of Chief Con 28. [SEC. 12.] Each Chief Constable shall receive as compensaLion four dollars per day for the number of days he may perform Compensation actual service as Chief Constable, to be paid to him by the Parish stable. Treasurer upon the warrant of the Parish Judge, approved by the Governor. signed. 29. [SEC. 13.] The Chief Constable of each parish shall assign to each voting precinct of the parish one Deputy Constable, who Deputies asshall, for the term of his commission, have all the powers and perform all the duties and receive the same compensation in fees that is now prescribed by law for Constables. stables vacated. 30 [SEC. 14.] The offices of all Constables now holding such ofice in any parish in the State are hereby declared vacated imme- Offices of Condiately upon the appointment of the Chief and Deputy Constables for such parish; and hereafter no person shall assume to exercise the power or perform the duties now or hereafter prescribed by law for Constables, except such persons as shall be appointed under the provisions of this act. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction intrusion into thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, and stable. imprisonment for not less than three months for each and every such violation. Punishment for office of Con arrested per 31. [SEC. 15.] The Chief Constable shall prosecute every person arrested under the provisions of this act before the proper court, and Prosecution of if such person shall be convicted, he shall be fined by the court, in sons. addition to the penalties hereinbefore prescribed, the sum of ten dollars, to be paid into the parish treasury, and shall be committed to prison until such fine is paid. 32. [SEC. 16.] The Parish Treasurer shall keep all fines collected under the previous section in a separate fund for the payment of the Chief and Deputy Constables. Fines, how kept 33. [SEC. 17.] Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to authorize and empower the Governor to appoint and commission When Governor said Constables in any parish, except where violence or disturbance stables. of the peace is threatened, or where the Sheriff of any parish, or a number of any respectable citizens thereof may notify him that it is likely to ensue. to appoint Con Sheriff and -Coroner elective CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION. ART. 93. There shall be a Sheriff and Coroner elected by the qualified electors of each parish, except the parish of Orleans. In the parish of Orleans, there shall be elected by the qualified electors of In the parish of the parish at large one Sheriff for the criminal court, who shall be the executive officer of said court, and shall have charge of the parish prison. There shall also be elected by the qualified electors of the parish at large, one Sheriff who shall be the executive officer of the Orleans two Sheriffs elec tive. Two Coroners for the city of New Orleans and parish of Orleans. civil courts, and who shall perform all other duties heretofore devolving upon the Sheriff of the parish of Orleans, except those herein delegated to the Sheriff of the criminal court. The qualified electors of the city of New Orleans, residing below the middle of Canal street, shall elect one Coroner for that district; and the qualified electors of the city of New Orleans, residing above the middle of Canal street, together with those residing in that part of the parish known as Orleans, right bank, shall elect one Coroner for that district. All of Salaries and said officers shall hold their office for two years, and receive such fees of office as may be prescribed by law. terms of office. One Coroner for each parish, ex cept Orleans. 1. [SEC. 649.] A Coroner shall be elected in each parish by the qualified electors thereof, except in the parish of Orleans, in which 1868-207. there shall be two Coroners so elected, one to perform the duties of Coroner on the left bank, below the middle of Canal street, in the said parish, and the other to perform the duties of Coroner on the left bank, above the middle of Canal, and also in that part of the parish known as Orleans right bank; said Coroners shall hold their offices for the term of two years respectively; an election for said Coroners shall be held on the first Monday of November, eighteen Time for holdhundred and seventy, and every two years thereafter; every Cor- Coroner. oner shall take the oath prescribed by the Constitution and laws. and shall give bond and security according to law in the parish of Orleans, in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, and in the other parishes of the State, in the sum of two thousand dollars, for the due performance of the duties of his office. Should a vacancy occur subsequent to an election, it shall be filled by the Governor, and the person so appointed shall continue in office until his successor shall be elected and qualified. ing election for Coroner's bond. Coroners. 2. [SEC. 650.] No person shall be eligible for the office of Coroner, either by election by the people, or appointment by the Qualifications of Governor of the State, who is not a lawful citizen of the State, of fair education, good moral character, and possessed of general business qualities, and it shall not be necessary that he shall have had a medical or surgical education, or have been a regular practitioner of either branch of science. Coroner conser peace. as Sheriffs in 3. [SEC. 651.] The Coroner shall be a conservator of the peace, vator of the 4. [SEC. 652.] In case of vacancy in the office of Sheriff, the Coroner for the portion of the parish of Orleans on the left bank, Coroners to act below the middle of Canal street, shall execute the duties of Sheriff cases of vacancy of the criminal courts; and the Coroner for the portion of the said parish on the left bank above the middle of Canal street, and on the right bank, shall execute the duties of Sheriff of the civil courts in Orleans. Inquests on bodies of de until the appointment or election of a new Sheriff; and while acting as such Sheriff, the Coroner shall receive the same fees as are allowed by law to the Sheriff. In the country parishes the Coroner shall in like manner fill vacancies in the office of Sheriff. 5. SEC. 653.] It shall be the duty of the Coroner, on being informed of the violent death of any person within his jurisdiction, ceased persons. the cause of which is unknown, immediately to procced to view the body and make all proper inquiry respecting the cause and manner of the death; and if from such inquiry he shall be satisfied that no person has been guilty of causing or procuring the death, and that there are no suspicious circumstances attending it, he shall, without further proceedings therein, deliver the body to the friends, if any there be, for interment; in case there are no friends who will take charge of the body, and if the deceased shall not have left property sufficient to pay the expenses of the burial, then it shall be the duty of the Coroner to bury it. 1869-21. Certificates of examination. 1868-207. 6. [SEC. 654.] Where inquests are not held, the Coroner shall issue a certificate to the following, or similar import: I, of Coroner of the (parish or district, as the case may be,) having been notified of the death of , and having viewed the body of the said and made inquiry respecting the death, do certify that I am satisfied no guilt attaches to any person by reason thereof, and that an inquest is unnecessary. [And where it shall have become necessary for the Coroner to bury the body, the certificate shall continue and say]: "That the deceased has no friends to take charge of and bury the body, nor, as I can ascertain, has he (or she) left property sufficient to defray the expenses thereof, and I have therefore buried the same." And this certificate shall be filed in the office of Recorder of Births and Deaths for the parish of Orleans, and it shall be the duty of the Coroners of the parish of Orleans to file monthly in the said office of Recorder of Births and Deaths for the parish of Orleans, a duplicate copy of all inquests held by them in the parish of Orleans, and all the certificates already filed in the Clerk's office of the Fourth District Court for the parish of Orleans, by virtue of the said amended section, are hereby transferred to the office of Recorder of Births and Deaths for the parish of Orleans, to be filed, and to remain deposited in said office. 7. [SEC, 655.] If the Coroner shall have reason to suspect that the person whose body he shall have been called to view, came to When inquests his death by violent means, then, and not otherwise, it shall be his duty forthwith to proceed and take inquest of said death. shall be neces sary. ners for Or Canal street. Above Canal 8. [SEC. 656.] In the parish of Orleans the jurisdiction and duties of the Coroner for the portion of that parish on the left bank Duty of Corobelow the middle of Canal street, shall extend and shall be confined leans, below to inquisitions on subjects found or brought within the said limits, and the jurisdiction and powers of the Coroner for that portion of the parish above the middle of Canal street, on the right bank, street. shall extend and be confined to inquisitions on subjects found or brought within these said limits; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing, prohibiting or forbidding Proviso. persons finding the bodies of drowned persons in the river from notifying the nearest Coroner thereof, or as releasing the said Coroner from the duty of forthwith holding an inquest thereon. 9. [SEC. 657.] When inquest is to be held, the Coroner shall summon forthwith five citizens residing in the parish to appear Coroner's jury. befor him at the time and place expressed in the summons, then and there to inquire upon view of the body of, there lying dead, when and by what means he came to his death. Penalty for re as jurymen on 10. [SEC. 658.] If any person summoned as a juror shall fail to appear, without reasonable excuse therefor, he shall forfeit the sum fusing to attend of twenty-five dollars. All forfeitures under this section in New Coroner's jury. Orleans and Jefferson may be recovered for the benefit of the Charity Hospital of New Orleans, by suit to be brought by the Administrators of the Hospital. In the country parishes, all forfeitures recovered under this section shall be deposited in the parish treasury and for the use of said parishes, suit to be brought before a Justice of the Peace in the name of the Police Jury thereof. 11. [SEC. 659.] When the jurors who have been summoned appear, the Coroner shall call over their names, and then, in view of Oath of jurors. the body, he shall administer to them the following oath : "You solemnly swear that you will diligently inquire and true presentment make, on behalf of the State, when and by what means the person whose body here lies came to his death; and that you will return a true inquest thereof, according to your knowledge and such evidence as shall be laid before you, so help you God." If any of the five jurors shall not appear, the Coroner shall summon jurors from the bystanders to complete the number of the jury. witnesses. 12. [SEC. 660.] The Coroner may summon witnesses at such time and place as he shall direct; the persons summoned shall, for Examination of non-attendance or refusal to testify, be subject to the same penalties, to be expressed in the summons, as if they had been served with a subpena on behalf of the State to attend a Justice's Court. It shall be the duty of the Coroner, if adjudged necessary either by |