State ex rel. Reform School v. County Court of Macon County

• Decision Date: 02 December 1891
• Citation: 17 S.W. 960,107 Mo. 291
• Parties: The State ex rel. Reform School v. County Court of Macon County
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

17 S.W. 960

107 Mo. 291

The State ex rel. Reform School v. County Court of Macon County

Supreme Court of Missouri, Second Division

December 2, 1891

Peremptory writ awarded.

W. M Williams and John R. Walker for relator.

Section 5745 provides, "Whenever any court or judge thereof shall commit any boy to the reform school, such court or judge shall enter a continuing judgment for the required amount per month, to be paid quarterly as hereinafter provided, for the keeping of such boy in such reform school against the county, parent or guardian, as the case may be together with the costs." This section is general; it is not limited to cases of misdemeanor. It declares that, whenever any court shall commit any boy to the reform school, a judgment shall be entered against the county, parent or guardian for his support. We insist that this section only imposes the liability upon the county, or upon the parent or guardian; and that there is no authority for holding the state liable for such support and maintenance. If it is the duty of the court, when it commits any boy to the reform school, to enter a judgment thereon against the county, or against the parent or guardian, it necessarily follows that the county, or parent, or guardian, as the case may be, must pay the expenses. Section 5752 provides for the amount that shall be paid per month; and section 5753 directs that it shall be paid quarterly in advance by the county, in cases where the liability is upon the county. These are the only sections of the statutes bearing upon the question.

W. H. Sears, Prosecuting Attorney, for respondent.

The agreed statement of facts shows that the five boys committed to the reform school were guilty of felonies punishable solely by imprisonment in the penitentiary. The county is not liable for their support, but it is an obligation of the state. R. S. 1889, secs. 5741, 5742, 4396, 4397. Section 5753 provides that the county from which the boy is sent to the reform school, at the expense of the county, shall pay quarterly in advance the sum of $ 10 per month. The boys mentioned in the agreed statement of facts were not sent at the expense of the county. Section 10, Acts of 1887, provides that the county sending inmates to the reform school shall pay at the rate of $ 182 per annum. But section 5752, Revised Statutes, 1889, does not say that the county shall pay the $ 10 per month. Sections 5745 and 5746 refer to boys only that have been committed to the reform school for misdemeanors. Sections 5741 and 5742 are in keeping and in harmony with sections 3961 and 4396. The state is required and does pay all costs, including board, for cases of this kind up to the delivery of the boys to the reform school, and this is certainly a strong inference that the state is liable for all costs that may accrue after the commitment. If the relator is correct in the object and purpose of this law relative to the board of boys in cases of this character, then the courts can sentence a boy under sixteen years to the penitentiary, and the governor can commute such sentence to the reform school, at the costs and expense of the state. Sec. 5755.

OPINION

Mandamus.

Macfarlane J.

The board of managers of the state reform school for boys presented a petition to the court stating in substance, that one Raymond Jones was convicted of burglary and grand larceny by the circuit court of Macon county, at the April term, 1890; and the sad Jones, being found by the court to be under the age of eighteen years, was committed to the reform school for boys for one year; that he was delivered to said institution under said commitment on the first day of May, 1890, and was discharged therefrom on the expiration of his sentence on the first day of May, 1891; that it became and was the duty of the county court of Macon county to pay to the treasurer of said state reform school for boys quarterly, in advance, the sum of $ 10 per month, for the support and maintenance of said Jones, during the term he was confined in the state reform school under said sentence and commitment; that said county thereupon became indebted to said reform school in the sum of $ 120, for the support and maintenance of said Jones during his said confinement.

The petition further charged that one William Dean, also under eighteen years of age, was convicted of burglary and grand larceny by said circuit court at the April term, 1891, and his punishment was commuted to commitment in said reform school for the period of one year, and he was committed April 27, 1891, and is now confined in said school.

The petition stated further that at the April term, 1891, of said circuit court, Frank Medley, Ora Mitchell and Walter Taylor, each being under eighteen years of age, were convicted of felonies, and their punishment commuted to commitment to said reform school, in which they were placed June 24, 1891, in which they are still confined under said sentences; that it was the duty of the county court to pay to the treasurer of said state reform school quarterly, in advance, $ 10 per month, for the support and maintenance of each of said boys during the time of their confinement; that there was due to said school from said county on the first day of November, 1891, the sum of $ 431, for the support and maintenance of said boys, and that respondent, the county court of said county, has failed and refused, and still fails and refuses, to issue a warrant on the treasurer of said county for the payment of said amount.

Relator prayed for a writ of mandamus, directed to said county court, and to respondents, the judges thereof, commanding them to draw a warrant on the treasurer of said county in favor of the treasurer of the board of managers of said state reform school, for the said sum of $ 431, and for all proper relief.

Upon filing the petition respondents appeared, by attorney, and by stipulation filed entered their voluntary appearance and waived the issuance of an alternative writ. By said stipulation it was agreed that the boys named in the petition were all convicted on their respective pleas of guilty of felonies, and then their punishment commuted to commitment to said reform school, to which they were delivered on the...