Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1904-11-17
SERVING irCa koTlCss
Question ST Serving Notices is
Ono that sctarSsts line
Sheriff

SnCTitf
Much Work Vet IL Ds Bsfsrc
CONSTRUCTION Ca, Sc Put
Under Nay
Go. Bluffs Dept. World Herald)
In connection with the pro-
posed construction of drainage
bitches in Harrison and Potta-
wattamie counties, as we'll as
other counties in the western
part of Iowa, an interesting
question has arisen as to liabil-
ity for the expense of serving
notices. The question is wheth-
er the serving of ditch notices
is part of the official duty of
the sheriff or whether it is spe-
cial work. If the former, then
the sheriff can be required to
serve the notices without COM
pensation other than his official
salary. If the latter, the aud
itsr is charged with the duty of
having the notices served, and
fees and mileage can be col
lected as part of the expenses
| of the ditch construction.
The interesting feature of
the question lies in the fact
that in both counties, but es-
pecially in Harrison county,
where the magnitude of the
| proposed ditch construction is
much greater than in Potta-
wattamie, the number of no
tees to be served is much
greater than in Pottawattamie,
the number of notices to be
served is so large that if the
sheriff is required to serve
them as part of his official duty
the work will abse rs nearly if
not quite all of his salary, and
in Harrison county might,
under certain circumstances,
necessitate the expenditure of
more than the sheriff's compen-
|sation.
1t is stated that in Harrison
county there are over 1000
notices to be served in connec-
ton with bitches already or
dered. These must be served
within a specified time, before
the date set for hearing by the
board of supervisors. Their
are two sets of notices, one Civ
ing notice of the proposed es-
Establishment of dit .hes by the
board of supervisors and a hear
ing of claims for ca nages and
the other notifying interested
property owners to appear ane
show cause why they should
not be assessed for the cost Of
the improvement in proportion
to benefits they receive. The
law provides that the auditor
shall have all these notices
served, but there is a DISPOSE
tion in Harrison county to re-
gard the work of serving them
as part of the duties of the
sheriff.
Sheriff Shinn of Harrison
county was in Council Bluffs
yesterday and consulted with
County Attorney Killpack and
other county officials. He de-
clared that if he were to be
compelled to serve the notices
without compensation other
than his salary the expense
would absorb all of the salary,
if not more. In Harrison coun-
ty the sheriff receives 81, 800
per year, out of which he must
pay $500 for a deputy, leaving
him 81 200 for himself. When
it is considered that the only
part of his expense the sheriff
could retain for the serving of
notices, if they are to be re-
garded as belonging to his
office, would be the mileage it
will be easily seen that most of
his expenses would have to
come out of his own pocket.
He would have to stop at every
place and in many instances
would have to tramp out into
the fields in search of the prop
er person upon whom to make
service. Considerable time
would be occupied in reading a
voluminous notice, and the
mileage earned would be so
small a part of the expense as
to be scarcely worth consider
ing.
On the other hand, if the
service of these notices is
c,,oo;o1 1,,o,.1r IN +ba