The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-12-19
SOME SERIOUS CHARGES.
TUy cRTMIyAL EXPENSES EXCESS
ryyTy WARTTCK AND SCOTT
on,v ruo Counties so Far Investigated by
,.,committec--Thes same BIS
Appear to Hnve Been Paid Twice

The speciai joint commitlee u r ~.
oral Assembly. consisting - ~
winborne Of Rockbrices' o"u - p,,t,.
.ihc,,arie and Senators Letchei, W
-. 80 rr,rnbul. o. Bruins" I'm ap
ol.us 80 ,,,roqticate che ailegeH *
10 criminal expcnses in certain 80
t,vo formulated the foAo"lus at,.o.g
rho undersigned commit. go
10, nurouauce OF joint rt7olu',o ,- =, 80 In
on the ON day OF December i ,be
vestlgate the criminal 49, crcoree-
counties OF buchanan, ll'hell.'' vt-er,yicl<
vile. Franklin, ParicN' -, oo,,rfios or
and Wise. and Of any .ta, ,bo com
,t,fce ~ tho Commonwealth '"@' - -. -
- II, doom urorer, ana report ~
49,. ~ any. tho excessive ~
49, - e,ch counties and cillt9 l'
s-1.,,.o,fa 20 the action az the Ju'H 49,
- -, 81 such counties anu elD''
resnectfullv report as ioio" .ho
,-,,, t,',.ertigations required by 'ne
-o-ai,,.,o.r, ,,,der which we are aciihs. ma.
- IND most iab0rous ana oiiiicu'' s,
- .a,tsf,c,orv reasons We coiiiilen-, u
,rith The investigation or w ~ 80
~ and after a number OF ''''"-9 ~
several hours each. We nave - 49,
n make a thorough eHHillil'.''' W.
,.,f,.trof ,~nenecs OF even that county NJ q
have found. however, many -,
"a ,,.,,, Mills for what seem Improper
"a o,t-o,-arant charges. which have been
approved and paid. ...,..re
MANY WARRANTS.
u o,rra-s from vouchers In tho
An5itor.s Office that during the fiscal year
ending october. 1897. the justices or the
reace Of warwick county tried ana ih-
vostigated three hundred ana nine cases
sq7 81 which were misdemcdnois ana 'ht
other two felonies The Justices. VINO re-
ported them. were PAID from lhe Hla'o
Treasury one dollar for ohcn ana ever
ono Of these cases. or the aIf mlsdeihe"h
ors. we are Informed by the cietS OF ,ho
C,o,,t,. Corr, Of warwick county, that a
vast majority ~ them W'Ie lo,
az varrqncv under subdivision 3 OF sec
49,, est ~ Che Code These charges. y
Gems were preferred by the constable
and r~ohqhlv 10 The suggestion - the
f,,e.ice without any complaint from any
o+bor ncreon In most cases, as we are
Informed the cases were dismissed az the
oost ~ the Commonwealth. and the de-
fordart discharged upon a simple promise
20 leave the county.
D During the fiscal year above men
toned the clerk Of the County Court
OF warwick county presented bills ana
was paid. for dOckeune five hundred ana
thirtv-four cases. which he claims were
certified 10 him as having been disposed
OF by justices Of the peace. All OF these
bills were itemized except one which was
FOR docketne $40 cases. without 80 any way
indicating what the cases were. This Dill
was approved by the Judge or the Couh-
tv Court on January O.. 1885, and PAID by
the Auditor on February T. 1891.
This discrepancy between the 300 cases
shown on the reports OF The justices
themselves and the 5ei which 10 seems
from the accounts of the clerk were tried
by justices during the same period. has
not been satisfactorily explained, though
the clerk saws the difference btween the
217 and 53i was the number Of cases which
he had docketed prior % the fiscal year
1897 and for which ne had not been pre-
viously paid. His bills before and aiier
this time. however. were itcmlzod.
THE BILL PAID TWICE.
O. on October So 1896. the clerk was
Maid sY for d0cketing returns Of justices
from November Z. 1885 90 September q.
1906. His bin was itemized and gave mo
names OF tho parties tried by justices
and the dates o. trial on November q.
1907. the clerk was paid another itemizea
hin for dockeung returns from justices,
and on this latter bin were dates ana
names corresponding 90 seventeen items
on the bin paid the month before. In-
decd. il is clear that these seventeen
cases were the same and were paid twice
In a numbr of cases The certificates 70
witnesses before the grand jury DO nol
sbov that Ten miles was deducted. as re-
crirod bv law. before mileage was AZ
lowed.
g. in many misa emeanor cases payment