Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-03-01
Red-hot Communication Received
BY the Judiciary Commit
tee OF Legislature.
SEVERAL ILLEGAL METHODS.
How Various Collection Agencies Are
Copying the Tactics Employed
by DrTand OF Murray.

Among the communications received
by the judiciary committee of the Utah
| legislature in connection with thu
pending collection agency bills today
is one from George A. Udall. attorney
at-law at Eureka, vino sets forth In
detail some of the Illegal methods en-
| ployed by some of the Justices of the
peace in this state. The communicate
tion makes decidedly Interesting read
| ing and Is withal replete with food
| for thought.
II IL reproduced in full;
Eureka, Utah, Feb. g. 1907.
! Hon. Judiciary Committee of the Utah
' Legislatures;
| Gentlemen--I hasten to accept your
| Invitation, as published in last even
| ing's News" to offer suggestions upon
your Luke Bills" l have before mo
documentary evidence of the following
| facts and conclusions: Your prede-
cessors in 1905 prescribed and diguified
| as statutory an affidavit (see Laws 1905,
| page 1889, which q defendant IN a suit
may make and file to the effect that
at the time OF commencement OF suit
against him, he did not reside In the
precinct m which the action was
brought, nor contract 10 perform the
| obliga ton sued upon in the said pre-
| to the dignity OF conclusive proof that
said affidavit shall be conclusive upon
| the parties and upon the justice
| and his Jurisdiction shall cease upon
| the filing of such affidavit for all pur-
| poses except for the sole purpose
| of transferring the case to" the pro-
| per jurisdiction.
CASE IN POINT.
Now | have a case where the bill
| sued Npon was contracted at Mann
| moth precinct nearly a decade ago.
and subsequently paid. And long since
the running of the statute for the i'm
PRODUCTION of proof thereon. and while
defendant still lives at Mammoth as
always, Luke brings suit at Murray.
Defendant makes the identical affida-
Wit verbatim as given by the law as
| j have Just stated. | filed 1t for him
at the Murray court, accompanied
with double the fee for filing a pa
per as In the fee bill set out. Not
understanding these facts the Justice
Durand-set the case for hearing and
proceeded to enter Judgment and
transcribed the said Judgment 10 the
district court at Nephi. whereupon
Luke sued out an execution and or
|, dered levy made by the sheriff of
Juab county, on defendants property
al Mammoth precinct. Durend In his
| letter to me says that we should have
sent the fees for change OF venue TO
him, and offers that as his excuse. j
then moved in the district court at a
| cost Of over ten times the amount
| involved in the controversy. to set
| aside the Judgment, and we have now
| before us a course of liz cation where
| lin postponements, dilatory, proceed
| ings, travelling expenses, officers and
| attorneys fees. and salaries. will ala
| tend towards the yielding of the de-
| PENDANT to the triumph Of the coll
| lector over law and Justice.
HAS NO JURISDICTION.
Now / think that when the affida-
| Wit is conclusive proof that the justice
| has no jurisdiction, he has none to coll
| lect his fees for his work in repairing
| the case to proper court And, If he
| Is entitled to such fees, he should col
| ect them from the plaintiff, who has
| filed the same case in the wrong ju-
| risdicticn and wishes to further pur-
| sue the matter by filing right In the
| proper court.
| Therefore l suggest that you amend
| this section by adding 10 II these
| word: provided further, that no fees
| shall be charged to or collected from
| the defendant for the filing of said afii-
| davit. nor for the transferring of
such case
PENAL oFFENsE.
also suggest that you enact suitable
| statutes making ii penal offense for
| both attorney or collector and Justice of
| the peace to thus proceed without Juris-
distion, and also direct !, plain civil
suit for damages against the same par
ties for such acts and also for such
acts as the following: one OF my clients
here In Eureka was served with a sum-
mons which / have before me- bearing
~ f1f L I
Durand for n copy of the complaint
describing verbatim the style of the
case, and he returned me this letter be-
| fore me which says: mo such case on
, file In my court" Which shows yo1
Luke carries ON the Justice (injustlce)
court in his Office In Salt Lake City.
Another client called the other even
| ing whose wages for the past month of
January are held In total by Luke on 9,
nine year-old debt OF So, and he de-
clares that no summons was ever
served on him personally nor left at his
house, and that he knew nothing of thu
suit until he called for his pay at the
mine office and found II gone. over to
Luke.
MANY IMITATORS.
These things radiate all over the state
and many attorneys and collectors copy
his methods. I have before me an ex-
ecution levied by the sheriff against
my client upon a local stock OF $4,000 Of
merchandise here WITHOUT summons,
garnlshment or interpleader as the FIRST
paper IN the pleadings against them,
and where no debt was shown TO exist,
and 1t came under the hand of person
of no less dignity than your colleague
| lSraNton Barnett as justice OF the peace
! Of Mammoth precinct, Juab county, and
| was sued out by n. a. Robertson an at
| torney AT law and collecting agent OF
| Salt Lake City, erparte, and without
| any knowledge whatever on the part OF
| tho ones whose goods were taken by
| sheriff Whitehead OF Juab county. Il is
| now matter of record in the district
| court In damage suit for the purpose
| of restoring the property
attribute this kind OF practise d.
rectly 10 the Influence Of the Luke court,
the methods of which are sometimes
| UlnNg1 lag Ga .,I, 81