Ryan v. Collins
Ryan v. Collins
Opinion of the Court
By this proceeding petitioner (appellee here) seeks by mandamus to compel appellant, as treasurer of Morgan county, to pay the amount due on a witness certificate
Section 6664 of the Code of 1907, which is but a codification of the act of December 7, 1896 (Acts 1896-97, p. 81), reads as follows: “The foreman of the grand jury shall issue certificates to all witnesses examined before the grand jury, and such certificates may become claims against the fine and forfeiture fund in the same manner as witnesses certificates issued to state witnesses by the clerk of the court.”
The authorities relied upon by counsel for appellant (Herr v. Seymour, 76 Ala. 270); Alston v. Yerby, 108 Ala. 480, 18 South. 559; Scruggs v. State, 111 Ala. 60, 20 South. 642), were cases arising before the enactment of the above-cited statute. This statute was doubtless enacted to meet these decisions, and we think it quite clear that the certificate of the foreman of the grand jury was in full compliance with said section 6664 of the Code, and the indorsement thereon, as shown by the clerk, was a substantial compliance with section 6666, Code 1907, and that the demurrer was properly overruled.
We cannot concur in this contention. All fines go to the county. — Code 1907, § 6888. It is conceded that, while the fine and forfeiture fund is a county fund, yet the manner of its disposition resides in the Legislature, and the commissioners’ court has no control over it.—Sanders v. Court County Com’rs, 117 Ala. 543, 23 South. 788. The provisions of thé Code above cited disclose that the Legislature has prescribed how this fund shall be disbursed. There is nothing in the local act above referred to which in any manner conflicts with any of the general provisions as to this fund.
It results that the judgment of the court below will be affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.