The Mount Holly news., 1919-12-09

!, received by the county, we are il
clined to believe that his bond is Ii,
BILE, especially if it is a trust con
i pany bond paid for by the county
Somerset Co. Fred. N. Voorhees,, Cler
/ 1--WE employ no regular searcher
the office, and do not make a bid fl
clerks searches. / have alway
felt, since being on a salary system
that it is not fair for the clerk t
make the search, and be PERSONAL
| responsible, when the fees go to tn
county. Of course, l have neve
gone into the legal status of tn
| matter, as we make but few search
es. While I was deputy, l mad
them myself, but since being clerl
have called upon young lawye
to do it, paying him one-third of tn
fees"
Sussex Co. Harvey S. Hopkins, Clerk
This office has never employed
special search clerk. Having hal
twenty years personal experienc,
IN the office, it has been my invari
able custom to attend to that brancl
of the work myself whenever neces
sary. Since the office went under
the salary act | have frankly dis
couraged the practice of official
searches, which never were a big
item in this small county, and we dc
very little of it any more. If a per-
son insists on it, | do it, but not
otherwise. l doubt if the income to
the county from this work will aver
age over $100 year."
Union Co. William b. Martin, Clerk.
"Will state that a search clerk has
never been used in this office. This
character of work has always been
done by private individuals or firms
who are making quite a good living,
particularly at this time.
MY opinion of this matter is that
the work in the county clerks office
should embrace only that which is
provided for by law. If he does
this, in my opinion, he will have
enough to do"
Warren Co. G. Howell Mutchler, Clerk.
"On taking Office nine years ago, the
matter of official searches came up.
/ found that former clerks, who
were on the old fee basis, had made
them, and, of course, the fees be-
longed to them. could not then
and have not since found anything
IN the law requiring me as clerk to
make searches and certify as to
their correctness. l felt that as
was on the salary basis, the fees
for official searches, should l make
them, would belong to the county
while | and my bondsmen, not the
county, would probably be response
bic for any errors in searches. In
this view of the matter, and for my
own protection and the protection
of my bondsmen, / have refused
to make any such searches, and, of
course, have not employed search
clerk"
Burlington Co. L. G. Mingin. Clerk.
Certain duties which county clerks
perform are either mandatory or
permissive; for instance, the clerk,
being the custodian of the official
seals of the courts and county
clerks office, is the only one who
can by law make certifcations as to
legal documents and records which
may be needed as evidence in our
courts, hence the issuance of these
certifications, when called upon, is
mandatory and he can be compelled
10 perform Such acts.
Searching titles, judgment and lien
records is entirely a perrnissive
function, and under the law clerks
are permitted to charge fixed fees
(Revised Statutes page 2289) for
performance of specific acts, if they
assume to act. All record books.
files, &C., in the county clerks Of
fees are open to public inspection
and accessible for examination by
those who may wish to inspect them
and make copies or abstracts there
from; hence the county clerk has no
exclusive right nor is he the only
one permitted by law to state what
is on the record. By law, certified
copies of records are evidence, but
the courts permit lawyers and ex-
perienced title searchers as well as
others to testify what is on the rec
ord and their testimony is taken as
evidence.
Before the enactment of the salary
law, county clerks endeavored to
secure for themselves all the search
ing possible, for the fees therefromI
formed quite considerable part of
their perquisites. The law permit
ted them to charge statutory fees
If they performed such services, but
they could not be compelled to do
this work, for the reason they had
no exclusive control or access to the
records, the public having equal op-
portunity and access. The clerk
then assuming to perform services
and receiving the fees therefor be-
q ~ L
correctness of his certifcations, and
the decisions of the courts have held
him liable for any losses by his err
rors or omissions. Even then the
courts would not assume to force a
clerk to perform services for which
ne might become liable for error
because he was not the exclusive
one who had access to the records
and might perform the same work.
County clerks, prior to the enact
ment of the salary act, assuming to
make searches made themselves liza
bic for any error or omission and
their bondsmen could be held be-
cause the clerk took the fees and
compensation for the work per-
formed; but they could not involve
the county in any responsibility.
County clerks being on a salary
basis have no incentive to make
searches; they cannot involve the
county in any responsibility nor can
their bondsmen be held for the rea-
son that searching is entirely a per-
mlsslve privilege and not an exclus-
i've duty which they, and they only,
can perform. The only recovery it.
IS possible to conceive that can now
be had for error or omission in
county clerk search is that which
might be had against the county
clerk individually for attempting to
perform some act for another either
with or without compensation un-
der the old common law. Why
should any county clerk take the re-
sponsibility personally to perform
an act for which the county re-
ceives the fees and if an error be
made he must pay for the damages?
"The search clerk in Burlington
county, when employed ten years
ago, had for years engaged in title
searching and had a private client
age. He was engaged at an annual
salary of 81 500 to do such work as
came to the county clerks office, the
county thus becoming one of his eli
ents. 1t was distinctly understood
that he should be privileged to re-
tain his private business.
Under that arrangement the coun-
ty has had an annual income for
searches averaging something over
$4,000, and during the year of 1913
the average income has been over
$500 per month.
"He will retire from office this year
and continue the work in a private
capacity; his retirement has brought