Parish Board of Directors v. Hebert

Citations

• 112 La. 467
• 36 So. 497
• 1904 La. LEXIS 419

Syllabus

<p>SHERIEJTS — COMPENSATION — PEES — CRIMINAL MATTERS — SENTENCE—EINE.</p> <p>1.The purpose of article 120 of the Constitution is to limit the amount to be paid by each parish to its sheriff for his services (save with respect to services specially mentioned) in all criminal matters, and under no circumstances can the parish be made liable beyond the limit so fixed. The purpose of Act No. 203, p. 485, of 1898, in providing that “sheriffs are hereby allowed * * * the same fees as fixed in civil matters, when a defendant is convicted and condemned to pay costs,” is to allow the sheriff, in addition to the lump sum to be paid by the parish for all criminal cases, certain fees in particular cases, which are to be recovered as costs from the convicted defendants. These purposes do not conflict with each other.</p> <p>2. Under the law (Act No. 99, p. 14, of 1876) in existence prior to the adoption of the present Constitution, clerks of district courts were entitled to charge fees in criminal eases, and to collect the same from the parishes when the defendants were acquitted or the prosecutions abandoned, but, where convictions were obtained they were obliged to look solely to the convicted defendants, and collect their fees as costs following the judgments of conviction. Article 122 of the Constitution provides that the clerk “shall receive no compensation from the state or parish for his services in criminal matters,” and the pre-existing law is thereby affected to the extent, but no farther, that in no event can the clerk look to the state or parish for his fees in a criminal case. Act No. 99, p. 14, of 1876, in so far as it authorizes the clerk to recover costs from convicted defendants, is entirely unaffected by Act No. 203, p. 485, of 1898, which relates to costs of different officers in civil matters and costs of sheriffs in criminal cases.</p> <p>3. The costs of a criminal prosecution rest upon the convicted defendant, whether expressed or not. They form no part of