Birmingham state herald., 1897-06-13
THE COUNTY OE CRENSHAW Is Invaded by State Examiner Purifoy. SOME STUB BOOKS MISSING Detached for Deputy CoIlectors-RepOrt Shows
 the Collector Is Due the State S232i7.

Examiner Purifoy has just filed in the governors office his report on the exami- n,sliion of the offices of tax collector, cir cult clerk and probate judge of Crenshaw county. The court shouss of Crenshaw county was destroyed by fire on the morning of the 25th of February last and this preven ed the examiner from mak- ing as full and thorough an examination as might have been made, as many of the records were destroyed.
 sIn hds report on the tax collector MT. Jesse Churchwell, he says that he called on the judge of probate for the stub books of the tax collector which the law requires shall be delivered to the judge of probate, and was told that such SUD books had never been delivered to him. A demand was then made by the exam finer. on the tax collector tor the stup books and the abstract books of the va rious years that he had filled the office. The collector delivered the abstract DOCKS for the years, 1892, 1894 and 1885, and only a. portion of the stub books for the same years Examiner Purifoy states in his report that five of the seven stub books used by the collector in 1895 were turned over to him. tn these five books were 585 stubs, from which receipts had been detached and on which no entries had been made. The chief deputy of the col Hector explained this by saying that these receip,s had been detached to be deliv- cred to the deputies duly authorized to make the rounds of the county collecting taxes. No record was kept as check against these deputies, not even keeping a list of the number of receip-s turned Soyer to them. The collector used two other stub books for 1885, which contained a total of 1900 receipts which were not delivered to the exa miner, and which the deputy said must have been burned up in the couiiL house fire. The missing l,zO0 s,subs embraced nearly all the collections made by the collector after lhe 1st of Jan uary, 1896. The total missing stubs for the year 1895 numbered 1,785.
 In enumeraJing the names of tax payers who had paid their taxes, as indicated by the check of the tax collectors abstract book, and for which no stub was checked by the examiner, it was found that there were S30 of such, which number deducted from the aggregate number of stubs, 1,7S5, unacounted for and blank leaves, 9Qb receipts and stubs wholly una coun.ed for, and the use they may have been put to left entirely to conjecture.
 s'he assessment sheets for the escaped l1ss year 1895 were, the examiner was in- formed destroyed in the court house fire. The summary of Examiner Purifoy's re- pont on the office of tax collector of Cren- shaw county shows that official ind -bted TO the slate in the following sums: State
 
 tax, $149.17. Total, $232.17.
 EXAMINERS REPORr
 The report of the state examiner on the books of the circuit clerk of Crenshaw county is as follows:
 Montgomery, Ala June il, 1s97 Hon. Joseph r. Johnston, Governor.
 Dear Sir-The books of the circuit clerk of Crenshaw county were embraced in your instructions to be examined by me. As will be seen by the affidavit of John A. Armstrong, copy of which is hereto appended, all the books of that officer were burned in the burning of the court house of that coursy on the morning of the 18th of February last, hence this part of your instructions cannot be executed.
 The records of the state auditors of- flee show the return of no part of the ex- pense at which the state has been for feeding prisoners in the county jail of Crenshaw county, for number of years past. 1t is evident that the clerks of the criminal courts of that county have been derelict in taxing up and collect ing and paying such fees into the state treasury, in cases of conviction where Judgment has been confessed. This duty is imposed on the clerks by provision in section 4S72 of the code. When this provision was called to the attention of the present incumbent, who is by law clerk of both the circuit and county courts. he informed me that no such costs
 
 frs fees, and all such fees when collected had been paid to the sheriff. In the ab- sence. of the records. am unable to de- termine whether the fees so collected were properly or improperly paid to the sheriff since in some case provided in the section referred to, it is necessary to show that the prisoner Is insolvent before the state will pay for feeding him while in jail. In this class are prisoners con- fined in jail for contempt of court, or un- u tfrtnG h[fx xrtT tue of any warrant or other process to keep the peace. or on account of insanity, or ssunder bastardy proceedings" There can be no doubt however, that the clerks of the courts of this county, how many I ddd not learn, have been derelict in the performance of the duty imposed by the provision of section 4S72, which reads as follows:
 For feeding each prisoner in jail under charge or conviction for an indictable offence. to be by the state, for each day, 30 cents.
 .sBut upon conviction, the fees for feed ing such prisoners though to be paid by the state must be taxed against him as a part. of the costs to be collected by ex- ecution and such fees when collected, shall be paid to the clerk of the court from which the execution was issues, who shall give to the officer from whom he receives the same, receipts in duplicate, showing the amount from whom and the case in which the money was collected, one of which shall, within. ten days. be forwarded to the auditor; and the clerk shall forthwith pay over the money so received by him to the state treasury for the use of the state"
 Since no removal fees for removing any prisoner who Is arrested and con fined in jail in county other than that in which he is triabe or arrested for contempt" (see same section) have been paid into. the state treasury from this county, the conclusion is apparent that either the clerk has failed to "tax the cost of such removalsp or "the sheriff upon. the collection of the costs of such removals' has failed to pay them. into the stae treasury.
 Respectfully submitted. W
 (Signed.) JOHN PURIFOY, Examiner of Public Accounts.
 Sworn to and subscribed before me this the II day of June. 1887.
 w. A. GUNTER, sJR.. &
 s ss Notary Public. E sp Attached to this report Is the affidavit tf John,A Armstrong; in;swhich he makes.