People ex rel. Fraser v. Board of Auditors

2 N.Y.S. 609, 17 N.Y. St. Rep. 872
New York Supreme Court·Decided June 15, 1888·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Parker, J.

Prior to 1845, all warrants issued by a justice of the peace must require the offender tobe brought before the justice issuing them, (Rev. St. pt. 4, e. 2, tit. 2, § 3;) and the accused, when arrested, must be taken before such justice, except in two instances,—one when arrested in another county for a crime less than a felony, (sections 7 and 8;) and the other, in case the justice was absent, or his office vacant, the accused must be taken before the nearest magistrate in the same county, (section 12.) Thus, whether the offense was committed in the town where the justice resided or not, under the Revised Statutes the warrant must be made returnable before the one who issued it, and the proceedings thereon must be conducted before that one. Under such statute, also, the fees of magistrates for such proceedings were a charge upon the town in which they lived, notwithstanding the offense may have been committed in some other town. By the Laws of 1845, c. 180, § 26, it was enacted that the fees of magistrates in such proceedings shall be paid by the several towns wherein the offense shall have been committed, and all accounts rendered for such proceedings shall state where the offense was committed. The section also further provides that, where any magistrate residing out of the town where the offense shall have been committed shall issue a warrant, it shall authorize the officer to take the offender before some magistrate residing in such town, to be further proceeded against; “and the magistrate issuing such warrant shall not' be allowed any compensation for any further proceedings in any such case, beyond issuing the warrant. ” By chapter 455, Laws 1847, such section was amended, among other things, by providing that the magistrate issuing the warrant should not lose jurisdiction over the trial and proceedings against any such person. The other amendments were not important to this question, and in both acts cases of felonies were excepted. By the Revised Statutes, any fines imposed in such proceedings, if paid to the magistrate before commitment, were to be by him applied, first, to paying the expenses of the proceedings, and the balance to the county treasurer for the county. If paid to the sheriff, after commitment, he was to pay the whole fine to the county treasurer. Part 4, c. 2, tit. 3, art. 4, §§ 45, 46. By the above cited statutes, (1845, 1847,) all fines imposed by the magistrate in such cases shall be credited to the town where the offense was committed. It will be seen that by these statutes a decided change was made in such proceedings, both as to issuing the warrant and the payment of the expenses incurred; and, if the statute of 1847 is still in force, it is [611] plain to see that the relator had no claim against the town of Bovina for more than the hoard allowed him. But he claims that such statute has been repealed by the Code of Criminal Procedure. It has not in terms, or by any direct provision, been repealed. It remains to be considered whether it has been repealed by implication. By section 150 of the Code, the justice is required to issue a warrant in all cases, on sufficient complaint made; and by section 151 such warrant is, in substance, required tó be returnable before himself, except in case of his absence or inability to act; and sections 158,161,164, all require that the person arrested be taken before the justice who issued the warrant, except when the justice is absent or unable to act, or the prisoner is arrested out of the county for a crime less than felony. No exception is made for a case when the justice issuing the warrant resided out of the town where the crime is committed, and the provisions of the statute of 1847 are entirely ignored. By sections 699, 741, the magistrate must try the offender when brought before him, if the cause is triable in special sessions; and by section 56 the jurisdiction of such courts extends throughout the county. So, also, by sections 726 and 727, any fines collected in such cases must be paid to the county treasurer.

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People ex rel. Fraser v. Board of Auditors, 2 N.Y.S. 609, 17 N.Y. St. Rep. 872 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1888).

2 N.Y.S. 609 (People ex rel. Fraser v. Board of Auditors) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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