In re Wood

• Decision Date: 04 February 1886
• Citation: 34 Kan. 645,9 P. 758
• Parties: In the Matter of the Petition of EVERETT WOOD for a Writ of Habeas Corpus
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

9 P. 758

34 Kan. 645

In the Matter of the Petition of EVERETT WOOD for a Writ of Habeas Corpus

Supreme Court of Kansas

February 4, 1886

Original Proceedings in Habeas Corpus.

PETITION for a writ of habeas corpus was filed in this court on November 4, 1885, in which it was represented that the petitioner, Everett Wood, is held in custody by the sheriff of Ford county by virtue of a commitment issued by one John Jobling, claiming to be a justice of the peace of Meade county, Kansas, in pursuance of a preliminary examination upon a charge of the murder of one Widmer, in Meade county. The restraint of the petitioner is alleged to be illegal, for the reason that Jobling was not, at the time of the issuance of the commitment, a justice of the peace of any county or municipal township. It is alleged that he claimed to be a justice of the peace of Meade county by virtue of having been elected a justice of the peace of Crooked Creek township, of Ford county, Kansas, at the annual township election in February, 1885, but that a part of the territory of said township, including the residence of John Jobling, had since said election been detached from Ford county and incorporated within the boundaries of the county of Meade, and that Meade county had been created since the election of the said Jobling. It is further alleged, that the county of Meade is an unorganized county of the state, and is not attached to any county for judicial purposes, nor is it included within the boundaries of any judicial district of the state, or attached to any judicial district for judicial purposes. The case is submitted upon the following agreed statement of facts:

"It is hereby agreed, for the purposes of trial of the habeas corpus case of Everett Wood before the supreme court of the state of Kansas, that a complaint was filed before one John Jobling, formerly a justice of the peace, duly qualified and acting, of Crooked Creek township, Ford county, Kansas; that said justice of the peace was elected in February, 1885; that upon said complaint a preliminary examination was had, and the said Everett Wood was committed to the jail of Ford county to answer to the charge of murder in the first degree. No objection is made to the sufficiency or formality or place of the commitment. It is further agreed, that the act defining the boundaries of Meade county includes within the limits of that county that portion of Crooked Creek township in which the said John Jobling resides now, and that his residence is the same as it was when elected as such justice of the peace; that no election for township officers was held in said Meade county prior to the preliminary examination that said John Jobling acted as justice of the peace on said preliminary examination by virtue of his election as justice of the peace of Crooked Creek township, Ford county, held in February, 1885. The certificate of the county clerk of Comanche county, together with the affidavit of the said John Jobling, justice of the peace, is hereto attached, and made a part of this agreed statement of facts."

The certificate referred to in the above statement is as follows:

"STATE OF KANSAS, COMANCHE COUNTY, SS.: I, Frank A. Holmes, county clerk within and for said county and state, do hereby certify that Meade county, Kansas, is attached to Comanche county Kansas, as a township; and I further certify that no township officers have been appointed or elected for said township." (Signed.)

The following is the affidavit of John Jobling, mentioned in the agreed statement of facts:

"STATE OF KANSAS, FORD COUNTY, SS.: John Jobling, of lawful age being duly sworn, on oath says: That he is the John Jobling who, as justice of the peace, committed Everett Wood for the offense of murder committed in Meade county, Kansas, on the 16th day of September, 1885; that at the township election in February, 1885, he was elected as justice of the peace of Crooked Creek township, Ford county, Kansas, in which township he then resided; that the act of the legislature of the state of Kansas that created the county of Meade, defined and bounded said county so that it included within its limits a portion of the territory of Crooked Creek township, Ford county, Kansas, and that portion of Crooked Creek township in which this affiant then and since resided; that he claims to hold such office by virtue of said election in February, 1885." (Subscribed and sworn to.)

The opinion herein was filed February 5, 1886.

Petitioner discharged.

M. W. Sutton, for petitioner.

S. B. Bradford, attorney general, and Peters & Lathy, for The State.

JOHNSTON J. All the Justices concurring.

OPINION

JOHNSTON, J.:

In 1873 the county of Meade was created, and its boundaries defined. (Comp. Laws of 1879, ch. 24, § 63.) It remained an unorganized county from that time until 1883, when by an act of the legislature it was abolished, and its territory included within the boundaries of the organized county of Ford. (Laws of 1883, ch. 70, § 3.) The territory thus brought...