Lawson v. County of Pulaski

3 Ark. 1
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJuly 15, 1840
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 3 Ark. 1 (Lawson v. County of Pulaski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawson v. County of Pulaski, 3 Ark. 1 (Ark. 1840).

Opinion

Ringo, Chief Justice,

delivered the opinion of the Court:

This case comes before this court upon a writ of certiorari to the County Court of Pulaski county, granted on the petition of the plaintiff commanding that court to certify and send to this, a true and complete transcript of all such records, papers, vouchers and exhibits, in said County Court existing, as appertain to the settlement of his accounts, as Sheriff of Pulaski county, with said county, made by him, with the County Court thereof, at the October term, 1839, and January term, 1840, of said court, as well as the judgment of said court against him, founded thereon.

In obedience to the mandate of said writ, a certified transcript of the settlement and judgment aforesaid, has been returned to, .and filed in this court.

From this transcript, it appears that the plaintiff, on the 18th day of November, 1839, voluntarily entered into a settlement, with the County Court, of his accounts with the county. That he was then charged on account of monies due to the county, which he either had, or ought to have collected, with the aggregate sum of ‡5259 16, without any objection thereto appearing, by the record, to have been made by him.

The plaintiff, being thus charged with the sum above stated, exhibited a list of delinquents for the years 1838 and 1839, of whom he alleged he was unable to collect the amount of poll tax charged to them in the tax books for said years, and for the amount of which he claimed a credit on the above charge, but the court refused to credit any thing on account of the former, and deducted one dollar from the amount of the latter, and then placed the residue thereof to his credit.

He also exhibited a list of lands which, as he alleged, had been twice listed and taxed for the same year, either in the name of the same, or of different persons. Also, another list of lands, which, as he alleged, belonged to non-residents of his county, and as such, had been assessed, taxed, advertised, sold and struck off to the State, according to law. And, also, a third list of lands, which he alleged belonged to residents, of whom he had been unable to collect the tax charged thereon in the tax boob, which had also been advertised, sold, and struck off to the State according to law, and thereupon he claimed a credit on the above charge for the amount of county taxes charged on the lands mentioned in said lists, only a part of which was passed to his credit by the County Court, and the residue rejected, for the reasons set forth in the record.

He also claimed credit for the amount of four per centum on the aggregate amount of the assessed value of property assessed tor taxation, as his compensation for making the assessment; but the court refused to allow this claim, or credit him with the amount thereof, and only allowed, and placed to his credit therefor, the amount of five per centum on the aggregate amount of county taxes charged on the tax book. He also claimed, and' the court placed to his credit, the amount of 8 per cent, on the sum collected, or which ought to have been collected by him on the tax book, as his compensation, allowed by law, for collecting the same.

The plaintiff also exhibited sundry claims against the county on account of services alleged to have been rendered by him, in his official character, as Sheriff of said county, for which the county is, as he insists, responsible to him, and for the amount of which he claims a credit, or set off against so much of his liabilities to the county charged against him, as above stated, a small portion of which the court allowed and credited thereon, and rejected the residue.

The plaintiff also returned blank licenses, with the amount of which he stood charged as a part of the above mentioned aggregate, and obtained a credit therefor, making, in the aggregate, the sum of $1130 81, with which he is credited on said settlement; leaving him still charged with the sum of $4128 35, which the court ordered him to pay over to the County Treasurer forthwith.

At the January term, 1840, of the county court, that being the next succeeding term after the settlement aforesaid, the plaintifi’ again produced and exhibited for allowance a portion of the claims which had been presented by him and rejected by the court at the previous term, and also moved the court for an order to sell the lands of certain non residents; but the court refused to order the sale of said lands, and subsequently, on the 27th day of January, 1840, proceeded to enter up judgment against the plaintiff for $¡4,128 35, the amount of the balance against him, on his settlement with the County Court at the previous term, which ho was then ordered to pay over forthwith .to the county treasurer, but had not paid within ten days thereafter, and also for the further sum of §1,032 08 3-8, the penalty of twenty-five per centum thereon, imposed upon him by law, for his failure to pay the balance found against him on the previous settlement, within ten days after the order to pay the same as aforesaid was made, “ and interest thereon at the rate of fifty per centum per annum until paid,” together with costs, and awarded execution therefor to the coroner, and at the same time entered on record an order directing said execution to be credited by the sum of §2,000, paid on the 13th, and the further sum of §850 paid on the 18th day of January, 1840.

On the 29th day of January, 1840, the plaintiff made another settlement with the County Court of his accounts with the county as Sheriff, upon which he was charged with the sum of §36 50. Whereupon he produced sundry accounts and claims against the county, a part of which the court rejected, and allowed the residue, and at the same time credited the amount last stated, in full, by part of the sum so allowed, and ordered the clerk to issue a warrant in favor of the plaintiff on the county treasurer for the residue thereof.

Upon the matters thus appearing from the record, certified to this court, by yirtue of the authority of the writ of certiorari aforesaid, the case was argued and submitted to the court. Before wc consider the exceptions to the proceedings of the County Court, taken and relied upon by the plaintiff, in the argument of the case, it may be of service to state some of the principles which, in our opinion, apply to the case, and must in some respects control its decision.

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Rouse v. Goode
737 S.W.2d 447 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1987)
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176 S.W.2d 237 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1943)
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4 Ark. 320 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1849)
Trice v. Crittenden County
2 Ark. 159 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1846)

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Bluebook (online)
3 Ark. 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-county-of-pulaski-ark-1840.