The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-04-15


Griffin..., ..................S So.Oo
To accrued interest on this sum-. $50
To amount of sundry removal bills. 234.l
To accrued interest on this sum-. $3.50
To amount of sundry feed bills..... 4,292.o0
To accrued interest on this sum-. 1,412.20
Total 80. 49,. -. ................$6,06 5. 40
Numerous Irrer uiarities
Terrell is shown to have collected solicit
tors fees before h retirement from office
without the knowledge of any other Of
fetal and converted them INTO his own use.
He charged and collected from the state
removal bills in many cases without respect
to the law governing the same. ASIDE from
these illegal COLLECTIONS and conversion to
his own use of the sums above set out,
Terrell is charged with numerous irregu-
larities in the manner of keeping his books.
No records of certain transactions were
kept, and the work OF the examiner was
greatly handicapped throughout.
Sect on l of page IS, ac,s OF lSSS-S9, en-
boaied in section 5l4J OF the present code,
requires the sherIn to. keep record in
book form, ''in which he must enter de-
scr.ption of eacn prisoner received into the
county jail, showing the name, age, sex,
together with the charge for which the pris-
oner is held, the order and date of commit
ment and the order and date of release"
Books OF No service
OF 1880 prisoners shown by his feed bills
to have been committed to jail by Terrell,
but $50 had been entered on this record and
no dates of commitments or releases or
orders are entered with them. About $50
more entries were made by Terrell after
the examination was begun. The date for
these entries were obtained from his feed
bills which had been copied into the book
kept for that purpose. From this it would
seem that Terrell kept no record except his
feed bills, and these show a want of sys-
TEN, so far as the entries are concerned
Hence his books were of no service to me.
Circuit Clerk Green demanded of the
jailer correct list of prisoners confined in
Jail during the month of March, 1899. The
list furnished the clerk showed nine prison.
ers. Ferrells feed bill for that same month
shows he had twenty prisoners in Jail. Mr..
Green also visited the jail April Is, follow
ing, and found but three prisoners confined
therein.
Ferrelrs Feed Accoun
Ferrells paid accounts for removing and
feeding prisoners were submitted to Pro-
bate Judge Glenn and Circuit Clerk Green
for information with reference to the genu-
1neneSS Oh the signatures VI tHSSC OhiSChS
attached to the certificates and afidavits.
Judge Glenn testified that eleven signatures
to afidavits were not his nor were they
signed by any one authorized by him to
sign his name. Clerk Green stated that
the signature purporting to be his attached
to nine bills and fourteen feed bills were
not his, nor was it in such cases attached
by any other person authorized by him to
do so.
The following extracts are from the re-
ports of the grand juries of the county,
and show the action of the courts of the
county in the matters reported on:
Reports of Grand Juries
Grand jury at the spring term, 1894:
1--WE find the sheriff's books neatly kept,
but we find an error to which we wish to
call his attention to. We find that he fall
ed to enter on his book the proper date OF
the discharge from the county jail of GER
tain prisoners, and that he collected from
the state jail fees amounting to $3.50 more
than he was entitled to, and we request
that this amount be refunded to the proper
officials"
From grand jury report, spring term,
1894:
1--WE find that the fees charged by the
probate Judge, clerk and sheriff are legal
We further find that the sheriff has made
oyercharges on the Jail book one day each
for Chas Silas, Nit Rivers, Addie Jackson,
Frank Clark and Roland Copeland, and
four days' overcharge on Calvin BAKER
W. end that the sheriff has failed to COM
NV with the law requiring him to report
commitals and releases of prisoners"
n is also in evidence that at another term
re the grand jury Irregularities In the
sheriff's matters were found, ana ne APP
peared the body and agreed to refund the
amount and no mention was made of it in
the report. 90. - ,.,4
At the spring term, 1884, of the circuit
court the grand jury inaugurated impeach-
ment proceedings against Terrell for mis-
conduct in Office. The following Is one OF
two specifications contained in the charge:
impeachment Proceedings
Disqualification /. That the said Fl. Ben
Terrell. as sheriff of Russell county know
ingly took from the state of Alabama the
sum of s4S.77 for services not actually rem
dered by him in this, that on or about the
9Th day of December, 1893, the said H. Ben
Terrell made out and caused to be pre-
scented to the auditor of the state of Ala
bama, in words and figures, substantially
as follows: Qtemized account collected for
the removal of Thomas Babitt from Mobile
county, This man, 1t will be remembered
was brought from Georgia, as shown in
the first part of the report
There is also a specification charging per-
Jury in connection with this account and
another charging him as sheriff with OBJ
tanning money under false pretenses.
After having been delayed for one or two
courts, this proceeding was dismissed by
reason of petition addressed to the solicit
tor of the court, signed by about rs per
cent OF the best citizens of the county, in
Guiding all the county officers, as shown
by the testimony of Solicitor Smith, He
also states thai from these petitioners his
Jury for trying the matter would have to
come.