Boyce v. Board of Supervisors

43 Misc. 297
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1904
StatusPublished

This text of 43 Misc. 297 (Boyce v. Board of Supervisors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyce v. Board of Supervisors, 43 Misc. 297 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1904).

Opinion

Kellogg, John M., J.

The relator, with her family, having left her home, returned a few days afterward and found it occupied as a pesthouse and designated under [298]*298section 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure as a part of the county jail, and occupied hy a prisoner who had been transferred from the county jail, suffering from smallpox, and in charge of a deputy sheriff and with a physician who had been employed to attend the patient. Food was furnished them from the county jail. Her bill for the rental of the house, the destruction of bedding, the cleaning and other damages was rejected by the board of supervisors, it feeling that it had not the power to pay the same but that the town of Canton, in which the jail and the relator’s house are situate, was liable rather than the county. Viewed from the relator’s and a property standpoint, the intrusion into her house and its occupancy were clear violations of her rights and without any authority, and undoubtedly the sheriff, the deputy sheriff and the president of the village and the physician in charge were jointly and severally liable for such wrongful acts. The prisoner was not probably personally liable from the fact that he had no control of himself, was by compulsion being maintained by the county, the sheriff’s will and not his own controlling his action. Were the relator proceeding against the parties who invaded her home it would not be material to inquire who first- suggested the act or who was the principal mover — each would be liable for all of her damage. It is unnecessary to say that neither the town nor the county had the right to so use the relator’s property and that no public officer had authority to do so in1 its behalf. Viewed from a public standpoint the public interest and the public good would commend rather than blame the different individuals for the part they took in this invasion of the relator’s rights. It being clear that the relator must be compensated, the only question is- whether the county was chargeable with the support and maintenance of the prisoner after it became necessary to remove him from the county jail so that the sheriff was capable of charging upon the county the result of the acts which he and those acting with him did in that respect while caring for the prisoner. Or, if the sheriff did not perform all of his duties, but neglected' some of them, and those duties were performed by others with the knowledge and consent of the sheriff, [299]*299whether the credit of the county is not fairly and equitably pledged therefor. It is not the misfortune but rather a benefit to the plaintiff if instead of having a remedy against the county she may also have one against the town of Canton and the various individuals. The question here is has she such remedy against the county.

In1 this county, by the Local Law (Chap. 324, Laws of 1900), the sheriff is a salaried officer and the “ purchasing committee ” has certain control or supervision over his contracts and the liabilities to be incurred by him. And by section I of that law he shall be responsible for the custody, maintenance and control of all prisoners and persons detained in said jail.” Section 183 of the County Law provides that “ Each sheriff shall have the custody of the jails of his county and the prisoners therein, and such jail shall be kept by him or by keepers appointed by him for whose acts he shall be responsible.” Section 92 of .the County Law requires him to receive and safely keep all persons sentenced to imprisonment, and he shall not, without lawful authority, let any person out of jail.” And by Penal Code, § 434, it is made a misdemeanor to willfully expose a person affected with a contagious or infectious disease in a public place except during his necessary removal therefrom, and I think, with seventy-two people in the jail, seven of whom were attendants and members of the sheriff’s family, and the others Chinese and other prisoners detained therein, the jail would be considered a public place within the meaning of that statute. The sheriff, therefore, seems to have been in a position where it was-a violation of his duty to discharge or let the prisoner go, and it was a crime to keep him in the county jail. This would necessarily give him a right to make the proper arrangements for keeping the prisoner elsewhere. Section 24 of the Public Health Law authorizes the superintendent of the poor to remove an inmate suffering from such disease from the almshouse to such place as the local board of health may authorize, the expense to be borne by the county. Section 92 of chapter 362 of the Laws of 1899 requires that in case of a contagious disease in the State prison, the superintendent may cause the prisoners to be [300]*300removed to some suitable place of security where such of them as may be sick shall receive all necessary care and medical treatment. The Code of Civil Procedure, § 135, authorizes “the physician to the jail” to certify as to the existence of a pestilential disease, and authorizes the county judge to designate another suitable place for the purpose of keeping some or all of the prisoners. After the prisoner’s removal to the relator’s house, upon a petition of the physician to the jail, this house was so designated by the special county judge. But it is said that by section 144 of said Code he had no power to make the designation except in case the county judge was absent from the county, and that that fact does not appear. But after the prisoner has served his sentence there, and the owner’s compensation only is in question, it is a little late to successfully raise that objection. The jail physician obtained the order, the building was actually occupied by the sheriff through his deputy and prisoner, and necessarily and properly so; the sheriff and the “ purchasing committee ” knew the facts, and the court is not bound, under the circumstances, to inquire whether the county judge was at the time within or without the county. But in order to charge the county for the use of the house it was not necessary-that it be designated under section 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure. From necessity and the duty of prompt action the sheriff has the right to remove a smallpox prisoner to a suitable place and charge the county with the expense thereof. The object of the section in question is to make the place when selected a legal jail within the terms of the commitment of the various ‘offenders. After the designation is made the prisoner can raise no objection that he is not then confined in the county jail. The county, under the law and by necessity, must support and maintain the prisoners sentenced to its jail. Such support must include medical treatment as well as provisions and lodging, and if the patient has a contagious disease, and the expense of his •support, maintenance and medical treatment is greater than otherwise would be, it may be unfortunate for the county, but it does not relieve it from its obligation, nor authorize it to turn its prisoners loose upon the county town, or shirk its [301]*301responsibility upon the local board of health. The answering affidavits seek to show that the sheriff, when he discovered that the prisoner had smallpox, notified Dr. Wilson, who was the physician to the jail and at the same time the health officer of the village, that the prisoner must be removed, and Dr. Wilson and the president of the village arranged for his removal to this house, the president personally guaranteeing to the physician employed payment for his services and also to the deputy for his services as nurse. It was understood by all that the nurse must be a deputy sheriff.

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Matter of Smith
40 N.E. 497 (New York Court of Appeals, 1895)

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Bluebook (online)
43 Misc. 297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyce-v-board-of-supervisors-nysupct-1904.