184 Ga. 1 | Ga. | 1937
Section 24-2715 is in part a codification of the act of the legislature approved September 28, 1881 (Ga. L. 1880-81, pp. 93, 94), though the act has been changed in several respects in codification. The act is quoted verbatim in the
The first Code adopted by the legislature after the passage of the act of 1881 was the Code of 1895. Central of Ga. Ry. Co. v. State, 104 Ga. 831, 835 (31 S. E. 531, 42 L. R. A. 518). This act, with others or parts of others, was embodied in that Code in a section containing in all eighteen subsections (§ 4361). This section, with its various subsections, was carried in substantially the same form into the Code of 1910, § 4892, and is now contained in the Code of 1933, § 24-2715. The Codes of 1910 and of 1933, like the Code of 1895, were adopted by the legislature. Hall v. Jeffreys-McElrealh Co., 37 Ga. App. 581 (140 S. E. 910); Daniel v. Citizens & Southern National Bank of Atlanta, 182 Ga. 384, 395 (185 S. E. 696). It is in subsection 7 of section 4361 of the Code of 1895 that the pertinent verbal change makes its appearance.
While, as stated above, this section was made to embrace all or parts of other statutes, and as a result of this mixture the meaning of the word “section” as substituted for the word “bill” is somewhat obscured, we are of the opinion that, in the circum
The second question is whether the petition, construed most
The third question is answered in the negative. The Code declares: “If any sheriff, coroner, justice of the peace, constable, clerk of the superior court, or attorney at law shall fail, upon application, to pay to the proper person or his attorney any money he may have in his hands, which he may have collected by virtue of his office, the party entitled thereto or his attorney may serve said officer with a written demand for the same; and if not then paid, for such neglect or refusal the said officer shall be compelled to pay at the rate of 20 per cent, per annum upon the sum he has in his hands, from the date of such demand, unless good cause is shown to the contrary.” § 24-206. “If any of such clerks receive any money on any suit or judgment from their courts, or otherwise, and do not faithfully account for it, they are liable to rule as sheriffs are, and they and their sureties are likewise liable on their official bonds.” § 24-2722. The facts stated by the Court of Appeals in the question as propormded do not show a proper case for a joinder by numerous parties in a rule against a clerk of the superior court, it appearing that the parties had separate and distinct claims for alleged excess costs collected by the clerk in separate and distinct cases. It does not appear that there was any common fund in which all of the parties had an interest, or that the clerk had violated any duty which he owed to such parties jointly. “Distinct and separate claims of or against different persons shall not be joined in the same action. Where the damage as well as the interest is several, each party injured shall sue separately.” Code, § 3-110. The case as stated by the Court of