The Cairo bulletin., 1913-12-14
TERROR
!. TO ALL CLASSES
OFLAWbREAkfRS
Law Provides For Such Penalty
When Appll,d By Board Of i.
County Commissioners
MARION COUNTY ENF0RCEs
WILLIAMSON FOLLOWS SUIT
Wherever Adopted Method Has Had
Desired Effect in Lessening
Minor 0ffenses

MluVh ShSHSS'
Marion, H., Dec. 13---Tho con-
d ton of some of the roads and
streets IN this county, together with
the well known fact that the VIII
aiamson county Jail is pretty con@I
stantly we'll titled with petty crime
inals, and further, considering the
action being taken by some of tha
counties of the state, brings cut
the feasibility OF employing "jail
birds" on the rock pile. Where
ever adopted, the method has had
most desirable effect and has cut
down the expenses of the county
materially.
Action of Marion County.
Cne of the most important mat
ters before the board for good
while was acted on today. The law
provides that persons in any county
operating under the law by action
of the board and who is convicted
and fined for misdemeanor either
by Justice of the peace or by the
court may be made to work out the
fine ana cost at $3.50 per day on
the public highways of the county
or by cities in street work or on a
rock pile or in the work house at
the rate of $3.50 per day till the
fine and costs are wiped out
1t has been the rule heretofore In
ftnts county to permit pri0oner
who Aas been sent to jail Or a. Jail
sentence and fine combined, to
plead exemption from the fine un-
der the poor act; and where 1t can
be shown that the sheriff after due
diligence finds the prison to be
without means or without means to
obtain money with which to pay the
fine, to discharge him from custody,
after he has served his Jail sentence
alone. In substance the supreme
court decides after sustaining the
law adds further that the prisoners s
means to pay fine are not all ex-
hausted SO long as he is in suffi.
ciently good health to do manual
labor, and that before he can avail
himself of this act he must present
to the court doctors certificate Of
this nature exempts him only dur
ing the the time of such physical
liability and he may be made to
work out his fine on recovery. The
court or justices when imposing a
fine may commit the person TO hard
labor till such fine and costs arc
paid.
Criminals May Be Farmed Ont
In Circuit or County Court fines
the sheriff has charge of the persons
and may work him on the public
highway or on the rock pile or ono
of the public squares or any such
public utility and when he desires
to do so may farm the prisoners out
TO any city in the county to work on
the streets of such city---without
cost to the city; the only requisite
being that the one city must hire
its own guard and feed the prisoner
and furnish him Jail quarters.
while in eheir custody.
If man refuses to work he gets
no credit for that day and thus
lcngthens his term of imprison-
ment. a prisoner is allowed $3.50
on his fine and cost for a full days
work.
While in some instances it will
cost as much or more to keep a pris-
oner at work as the result of his la
Dor is worth, its value as a terror
. izer to a certain class of minor Of
tenders will fFly recompense for
the outlay as to preventative of mis-
demeanors and vagrancies.