County of Carroll v. Durham

120 Ill. App. 330, 1905 Ill. App. LEXIS 657
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided April 25, 1905·No. Gen. No. 4,435·Published

Opinion

Mr. Justice Dibell

delivered the opinion of the court.

During the impanelment of á jury in the case of The People against Estelle and others in the Circuit Court of Carroll County, the regular panel of the petit jury was exhausted by challenges. The court ordered a venire to issue for fifty persons having the qualifications of jurors, to fill the panel for that trial. The defendants objected to the service of said writ by the sheriff. 'The court then appointed Greorge S. Durham a special bailiff to serve said writ, and he served it, and afterward brought this suit against the county of Carroll to recover the fees and mileage to which he claimed to be by law entitled for that service. He recovered a verdict and a judgment for §50.30, from which the county prosecutes this appeal.

Section 19 of the act of March 29, 1872, relating to Fees and Salaries (being chapter 53 of the Revised Statutes of 1874), is headed, “ Sheriff’s Fees,” and contains the following: ‘‘ For summoning each juror in counties of first class, fifty cents; second class, thirty cents; third class, twenty cents; with five cents mileage each way in all counties.” Carroll county is in the first class. Section 13 of chapter 78 of the Revised Statutes relating to jurors, enacts that when, by reason of challenge in the selection of a jury for xthe trial of any cause the regular panel shall be exhausted, “ the court may direct the sheriff to summon a sufficient number of persons having the qualifications of jurors to fill the panel for the pending trial; but, upon objection by either party to the cause to the sheriff summoning a sufficient number of persons to fill the panel, the court shall appoint a special bailiff to summon such persons; provided, the same person shall not be appointed special bailiff more than once at any term of court.” Plaintiff introduced the writ directed to him, and his return thereon, showing service upon fifty persons, for which service he charged upon the writ $25, and also showing rather blindly that he had traveled 506 miles in serving the writ, for which he charged upon the writ $25.30 for mileage, making a total of $50.30. Plaintiff was a witness in his own behalf, and was asked by his counsel what he did in reference to serving that writ. Defendant objected upon the ground that the return should show how he executed the writ, and that it could not be explained by parol. The court held with defendant, and plaintiff’s counsel then elicited from the witness that his return on the writ was true and correct as to the number of miles and as to the names and numbers of persons served, and that he did the work. While we are of opinion that in this suit the return was not conclusive and that the lack of definiteness as to the number of miles traveled by plaintiff in serving the writ should have been aided by parol proof on that subject, yet as defendant kept out such proof by its objection, we think it should be held that the return and the oral proof which was admitted sufficiently shows that he traveled 506 miles in serving the writ. Hahl v. Brooks, 213 Ill. 134. The court instructed the jury that if plaintiff was so appointed special bailiff to summon persons to serve as jurors in said court, and under authority of such appointment did summon persons to act as jurors, then he was entitled to recover from defendant fifty cents for each person served, together with five cents mileage each way traveled in serving each person so summoned. The verdict followed the proof and said instruction, and if such special bailiff is entitled to the fees prescribed by the statute for the performance of like services by a sheriff, then the verdict and judgment should stand.

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County of Carroll v. Durham, 120 Ill. App. 330, 1905 Ill. App. LEXIS 657 (Ill. Ct. App. 1905).

120 Ill. App. 330 (County of Carroll v. Durham) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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