The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-13


 great burden of costs, which always fol- lows the smallest fine in other courts of record Tn Jefferson county.
 For example. A man charged with the offense of vagrancy in the courts or record of Jefferson county and Is lined S1O. has to pay, in addition some s5o To S5o In costs, large part of which goes to the fee officers. The same defendant, if tried in the Bir- mingham court of common please, if fined S10, pays little or no costs; there fore no one is interested in arresting the defendant merely for the sake of lees. No complaint has been made or can be made justly that the court or it's officers have not arrested and tried every case of vagrancy that comes to their attention.
 Bill Now Being Prepared
 "A bill is now being prepared to extend the Jurisdiction of this court or one to be substituted for it, so as to include all misdemeanors with the object in view of having court where all misdemeanors can be expeditiously tried without large costs
 Tt has been suggested that this movement will be opposed by certain officers of other courts to whim the fees for misdemeanor cases make up large part of their handsome income The answer seems to be obvious The general welfare should not be com promised for the sake of any private interest and no one should allow nim- self, even for the sake of friendship. surrender the public interests for fear of offending some person or private in terest. In fact, if it were the only good to be accomplished by consolidating all or the courts of record of Jefferson county, that thereby all the fee off : cers connected with such court would he. .ha t-1,A new consolidated court the officers be placed upon a salary, which Is within the power of the legislature to do, that alone would be sufficient req son to justify the consolidation. A most paradoxical thing Is for the people gen orally. and the politicians In particular. during campaigns to clamor for the abolition of the fee system and then, when it comes to the application Of the principle, to shirk it on the unten- able ground that the reform in the particular case will hurt some par ticular private interest that offered it . self for public office in the expectancy that system long since condemned and which is undefensible, would be continued for their own private ben eft.
 TIT part of the misdemeanor cases were taken away from the court of record where they are now tried, by giving this new court concurrent jur- isdiction, it would leave the court, the | judges. solicitors and the clerks to give their attention to the more important l crimes. such as murder, robbery and the like. And not only that. it would | save the county many thousands of dollars that is spent in summoning wit nesses and jurors in the trial of mis- demeanor cases. to say nothing of the expense to which the county is put in | KpRninpr the mi ed in mi f..N months awaiting a trial; and this also requires the county to go to large ex- pense in feeding the felony prisoners and keeping them in jail, their cases being delayed by the congestion of tha docket caused by the trial of these Ipany y~misdemeanor cases in that court. l Increase Jurisdiction @a l This bill also proposes to give the court now known as the Birmingham court of common pleas Jurisdiction con- current with other courts of civil eases up to $500. This will be done by cre- ating another court, the judges of the Birmingham court of common pleas be . ing ex officio judges of that court and without additional salary. This will all low cases where the amount involved is $500 to be tried within 10 days after the filing of the complaint and the samo procedure will be pursued as is now pursued in the Birmingham court of common pleas, and this cour. will charge only the same costs as are now charged in the Birmingham court of common pleas. which are far less than if the same case were tried in court of record. The cases then will be promptly tried to the advantage of both tl Q witnesses and ltginast, without formality technical pleading and the continuances and delays that follow technical pleading and congested docket.
 eff these bills are adopted they will go far in solving the problem of the fee system and answer in part the com plaints of delay in this county"