Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-01-15
ELECTION BOARDS
ON LOCAL JUR|[S
Investigation Shows sixty-Fiye
Clerks and Judges to Be in
venire For 1907
FIVE WE'RE ON GRAND JURY
Almost One Half Of the Officials Of the
Twenty Eight Precinct Boards Of
Last Falls Election Were Chosen for
Grand and Petit Jury Duty-ln Some
Cases Entire Board was Selected.

u
If any one wanted to start the ball
rolling the venire OF the grand and
petit juries for the district court for
| the present year could be declared null
and void; the business done by the
recent grand jury could be held illegal,
and the county would be left without
a grand or petit jury until the legis-
lature provided method of securing
them, provided the decision Of Judge
Brennan, of the Des Moines district
court, is sound law. The facts existing
here and in Polk county are similar and
SO far as the grand jury is concerned
almost exactly so.
IT, according to the decision Of Judge
Brennan, in the Polk county grand
jury case, election officials. judges and
clerks. and especially judges. are not
eligible to serve on the grand or petit
juries Of the year following the cleo
ton in which they served on the cleo
| ton board, then the grand Jury re-
Gently discharged for the term was
illegally made up, and the venire Of
| petit jurymen for the year was illeg-
ally drawn-or a great part Of it,
! which Judge Brennan held to invali-
date the whole.
Here there Is no question raised re-
garding the manner of sealing the
boxes holding the names, which are
kept in the clerks office. These boxes.
at least since H. C. Lounsberry was
clerk, have been kept sealed with wax
one of the phases OF the Polk county
case.
Election Officials on Juries.
There can not be much question
that officials of the election last fall
returned their own names for grand
and petit jury duty this year. Whether
they suggested their names or not, 1t
still remains a fact that both judges
and clerks Of almost every election
board of the county are either in the
venire for the one or the other. and
some have already served on the grand
jury Of last week.
The number who were on the grand
jury, and who were election officials.
showed remarkable plainness in the in
vestigation which was made Monday
afternoon. OF the seven men who
made up the grand jury five were
either clerks or judges Of elections in
their respective precincts last fall.
These five were c. r. Lynch, Vienna;
s. q. Brown, Liberty; S. o. Lamp
nj Nuoo
were all clerks, and E. L. Monohon. of
Timber Creek, who was a Judge of
election.
Many Officials in Venire.
Judging from the number of names
of judges and clerks Of elections that
are now in the boxes holding the venire
Of grand and petit jurymen places on
the jury are evidently desirable for
election officials.
The grand jury box contains sew
enty-five names, and the petit jury
box 800 names-or more correctly
speaking there were that many in
them before the grand and petit jury
men were drawn. BY actual count all
most s per cent Of these names are
those of election officials who chose
them and returned them for jury duty.
A total of sixty five vlerks and Judges
of elections Of the county are among
the SIS.
In the election last fall, in each Of the
twenty-eight voting precincts OF the
county, there were two clerks and three
judges, a total Of five for each precinct
and total Of 140 for the county. AL
most one-half Of these officials, or to
be exact, sixty-five Of their names,
were returned by them for either grand
or petit jury duty during the year.
Many in Some Precincts.
In some precincts the names of the
entire board, the two clerks and the
three judges, were returned for jury
duty. Such was the case in Eden and
Iowa townships. Linn precinct No. l.,
and the Third ward of this city. In
Linn No. its quota Of names to be
returned for jury duty umbered only
six, and five of The six were the cleo
ton officials who chose the names. A
clerk on this board, S. o. Lampman.
was foreman of the grand jury. In
four other precincts, Marion, Jefferson,
No 2, the First and Fifth wards, four
of the five names of the election Off
Gals were returned for jury duty. In
only five Of the twenty eight precincts
were none of the names Of the election
officials returned. These precincts
were State Center, Greencastle No. 1.
Liscomb and the Fourth ward. In all
the others the number ranged from one
to five.
Excused Because Official.
That no wrong was intended and
done, further than the wrong caused
by an apparent ignorance of the law.
is almost conclusive in the cases Of at
least some of the election officials.
Two Of those who served as election
officials and were drawn on the petit
jury for this term entered as excuses
for not serving Monday afternoon. that
they were election officials. They were
Cecil Rogers, Of Jefferson township,
and August Ambrecht, of Minerva
township. They were excused from
duty.
DR.. coNARD's LECTURE.
GrinneII Professor Tells Of 1.-THE Paint
ed Desert Of New Mexico"
DR.. Henry S. Conard, professor of