City of Mt. Vernon v. Mochwart

75 Ohio St. (N.S.) 529
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 5, 1907
DocketNo. 9940
StatusPublished

This text of 75 Ohio St. (N.S.) 529 (City of Mt. Vernon v. Mochwart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Mt. Vernon v. Mochwart, 75 Ohio St. (N.S.) 529 (Ohio 1907).

Opinion

Grew, J.

In this case all objections as to the form of the petition herein filed by the city of Mt. [532]*532Vernon — a copy of which petition is set out in the above statement of facts- — -were expressly waived in the courts below, and are not now insisted upon in this court. Upon the record as here presented, the sole question we are asked to determine is: What disposition is the defendant in error, as clerk of the court of common pleas of Knox county, required to make of the money received by him from fines imposed upon persons indicted and' convicted in said court for violations of the law familiarly known and designated as the “Beal municipal local option law”; is the money so received to be paid by him ifito the treasury of the county, agreeably to the provisions of Section 6802, Revised Statutes, or must it, because of the provisions of Section 4364-20^-, be paid by him into the municipal treasury of the city of Mt. Vernon? The correct answer to this question depends doubtless upon the interpretation and effect proper to be given to the provisions of Section 4364-20J3 a copy of which section is hereinafter set out. To ascertain the true intent and meaning of this section and the effect proper to be given its provisions, it will be necessary, or at least helpful, to consider briefly certain other parts and provisions of the so-called Beal municipal local option law, as well as the provisions of Sections 6802 and 1536-643, Revised Statutes. Section 4364-20, now, by incorporation or adoption, one of the sections of the Beal law, but which originally was Section 11 of the Dow law, contains a provision for the closing on Sunday of all places where intoxicating liquors are on other days sold or exposed for sale, except regular drug stores— and prescribes the penalty for violations of such [533]*533provision; for the first offense a fine, and for each subsequent offense a fine, or imprisonment, dr both. This clause of'the section extends to and is operative in all places and territory within the boundaries of the' state of Ohio, whether the same be within or without a municipal corporation. And one who violates this provision may be prosecuted therefor by indictment in any county of the state wherein such violation occurs. By a subsequent clause of this section it is provided: “And any municipal corporation shall have full power to regulate the selling, furnishing or giving away of intoxicating liquors as a 'beverage’ and places where intoxicating liquors are sold, furnished or given away as a 'beverage’ except as provided for in Section 4364-20C of this act.” This clause of the section provides merely fot municipal regulation, and the power thereby delegated must be exercised, if at all, by ordinance or ordinances passed for that purpose by the proper municipal authorities ; and the violation of any such ordinance would not subject or render liable, the person violating the same, to indictment by a grand jury, but the offender for such offense must be prosecuted and punished in the proper municipal court. Again, the act contains a further provision authorizing the holding of a special municipal election for the purpose of determining whether the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage shall be prohibited within the limits of the municipality, and if a majority of the votes cast at such election shall be in •favor of prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors -as a beverage, then from and after thirty days from the date of holding said election it shall be unlawful, within the limits of such corporation to [534]*534sell, furnish or give, away any intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage, or to keep a place where such liquors are kept for sale, given away or furnished for beverage purposes. Any violation of this provision is made a misdemeanor, the first and second violations thereof being punishable by fine, and all subsequent violations by both fine and imprisonment. Thus it will be seen that this act requires the closing of saloons on Sunday — provides for municipal local option — and permits municipal regulation. There are, therefore, at least three sources within the provisions of the act, from which funds may be derived by way of fines —two for violations of the statute itself,, the third for violation of an ordinance passed under authority of said statute; the former may be prosecuted either in the court' of common pleas, or the municipal court, but the latter can be prosecuted only in the municipal court of the corporation wherein the violation occurs. Section 6802, Revised Statutes, which is a general law, provides: “An officer who collects any fine shall, unless otherwise required by law, within twenty days after the receipt thereof, pay the same into the treasury of the county in which such fine was assessed, to the credit of the county general fund, and shall take the treasurer’s duplicate receipts therefor, and forthwith deposit one of the same with the county auditor.” Section 1536-643, Revised Statutes, which is retained as one of the sections of the municipal code, provides: “All fines and forfeitures which may be collected by the mayor, or which may in any manner come into his hands, and all moneys which may be received by him in his official capacity, other than his fees of office, shall be [535]*535by him paid over to the treasurer of the corporation weekly; and at the first regular meeting of the council in each and every month, he shall submit a full statement of all such moneys received, from whom and for what purpose receiyed, and when paid over; but all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected by him in ■ state cases shall be paid by him over to the county treasurer monthly.” It is conceded that whatever doubt and uncertainty there may be in the present case, as to whether the county or municipal treasury is the rightful depository for the fines. received and held by the defendant in error, it is such only, as arises from the language employed in Section 4364-20°', which is one of the sections of the Beal municipal local option law, and reads as follows: “Money received from fines and forfeited bonds collected under the provisions of this act shall be paid into the treasury of the municipal corporation wherein said fine was imposed or bond forfeited, and shall be applied to such fund or funds as the council of said corporation may direct.” It is claimed by counsel for plaintiff in error that by force of the provisions of this section, all fines imposed for a violation of Section 4364-20, Revised Statutes, or any of the provisions of the municipal local option law, must be paid into thé treasury of the municipal corporation wherein said fine is imposed, whether such fine be one imposed by the court of common pleas, or by the municipal court. In other words, the claim is, that the proper disposition to be made of fines imposed' under this act, is determined solely by the locus of the court imposing the fine without regard to whether the prosecution is in a state court for the violation of [536]*536a state law, or is in the municipal court for the violation of either the state law or an ordinance of the municipality. While this contention of counsel finds some warrant in a literal interpretation of the language of said section, such we think is not the meaning of the section when its language is interpreted, as it must be, in connection with, and in the light of, other cognate provisions of the Revised Statutes. Nor do we think that any such result as that which would necessarily follow from the construction contended for, was ever anticipated or intended by the legislature.

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Bluebook (online)
75 Ohio St. (N.S.) 529, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-mt-vernon-v-mochwart-ohio-1907.