The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-18
on foregoing items. :. ..s1.s775s

Hon. John B. Lyons.
 T examined the books, accounts and vouchers of Hon. ]. B. Lyons, Probate Judge, from December I. 1908 to No vember H. 1908.
 [ His books are correctly kept. He paid into the county treasury all the money collected for the county. "All the fees and allowances he coll lected from the county were correct and legal, except that he collected $2e for preliminary trials in felony cases :. The law relative to such fees is ex- plained in the report, hereinbefore, on Judge Robinson. He, also, collected S13.50 for ice and box rent, which are not authorized by law. These items, with interest thereon, made a total of $291 due by Judge Lyons, which he promptly paid into the county treasury upon hls attention being called there- to.
 The sheriR's Omce. T examined the books, accounts and vouchers of Hon. c. N. Hodge, ex- Sheriff of Lee County from September l 1. 1896, to August S1, 1900, the date of his retirement from office.
 His books were correctly kept. The fees and allowances he collected from the county treasury were correct and legal, except as foIlows:s Under Sec- tion 45s6 of the Code he collected Sl,- 13e for services for attending County Court. charging s2 per day for each day said court was opened. Mir. Hodge was not legally entitled to these fees, and owes the county $1,lS0, with inter- est thereon.
 Said Section 459e>reads as follows:
 The terms of the County Court shall | be attended by the Sheriff or deputy sheriff; and in their absence some suit able person shall be appointed by the court to act in their stead, whose com | r-Tl I.1 -a-a out of the county treasury In the case of Torbert V Hale County, 131 Ala page 143, the Supreme Court expressly decides the question as to the right of l a Sheriff to collect $2Nper day compen- sation under Section 4596--a part of the decision reads as follows: The law of 1 fees and costs must be held to be penal, and no fee must be demanded or receiv- ed except expressly authorized by law. 1 (Code, Sec. l353.) An officer demand 1 ing fees for services rendere1 must point to some clear and definite pro- l vision of the statute, which author | lzes the demand, and the compensation can not be allowed, unless 1t is ex- pressly conferred by a strict construc- tion of the language employed in the statute. Statutes giving costs or fees will not be extended beyond their let ters. Troup V. Morgan County, 109 Ala, A. ?. 1892. and cases cited. It is l a duty upon the plaintiff to perform the services alleged to have been per- formed if there is no provision compen- satIng him for it. Those who accept public offices which reuqire them to | render services to the State, must take | the offices cum onere-the rendition of such services gratuitously, unless by | express statutory provision, compensa- tion is fixed, and an express liability
 for it's payment imposed (Pollard V
 Brewer, 59 Ala. p. 130 )
 Two sections of the code are relied
 upon to fix the compensation claimed by plaintiff in the hrst count, and as
 imposing a liability upon the defend
 ant. The first, to which we will now
 advert, is Section 4596 of the Code Confessedly, this section imposes a duty upon the Sherif or deputy
 sheriff to attend upon the sit
 tings of the County Court; and also provides, in the event that either of
 them fails to attend, for the appoint