Cushwa v. State

Bartol, J., delivered the opinion of this Court; This is a proceeding by indictment against the plaintiff in error, as the putative father of an illegitmate child. A plea to the jurisdiction was interposed, alleging “that there was no judgment of any justice of the peace of Washington County in and upon the premises, requiring him, the said Thomas Benton Cushwa, to give security in the sum of eighty dollars to indemnify the said Washington County from all charges that may arise for the maintenance of said male child mentioned in said indictment, and that he, the said Thomas Benton Cushwa, was never required by any justice of the peace of said county, or of any other county of said State, to enter into recognizance for his appearance at this or any other term of the Circuit Court for' Washington County aforesaid ” &c. ²⁸¹ The State demurred to this plea, and the Circuit Court ruled the demurrer good, and the plea insufficient. We think there was error in this ruling, for which the judgment must be reversed. The proceedings in cases of this kind are prescribed by the 13th Article of the Code, which gives jurisdiction over them, to justices of the peace, and directs the steps necessary to be taken by the justice in the first instance.

Being a special proceeding the requirements of the statute must be strictly observed. Root vs. The State, 10 G. & J., 374 . By the 2nd section of the 13th Article, the justice is required to cause the party charged “to give security in the sum of eighty dollars to indemnify the county, &c.; and by the 5th section it is provided, that if the party charged shall feel aggrieved by the judgment of the justice, the justice shall