Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-22
CALL FOR A NEW JURY LIST
Names Put on Present Panel Without
Authority Of Law.
BAR ASSOCIATION OF OMAHA OBJECTS
Lawyers Assert that County Commits
sioners Must Make Up List Them
selves and Not DeIegat EN-
pIOyes to DO IL.

AZ the next meeting Of the Board Of
County Commissioners, to be held Friday
Of next week, Chairman Ostrom Of the COM
mittee Of the whole will introduce a reso-
tuition asking the Judge Of the criminal
court to authorize the board to withdraw
the jury list for 1902 as already prepared
and to make up a new one. This is the
result Of the hearing granted yesterday
afternoon to Francis A. Brogan, James
II. Mcintosh. Arthur @. Wakeley. G. G.
Wright and w. d. McHugh, constituting
the executive council Of the Omaha Bar
association. The attorneys affirmed that
the letter Of the law had not been observed
In preparing the jury list, but Chairman
Ostrom states that his action is more In
6uepced by the discovery that after the
previous list was made out and approved
by the board there was a supplemental
list Of nearly 800 names slipped in among
the sheets given the copylsts in the ONCE
Of the district clerk to include among the
names copied into the records and from
there copied onto the slips that were used
subsequently in making the drawings for
the juriea Of the present term. For these
900. Mr., Ostrom says, there Is no account
ing, as the clerks, the commissioners and
Judge Baxter ell disclaim knowledge Of
any except the dozen or more that were
added Just before the drawing in the hope
Of catching some Of the notorious jury
shirkers.
Jury Tampering Separate Charge.
A prominent member Of the Bar assocla-
ton council said yesterday. after the in
tention Of the board was declared:
This action is distinct from that to be
taken as the result of the charge Of Jury
tampering by the street railway company,
which was preferred at the association
meeting In January. We have had this
work in hand only two weeks, but we are
In earnest about 1t, and hereafter the
Bar association will have a committee at
every jury drawing. 1t is to our W as
much as to the public's interest that the
commissioners select only those men who
are really well qualified to serve"
The address which the committee made
TO the board yesterday cites that the board
delegated to the county clerks force the
work Of making up the jury list and then
directs the boards attention to the stat
utory requirements that Elm making such
fury list the county board shall choose a
proportionate number @from the residents
Of each ward and precinct" which is, In
the councils opinion, a specific direction
for the board to perform the work itself.
Seeking Jobs as Jurors.
Continuing, the council writes;
Further, we call your attention to the
provisions OF 66Sk OF the Code of. Civil
Procedure. by which 1t is provided that II
Juror he shall be guilty OF contempt OF
court, liable to a fine and disqualified to
serve as a Juror. Yet we find II to be a
now in the box, to be hereafter drawn
from, are the names OF persons who were
placed on the list at their own solicitation
and who are therefore disqualified.
The boards contemplated dismissal Of
The present jury list will not affect the
panels for the present term Of court, as
those for the first two periods of the term
were drawn January 13 and that for the
third was drawn Thursday. in order to COM
ply with the statutory requirement that
they be drawn twenty days before the time
for their service to begin.