State v. Reynolds

9 N.E. 287, 108 Ind. 353, 1886 Ind. LEXIS 241
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 7, 1886
DocketNo. 13,224
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 9 N.E. 287 (State v. Reynolds) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Reynolds, 9 N.E. 287, 108 Ind. 353, 1886 Ind. LEXIS 241 (Ind. 1886).

Opinion

Zollars, J.

The court below quashed the indictment, in which appellee is charged with having committed perjury in swearing to a tax list, in which he stated the amount of his moneys on deposit, and the amount loaned. That ruling is-assigned here as error.

Had the assessor authority to administer the oath ? That is the question upon which counsel lay the most stress in their arguments.

Counsel for appellee contend that he had not, because it is not expressly given by the statute, although such authority is recognized therein. ■ They cite us to former statutes where [355]*355it was expressly given, as supporting their contention that unless so given, it is not given at all.

The act of 1843, R. S. 1843, p. 190, was an act independent of the tax law, provided for the election of a county assessor, prescribed his duties, and expressly gave him and his deputies authority to administer all oaths, contemplated by law in the discharge of their duties as assessors.

The tax law of 1852 provided for the election of township assessors, thus dispensing with the county assessor provided by the. act of 1843. 1 R. S. 1852, p. 122 j 1 G. & H.,. p. 90.

Section 23 of that act required an oath by persons making tax lists of personal property, and provided as follows: Which oath * * may be administered by the assessor or his deputy, who are hereby authorized to administer all oaths * * that may be required in the performance of any of the duties of their office.” 1 R. S. 1852, p. 109; 1 G. & H., p. 72.

That section was amended in 1869, but not changed in the particulars above stated. Acts 1869, Spec. Sess., p. 122. The act of 1852, supra, clearly repealed the act of 1843, as it provided for township assessors, instead of one assessor for the county, and covered the whole ground of the duties and authority of such assessors.

The tax law of 1872 again provided for the election of a county assessor, and again definitely fixed his duties and authority, including the authority to administer oaths. Acts 1872, p. 87, section 107. That act again clearly repealed the act of 1852. Section 107, last above, was amended in 1875, so as to provide for the election of township assessors.

Section 50 of the act of 1872, defining the authority of assessor’s to administer oaths, etc., was left as originally adopted. It provided that the assessor should require persons making tax lists of personal property, to take and subscribe on such statements, an oath as to their correctness, etc., and in substantially the language of the act of 1852, provided : “ Which [356]*356oath * * may be administered by the assessor, or his deputy, who are hereby authorized to administer all oaths * * that may be required in the performance of the duties of their office.” 1 R. S. 1876, p. 85.

The tax law of 1881 again provides for the election of township assessors (R. S. 1881, sections 4735, 6374), and, with an exception, not material here, repeals all laws within the purview of the act. Acts 1881, p. 695, section 261.

We turn noW to the act of 1881, to ascertain whether or not it requires an oath as to the correctness of tax lists of personal property, and as to whether or not it authorizes the assessor to administer such an oath.

That tax lists must be sworn to by the persons making, them, and that the oath covers everything required to be stated in the lists, including money on hand and on deposit, and money loaned, is made very clear by the various sections of the .statute. R. S. 1881, sections 2150, 6312, 6313, 6314, 6316, 6328, 6330, 6331, 6334, 6336, 6337, 6345, 6357, 6361, 6369, 6389. For the proper construction of section 6332, cited by counsel, see Wasson v. First National Bank, 107 Ind. 206.

The various sections j ust as clearly require persons to make a full and complete list of all their personal property, including money on hand or on deposit, and money loaned, owned on the 1st day of April of the current year.

Has the assessor authority to administer the oath ?

After providing that persons to be assessed shall make a list of their personal property, and affix a fair cash value to each item, section 6330 provides, that the assessor may determine the value by an examination of the statement, and, also, an examination, under oath, of the party, if he deem it necessary.”

Section 6331 provides, that persons required by the .assessor' to list property, shall answer certain interrogatories under oath, upon the tax list to be furnished by the assessor, “ who shall also administer the oath.”

[357]*357Section 6334 provides, that when deductions of debts from credits are claimed, the assessor shall require that such deductions be verified by the oath of the person claiming the same.

By section 6340, the assessor is authorized, in case any person shall refuse to furnish a list, to examine on oath ” any person whom he may suppose to have knowledge, etc.

Section 6341 provides, that if any person shall refuse to swear, as in the prior section provided, or, having been sworn, shall refuse to answer the interrogatories, etc,, he shall, upon conviction, be fined.

By section 6378, the assessor is authorized to examine, under oath, persons whom he may suppose to have knowledge of real estate, when the owner neglects to furnish a list.

Various other sections of the statute provide that the assessor may require persons to make oath, etc. Indeed, in almost, if not in every instance, where there is mention of an oath to the schedule, it is provided that it shall be required by the assessor. In one instance, as we have seen, it is provided in so many words that he shall administer the oath. It is not so provided, and clearly was not intended, that any person should accompany the assessor to administer the oaths required in verification of 'the tax lists, and in the examination of persons in relation to property. And just as clearly,’ it was not intended that farmers should be required to leave their farms and go to a distant justice of the peace, notary public, or other officer, to swear to their tax lists. All the way through, the statute proceeds upon the theory that the assessor and his deputies shall administer all necessary oaths in verification of the tax lists. And finally, section 6396 provides that, If any assessor or deputy assessor shall fail or neglect to administer to any person, by him assessed, any oath required by this act to be administered, he shall forfeit and pay to the State of Indiana, for the use of th’e school fund, the sum of twenty dollars for each case of such omission and neglect, which may be recovered by an action in the name of the State of Indiana, on the relation of the prose[358]*358cuting attorney, before any justice of the peace of the county, together with the costs of such action.”

Considering the statute as a whole, we think the intention of the Legislature clearly was, that the assessor and his deputies should have authority to administer all necessary oaths in connection with tax lists, and that such authority is given by the statute.

If it were necessary, it might reasonably be held that so much of the act of 1872 as provides that the assessor and his deputies

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 N.E. 287, 108 Ind. 353, 1886 Ind. LEXIS 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-reynolds-ind-1886.