State ex rel. Rarick v. Bauman

4 Ohio App. 251, 25 Ohio C.C. Dec. 286, 21 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 440, 21 Ohio C.A. 440, 1915 Ohio App. LEXIS 198
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 1915
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 4 Ohio App. 251 (State ex rel. Rarick v. Bauman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Rarick v. Bauman, 4 Ohio App. 251, 25 Ohio C.C. Dec. 286, 21 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 440, 21 Ohio C.A. 440, 1915 Ohio App. LEXIS 198 (Ohio Ct. App. 1915).

Opinion

Crow, J.

The relator, Jennie Rarick, commenced an action in the court of common pleas of Crawford county, Ohio, by filing a petition agamst William Bauman and Christ Bauman, containing the following material averments:

That on and prior to June 9, 1908, she was an unmarried woman, and on said date filed a written complaint before a justice of the peace in and for one of the townships within said county against the defendant, William Bauman, wherein she charged him with being the father of a bastard child of which she had theretofore been delivered; that such proceedings were duly had by and before the said justice of the peace that on June 10, 1908, [252]*252said defendant William Bauman was arrested upon a warrant issued under said complaint, and he was brought before said justice of the peace; whereupon said cause was regularly and duly compromised by and between said relator and said defendant William Bauman, before said justice of the peace, who duly approved said compromise and entered the same upon his docket in said cause; that in said proceeding, and pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided, defendant William Bauman, together with defendant Christ Bauman and Mrs. Christ Bauman, as sureties, entered into a bond, dated June 10, 1908, in the penal sum of $500, payable unto the state of Ohio, which said bond was duly approved by said justice of the peace, whereupon defendant William Bauman was“ released; that the condition of said bond is as follows:

“The condition of the above obligation is such, that whereas, the above bound William Bauman has been arrested upon a warrant issued by Edward J. Myers, a justice of the peace in and for said county, on the complaint of Jennie Rarick, an unmarried woman, for being the father of a bastard child, of which the said Jennie Rarick has been delivered; and the said William Bauman hath compromised with and satisfied the said Jennie Rarick in the premises, in pursuance of the law. Now, if the said William Bauman shall save every county, township, and municipal corporation within the state free from all charges toward the maintenance of said bastard child, then this obligation to be void; otherwise to remain in full force.”

[253]*253A true copy of such bond is attached to the petition and made a part thereof, the same being in the words and figures:

“Know all men by these presents, that we, William Bauman, Christ Bauman and Mrs. Christ Bauman are held and bound unto the State of Ohio, in the sum of five hundred dollars, for the payment of which we jointly and severally bind ourselves.
“Dated this 10th day of June, 1908.
“The condition of the foregoing obligation is such, that, whereas, the above bound William Bauman has been arrested upon a warrant issued by Edward J. Myers, a justice of the peace in and for said county, on the complaint of Jennie Rarick, an unmarried woman, for being the father of a bastard child, of which the said Jennie Rarick has been delivered; and the said William Bauman hath compromised with and satisfied the said Jennie Rarick in the premises, in pursuance of the law.
“Now, if the said William Bauman shall save every county, township, and municipal corporation within the state free from all charges toward the maintenance of said bastard child, then this obligation to be void; otherwise to remain in full force. Wm. Bauman, Christ Bauman, Mrs. Christ Bauman.
“This bond approved by me this 10th day of June, 1908. Edward J. Myers, J. P.”

That since the execution of said bond said Mrs. Christ Bauman has died, leaving no estate; that ever since the execution of said bond defendant William Bauman has wholly refused, failed and neglected to furnish or contribute to the support, maintenance, care and keeping of said bastard [254]*254child, to whom, during the whole'of the time subsequent to the execution of said bond, the plaintiff has furnished and supplied necessary food, clothing, shelter and maintenance, the value of which amounts to the sum of $500 and more; that the neglect and refusal of defendant William Bauman as aforesaid has violated and broken the terms and conditions of said bond, which has become absolute; that defendant Christ Bauman, surety as aforesaid, has, by reason of said neglect and failure on the part of defendant William Bauman, become and is now liable to the relator on said bond for the damages which relator has sustained by reason of said neglect and refusal of defendant William Bauman to furnish or provide maintenance for said bastard child, who is now living.

Defendant William Bauman was not served with summons or by publication, nor did he appear in the action.

Defendant Christ Bauman demurred to the petition on the grounds, first, that plaintiff has not capacity to maintain the action; second, that the petition does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

The court of common pleas sustained the demurrer, dismissed the petition and rendered judgment against relator.

By this proceeding in error relator seeks reversal of that judgment.

What are the rights of the complainant in a case in which she has agreed to receive an amount of money or property “in full satisfaction,” during the pendency of the case before the justice of the peace, and such agreement shall have been made [255]*255or acknowledged by both the complainant and the accused in the presence of the justice of the peace, who shall have entered a memorandum thereof upon his docket?

Answer must, oi course, be found solely in the statutory provisions governing the subject of bastardy. These clearly disclose that all rights of complainant in such proceeding, and the entirety of obligation and consequent liability of the signers of the bond requisite to be given when there has been a compromise effected between her and the accused, and payment or securing of payment of the amount of money or transfer of the property which, complainant agrees to receive from the accused in full satisfaction has been made, were defined and controlled, at the time of execution of the bond in issue herein, by Section 5617, Revised Statutes, which is now, with slight changes in phraseology, Section 12114, General Code.

The only liability on the bond thus provided for rests upon the one condition of saving any county, township or municipal-corporation within the state free from all charges for the maintenance of such bastard child, and whenever a bond has been thus given it must be construed in the light of the attributes defined and limited by said section, whatever may be the form of the bond.

The other statutory proceedings in bastardy have to do with obligation and liability by way of recognizance for appearance of accused, and hence are unimportant in the disposal of the question in the present case.

Indeed, our legislation on the subject of bastardy is founded upon the public concern, although in the [256]*256proceeding so provided certain rights are created for the benefit of and vouchsafed to the complainant.

The proceeding is neither a civil action nor a criminal proceeding, but in some features appears to possess certain attributes belonging to both classes of cases.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 Ohio App. 251, 25 Ohio C.C. Dec. 286, 21 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 440, 21 Ohio C.A. 440, 1915 Ohio App. LEXIS 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-rarick-v-bauman-ohioctapp-1915.