Davis v. County of Bibb
Davis v. County of Bibb
Opinion of the Court
A. J. Davis brought an action, in a justice’s court, against the County of Bibb, on an account for services rendered by him, as coroner, in connection with the holding of certain inquests. The case, at the first term, was by consent appealed to the superior court. The copy of the account attached to the petition was as follows:
“County of Bibb, To A. J. Davis, Coroner.
“ To services in holding inquests in the following cases:
“Edmund Morris, September 7th, 1900 ........$10
“Charles Pope, September 11th, 1900 .........$10
“G. W. Dunlevy, March 8th, 1900 ..........$10
“ To summoning jury in 49 cases, $1 each, as coroner . . . $49
“Names of cases on paper attached..........$79”
Attached to the account was a statement showing the cases in which plaintiff, as coroner, had summoned juries for inquests, giv
1. One of the points made by the demurrer was, that there is now no law in this State which makes a county liable directly and in the first instauce for fees of coroners for taking inquests. Counsel for. defendant in error contend that while, under the Code of 1882, § 594, and the provisions of all previous codes of the State, the fees of coroners for holding inquests were payable out of the county funds, there is no such provision in the Code of 1895, and the omission by the codifiers to place in the last code such a provision amounts to a repeal or the prior law; that under the law as it now stands, when coroners’ fees are payable at all, they are payable : “ (a) In the first instance by the person demanding the inquest who may be 'repaid’ out of the county treasury, upon an order from the judge of the superior court, as provided in section 1256 of the Penal Code, (b) Out of the fine and forfeiture fund, as provided in section 1080 of the Penal Code.” We can not concede the correctness of any of these contentions. It is made the duty of coroners to take inquests. Pol. Code, § 497. Our constitution, article 7, section 6, paragraph .2 (Civil Code, § 5892), gives the General Assembly power to delegate to any. county the right to levy a tax to pay coroners, and section 404 of the Political Code provides that a county tax shall be assessed, "4. To pay coroners all fees that may be due them for holding inquests.” Section 1112 of the Penal Code declares that coroners’ fees shall be as follows: " For summoning an inquest on a dead body and returning an inquisition, $10.00. . . No coroner shall receive out of' the county treasury .of any county more than fifteen hundred dollars per annum, either as fees for holding inquests or for burying dead bodies.” We think that the section last quoted clearly indicates that the coroner shall receive his fees out of the county treasury, and that the codifiers must have been of the opinion that the section manifested this intention, without an express provisión to that effect, such as was contained in. the prior codes. The legislature, under constitutional authority, has delegated to the counties the right to
2. Section 1255 of the Penal Code provides: “Coroners shall take inquest over dead bodies in their respective counties as follows : 1st. Of all violent, sudden, or casual deaths, when there are no eye-witnesses to the killing or cause of the death. 2d. Of all sudden deaths in prison without an attending physician. 3d.' Of all dead bodies found, whether of persons known or unknown,, when it is apparent from the body that violence caused the death,- or when the person died or disappeared under suspicious circumstances. 4th. Whenever ordered by a court having criminal juris- • diction etc. The demurrer raised the point that the summons • and statement of account -thereto attached failed to show that the
3. The suit was, in part, for $49, for the plaintiff’s services as coroner in summoning juries in forty-nine inquests he had held. As to so much of the action as sought a recovery for these services the demurrer was properly sustained. The provision of section 1112 of the Penal Code that, “For summoning an inquest on a dead body and returning an inquisition,” the coroner shall be entitled to a fee of $10, means that $10 shall be his entire compensation for all services rendered by him in and about an inquest. “ Summoning an inquest,” as here used, means summoning a jury. “The term ‘inquest’ is sometimes used to signify the jury itself before whom the question is brought.” Brown’s Law Die. So the grand jury is often called the “ grand inquest.” When a constable summons a jury of inquest, he is entitled to a fee of one dollar (Penal Code, § 1111), but there is no authority, under our statutes, for a coroner to charge the county a separate fee for such service. Counsel for plaintiff in error contend that the language in section 1112 of' the Penal Code, that, “when performing the duties of a sheriff [the coroner’s] fees are the same as the sheriff,” entitles a coroner to compensation for summoning a jury of inquest. We do not think so. This language clearly refers to such duties of a sheriff as a coroner may perform when the sheriff is disqualified or for any reason can not act. There is no law which makes it one of the duties of a sheriff to summon a jury of inquest, and the lan
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.