184 N.E. 237 | Ill. | 1932
In this case the sheriff of Lake county is seeking to have allowed as a preferred claim, to be paid to him by the receiver of the Waukegan State Bank in full before the claims of other creditors, an account which he had in his name, as sheriff, in the Waukegan State Bank at the time of its failure and the taking possession of its assets and business by the Auditor of Public Accounts. At the conclusion of business on June 17, 1931, the bank closed its doors, and at a meeting of the board of directors held *159 the same evening it was unanimously resolved that in order to protect the interests of all depositors the bank should not open for business the next day or thereafter until further action by the directors, and that the Auditor of Public Accounts be notified by the president of the bank and asked to take charge of the bank and conduct its affairs according to law and in the usual course. The Auditor determined that the bank could not be re-organized but should be liquidated through a receivership, and on July 28, 1931, appointed Fred Brown Whitney receiver. Under the direction of the Auditor the receiver took possession of the books, records and assets of the bank. The Auditor later filed a bill in the circuit court of Lake county against the bank for the settlement of its business and its dissolution as a corporation. In this proceeding Lester J. Tiffany, who was the sheriff of Lake county, filed an intervening petition in the name of the People of the State of Illinois to have his claim against the bank for $9436.37 allowed and paid by the receiver as a preferred claim. The receiver answered, and upon a hearing, at which all facts were stipulated, the court found that the State was not the owner of the fund or entitled to an allowance of it as a preferred claim and entered an order allowing it as a general claim, to be paid in due course of administration. The petitioner has appealed.
In addition to what has been stated it was stipulated that Lester Tiffany is the sheriff of Lake county and as such is keeper of the jail and required to collect certain fees for services of his office; that the expense of operation of his office is payable from such fees; that he had the custody of certain funds by virtue of his office, which he caused to be deposited in the Waukegan State Bank, and the balance in the account is $7618.49; that he deposited in a savings account in the bank a voucher from the government of the United States for $1817.88 received by him for services already rendered as sheriff for boarding *160 Federal prisoners; that neither he nor the State is liable to the bank or its receiver for any amount, and the books of the bank show that he had on deposit in the checking account $7618.49 and in a savings account $1817.88, the checking account being in the name of "Lester Tiffany, sheriff," and the savings account in the name of "Lester Tiffany," and including an item of $4.53 for interest credited; that Tiffany took office on the first Monday in December, 1930, and the checking account was opened in that month. The bill then sets forth an account of the receipts and disbursements of the petitioner as sheriff, including his compensation and the expenses of the office. It was stipulated that the claimant's "exhibit 1" is a true photostatic copy of the voucher that was deposited with the Waukegan State Bank in the savings account, and the funds received on it were deposited in the name of Tiffany in the savings account referred to in the stipulation and the United States government now has no interest in the savings account or the fund, and that the voucher was for payment for past services in dieting Federal prisoners in the Lake county jail by the sheriff of Lake county. A resolution of the county board of Lake county was also introduced in evidence approving the prosecution of this action and this appeal by the sheriff and State's attorney, together with the employment of counsel. This was all the evidence.
We held in People v. Farmers State Bank,
The appellant argues that a sheriff is engaged in the administration of justice, which is an essential attribute of sovereignty, and that he is a constituent part of a State court and the principal law administrative and enforcing officer, with numerous common law duties and others imposed by statute. It is alleged in his petition that the sheriff is a State officer of the State of Illinois, and that as such sheriff he had the custody of $9436.37, funds of the State, and as such sheriff and custodian and lawful payee of such State money he caused it to be deposited in the Waukegan State Bank as moneys of the sheriff held for the State. Neither of the fundamental propositions upon which the *163 appellant bases his claim is sustained by the law. The deposits in the Waukegan State Bank of the fees and earnings of the sheriff's office belong to the county of Lake and not to the State, and the sheriff is a county officer and not a State officer.
Section 8 of article 10 of the constitution of 1870 provides that "in each county there shall be elected the following county officers, at the general election to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, A.D. 1882: A county judge, county clerk, sheriff, and treasurer. * * * Each of said officers shall enter upon the duties of his office, respectively, on the first Monday of December, after his election, and they shall hold their respective offices for the term of four years, and until their successors are elected and qualified." In Donahue v. County of Will,
Section 10 of article 10 of the constitution provides that "the county board, except as provided in section nine of this article, [which refers to county officers of the county of Cook,] shall fix the compensation of all county officers, with the amount of their necessary clerk hire, stationery, fuel and other expenses, and in all cases where fees are provided for, said compensation shall be paid only out of, and shall in no instance exceed, the fees actually collected. * * * Provided, that the compensation of no officer shall be increased or diminished during his term of office. All fees or allowances by them received, in excess of their said compensation, shall be paid into the county treasury." This section provides that the county officers receiving fees shall pay into the county treasury all fees and allowances in excess of their salaries and expenses. The case of People v. Foster,
In County of LaSalle v. Milligan,
It is clear that the sheriff is not a State officer but a county officer; that the fees, emoluments or receipts of his office do not belong to the State and that the State has no interest in them, but do belong to the county so far as they exceed, if at all, the compensation and expenses of his office due from the county to the sheriff. There is no basis for the appellant's claim of preference over the other creditors of the bank.
The decree was right. It is affirmed.
Decree affirmed.