out by the
county commissioners now go to the
clerk of court, who makes out a eta
ton in each case and gets a twenty
ive-cent fee for that. These citations
are served by the sheriff probably by
mail again-and he gets an additional
fee of 81 for that. Then judgments are
entered I'D against the persons and
levies made, or the judgments are al
lowed to stand against them.
1t is stated on good authority that the
law that permits this villainous work
was on the point of being repealed by
the legislature last winter, but the in
fiuence of those most interested pre-
vented it.