The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-06-10


where the ferry now lands on the Es-
Gambia county side.
The report of the state auditor was
then read and is as follows:
Tallahassee, Fla, May 30th, 1914.
Hon Park Tranmell, Governor, the
Capitol.
Dear Sir: have the honor to re-
port that pursuant to your instruc-
tions, / made an investigation of the
records OF the sheriffs office in Es-
Gambia county, as we'll as the usual
examination Of the records in the other
county offices there.
Beginning where the present sAerifr
took ONCE. I audited each item of every
bill paid him by the county. To do
this found it necessary to assemble
and examine the ca Sc papers in all
the criminal cases disposed Of during
that time, many Of which were mis-
laid or lost.
This examination disclosed that
there were other county officers there,
as well as the sheriff, who had charged
fees that in my Judgment were for
constructive service and under the
circumstances improper, which 7 shall
hereafter take occasion to mention.
Constructive service as understand
1T. is simply work not actually done
Where an of1eer claims conpensa-
ton for work not actually done, he
Is charging for constructive service"
within the meaning of the statute.
For instance, where a sheriff mails
a paper to a deputy at q distance to
be served. or phones a person to
come in" and makes claim for mile
age as If he had actually travelled the
distance covered by the mail or
phone, he is charging constructive
mileage" Again, where a sheriff
serves more than one process or con-
veys more than one prisoner on 2.
single trip and charges for himself
on each as If he had made a separate
trip for each, he is charging for con
structive mileage" on all in excess OF
the one trip. Or, where any officer
makes a claim for work not actually
done, as the issuance Of a commit
n1ent, for instance, when the same is
not issued he, himself comes within
the terms denounced by the statute.
Section 1887 General Statutes Of Flor
ida says:
mo officer shall make two charges
for the same official act or service, nor
charge for any constructive service;
ana no fees shall be charged in any
case, or for any official service per
formed or claimed to be performed by
any ofieer within the state, unless
such fees be expressly authorized and
their amounts be specified by law"
The acts Of the officers there were
measured by these rules.
Recurring to the case in hand, some
OF the charges made by the sheriff
struction OF the law; for instance, in
going beyond the limits of the state
for 4 prisoner, Ave cents per mile each
way was claimed and paid for self
and five cents per mile for returning
prisoner in addition to the necessary
expense. except transportation, when
1T should have been one mileage for
self for the whole distance travelled
by the nearest and most direct route,
going and returning, and only actual
expenses for returning prisoner. Chap
ter 54o7. laws of Florida. This over
charge amounts to two cents mile
on each prisoner brought from outside
the state.
About half the bills for conveying
persons to the reform school at Ma
risnna contained a per diem of three
dollars for a deputy sheriff, when in
fact none was used. For this service
the statute allows the sheriff only ac-
tual expenses. Section 4174, General
Statutes.
In the items OF criminal cost bills,
charges were sometimes made for ser
vices performed that are not provided
for in the fee bill; occasionally greater
fees were claimed than is allowed by
law--owing at times no doubt to an
incorrect Interpretation OF the statute,
and again apparently without reason;
made for services which could and
should have been performed that were
not done. which in my judgment We're
constructive under the law cited
Mileage not actually travelled was
sometimes made the basis of a claim,
and often where two or more persons
were arrested or served on the same
trip. mileage was computed on each
if separate trip had been made
for each one.
1t appears of record, on one occasion,
where a number of arrests were made
at the same time and place by the
same deputies, that charges for mile
age were made as If a separate trip
had been made for each prisoner and
the bills were made out so as to make
1t appear as if the arrests had been
made on different days. mention
this to show the improbility of boni
fdes in the transactions, yet it was
the only case Of this nature
There were a few instances where
the same cost bills had been presented
and paid twice, and others where the
same bills were paid by both the de-
PENDANT and the county.
careful check and comparison of
the jail records revealed that there
had been overcharges made in the bills
for feeding prisoners. as we'll as a few
instances of undercharges.
The foregoing statements briefly
cover the entire case and form the
basis Of the claim here presented fog