Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-09
WILL run HIS own COURT
Justice Wen Not Inclined to Tolerate Inter-
ference Of County officials.
HE PROPOSES TO USE HIS OWN JUDGMENT
County Supervisors Attempt To Induce
Justices tn Enter Into nn Agree
mcnt Relative to Bringing
Criminal Suits.

When the Board of Supervisors OF Potta-
wdttamie county appointed an assistant
county attorney, whose duties are to look
after all state cases in the courts OF the
justices of the peace, IL was with the in
tention of reducing the expenses of con-
ducting such cases and to save the county
from being taxed for numerous trivial cases
which should never have been entertained
by the magistrates In the past the dockets
of the justice courts, especially in the city.
have been filled with cases alleging the
minor offenses and which have proven a
source of great expense to the taxpayers of
this county. Having in view the purpose
for which he was appointed, Assistant
County Attorney Clem Kimball has drawn
UP an agreement that Is intended to further
! assist in correcting the existing abuses IN
| the courts of the justices of the peace. The
agreement is as follows:
Whereas, In the prosecution of the minor
public offenses, so numerous in this county,
the county is put to unnecessary expense
and guilty persons escape punishment by the
failure OF witnesses to appear and prosecute
or by the failure of the prosecuting witness
to give correct or reliable information to the
authorities or of the accusers to know fully
/ the circumstances connected with the al
! legged offense; and because in some instances
| 1t develops that the criminal procedure of the
| inferior courts is used for spite or revenge
or to gain some private advantage at pub
! lie expense; and
Whereas. We are desrous to serve the
! best interests of the county and are con-
| fdcnt that definite understanding and CO.
| operation between the magistrates of the
/ county, especially in the city and the pros
/ ecuting attorney, will be conducive to a
better administrator of justice by the mag
| istrates, who should not be prosecutors un-
| der the law; therefore,
| It is understood and agreed by the un-
| derslgned magistrates of Pottawattamie
county and the attorney appointed to pros
ecute before them, that in all cases except
where the urgency of the case demands
! otherwise, the justice or magistrate shall
ascertain whether the prosecuting witness
Dr the person accusing another has personal
! knowledge of the facts, or has attempted
| to file an information elsewhere, and who
| and how many are the witnesses whose
Testimony will tend to establish the Of
| fense or refer the accusing party to the
| assistant county attorney before filing an
information. And in all cases where it shall
! appear that the persons desiring to file an
! information has a knowledge Of the facts
/ only by hearsay or has or knows Of no other
witness Of the facts or circumstances, or
where the case seems doubtful for any rea-
son, that in any such events the magistrate
will refer such person to the assistant
county attorney before filing an Information
against the accused. That in all cases where
an information has been filed without refer
ing the same to the assistant county at.or-
ney, the magistrate will as soon as possible
after the accused has entered a plea Of not
guilty and before the witnesses for the prose-
cution have been subpoenaed. refer the
prosecuting witness to the assistant county
attorney, with the understanding that un-
less he so appears and gives the names of
the witnesses to support the charge the in
formation will be dismissed on motion and
the costs taxed 20 him.
That in all cases of such nature referred
by any magistrates, the assistant county at
J torney will file the necessary information in
| the court referring the same to him; and
said assistant county attorney shall attend
| to the prosecution of the case, giving the
/ constable the names of the witnesses for
the state necessary to be subpoenaed for
the trial.
Council Bluffs has two magistrates, JUS
tice Divide Wen and Justice j. j. Ferrier.
The latter signed the agreement when it
was presented to him by the assistant
county attorney, but Justice Wen refused,
proferring TO run his own court without
any suggestion.
Justice Wen, when asked what objection
he had to signing agreement that was
only intended to help save the taxpayers
, expense, said he did not feel that there s
any necessity for an assistant county attor-
ney and that he intended, as he had done in
the pest, to use his own discretion as to
filing informatlons in cases brought be-
fore him.
There is nothing in the law that compels
any Justice to refer any case to the assistant
county attorney before filing an information
and the consequence has been that the
doclSets have been filled with the most
trivial OF cases involving nothing more seri-
our than a mere neighborhood or family
misunderstanding or actions brought by
persons out of spite or revenge. The costs
in these cases never run less than So and
in many instances amount to twice that
amount and these costs the county is called
upon to pay and the money has to come out
of the pockets of the taxpayers. Even In
cases where the charge has been dismissed
against the defendant for want of prosecu-
tion and the costs taxed to the plaintiff the
county invariably has TO pay them just the
same, as it Is doubtful il there Is a single
case on record where an attempt has beer
made to collect the costs from the party
taxed 1t was to avoid such abuses that Mr.
Nimbal submitted the agreement TO the
justices for their consideration and ac'
ceptance.