The age-herald., 1897-08-13
DALLAS UNDER THE BAN State Examiner UnearthS Some
 Serious Charges. CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT And Sheriff Receive ROasts-Parties Jailed fo
 Minor 0ffeuses -Paupers Gotten Rid : s4 of the Same Way

N.SttS foy has filed in the office of the governor his reports on the examination of the books and accounts of the office of the clerk of the circuit court of Selma, th office of the clerk of the circuit court of Dallas and on the office of the sheriff of Dallai
 He finds that the clerk, Mir Evans. is cha geabI. wi h $11.66 on account of feed bills in cases where the defend1ns con fessed judgment and which 4he clerk failed to collect and turn over. He col lected a forfeit on which the commits sions were with interest, s13.25, which sum he paid into the county Lrsasury, when he should have paid it in t1e sta | treasury, and he is charged with this amount also. Solicitors fete amounting to $30.55 earned at the January term of his, coull., 1894, have not been paid into the Greasury. and the clerk is charged with this amount. In the examination of the books of this office Examiner Puri- | foy states that he found large amount of solicitors fees which had been col l lecteu dIhu pdlu llllO Wle tTedsury. lHe grosc sum of such fees, earned and un- earned, is $2,0194O. These fess are Lhos> accruing in cases where the convict was sentenced to hard labor for ha county and where the county collected tn: costs of conviction from the contractor afler fhe convict had earned i.. In some O. the cases there were two convic ions. and the 1 costs have not yet been earned on the last | conviction "A careful examira ion was made of the books and records and an adjustment of the amount at prese-t col 1 lected and due the g ate but which is in the counity treasury, was found to be $94S 22. The stat mert is made that 'ihe balance being uncolected and for the midst part eollechbl." In his eonns ction 1 the examiner says: "The length of time | that some of these fes have been al | lowed uo remain in the county treasury is l Dl seems to me, evidence of a want of dill l gence on the par. of some one connected I with them." Examiner Purfoy quotes I the law, which requires that fees earned | by solicitors shall be paid to the clerk of l tn: court and by him into ehe state treas- ury, and he holds tha: this means all such I fees, whether the convicted person st | ties up or is sent to hard labor for the county. MT. Evans, lahe clerk, says that Lhe county authorities collect Gh' money for the hire of convicts and it is paid into the courty treasury and that the d,s- bursing officer of the county had never paid him the fees earned by fhe solci- tor and belonging to the sta:e.
 In his report on the office, books and accounts of the circuit court. Examiner Purifoy finds that the clerk. Mir. Mil- house has failed to charge up and col ect feed bills where defendants confess ed judgment to the amount of $15T6. which sum has been promptly paid into the treasury of the state. In regard to the solicitors fees in cases where the convict was sentenced to hard labor for the county, he found the same state of affairs to exist as that found in the of- flee of the clerk of the city court. He found that the gross sum of such fees charged up was s2.205, and after close examination of the books and accounts of the county treasury it was ascertained that the county authorities had collected of this amount the sum of s1,249.91 The same endorsement as to the uncollected balance was made as that made in the office of the clerk of the city court. This sum collected by the county authorities and in the county treasury Is due to the circuit clerk and due by him to the stata treasury. The examiner reports that many of the parties convicted allow themselves to be sentenced to hard la bor for the county and after starting in to serve out their terms they settle the costs of the case as by thus doing they get around paying the 30 cents per day charged as the sheriff's fee for feeding while in jail.
 In the report on the office of the sheriff Examiner Purifoy states that an exami- nation of the books and records of the office and comparison with the books in the office of the clerks that the charges for feeding prisoners were proper and
  correct. He says further: "The jail reg ister shows. however, that it is not un- frequently the case that persons charged with minor offenses, over which the com- hitting officers have final Jurisdiction, are committed to await the action of the grand juries. Many of the charges lodg- ed against them while criminal, are of
 
 the lightest grade of offense, such as vagrancy, using abusive and obscene language being a common tramp and dangerous character. The frequency with which commitments were made un- der the charge of vagrancy induced me | to investigate the condition of the per- sons so charged end I found that they were for the most part. imbeciles. pau pers and disc seo and depraved persons.