Action of Committee.

3398. [R. S. 1740.] At the appointed time, the committee shall proceed to swear and examine the witnesses, both for and against the accused, whose testimony shall be taken down in writing; they shall then make their report to the House of Representatives, and shall declare in the conclusion whether they are of opinion that the charges are well founded; in which case the House itself, after having obtained all necessary information, shall decide whether it be expedient to proceed by means of impeachment or by address.

In case the committee shall make a report in favor of the accused, the adoption of the report by the House shall be sufficient, and the accused shall be discharged, and can never after be brought before the Legislature for the same acts with which he has been already charged.

Testimony May Be by Commission.

3399. [R. S. 1741.] Whenever, in the opinion of the committee, the witnesses shall reside at such a distance that their attendance at the seat of government must give rise to great expense and loss of time, the said committee shall prepare interrogatories and take their testimony by commission, as in judicial proceedings of the parish in which the witness may reside, who shall, on the receipt of the interrogatories, cause to appear before him the witness to whom they are propounded, and having administered the oath to him, shall take down in writing his answers and make him sign them.

The interrogatories thus prepared by the committee shall, previous to their being sent as aforesaid, be communicated to the accused or his counsel, who shall have a right to add his cross-interrogatories, to which the witness is equally bound tɔ

answer.

The accused, on his part, shall be allowed to submit to the committee such interrogatories as he may wish to be propounded to witnesses in his behalf, and it shall be the duty of the committee, after having added such cross-interrogatories as they shall deem proper, to direct the whole as aforesaid, that it may be proceeded upon in the same manner.

Compulsory Process.

3400. [R. S. 1742.] The magistrate to whom the interrogatories shall be directed, as stated in the foregoing section,

may employ all such means as are allowed by law to compel a witness to appear, and may condemn to a fine of not less than fifty dollars and not exceeding one hundred, or to an imprisonment not exceeding ten days, any witness for or against the accused, who being duly cited, shall have refused to attend, or who having attended, shall refuse to answer to the interrogatories, or sign his answer.

Costs.

3401. [R. S. 1743.] Whenever the culpability of a public officer shall be ascertained, either by the sentence of the Senate, or by the concurrence of both Houses, agreeably to the Constitution, all the costs arising from the investigation and prosecution of his suit shall be paid by said officer, which shall be recovered by a suit to be instituted against the party condemned, by the District Attorney; and in order that the provisions of this section shall full effect, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, to make out a full statement of all costs incurred in the prosecution which shall come to their knowledge, and hand over the same to the District Attorney.

3402. [R. S. 1744.] In case the public functionary against whom an accusation shall be brought, should resign his office pending the inquest which shall have been ordered by the House, he shall be bound to pay all the costs which shall have been incurred until that time, to be recovered in the manner provided by Section 1743.

Continuance.

3403. [R. S. 1745.]

All accusations pending before the Legislature at the time of their adjournment, shall be prosecuted and continued by the next Legislature.

REMOVAL OF OFFICERS UNDER ARTICLE 222.

Suit to Be Instituted in District Court.

3404. [Sec. 1, Act 135, 1880, p. 184.] All suits for the removal from office of any district attorney, clerk of court, sheriff, coroner, recorder, justice of the peace, or of any other parish, municipal or ward officer, for any of the causes specified in article one hundred and ninety-six of the State Constitution [of 1879, Article 222, Constitution of 1913] shall be instituted

before the district court having jurisdiction over the place of defendant's domicile, by the district attorney, or by the counsel appointed by the court in the case provided by the Constitution, in his name, on the relation of the State, and he shall allege, with the other essential allegations, that the suit is instituted on the written request and information of ten, twenty-five or more resident citizens and taxpayers, whose names shall be set forth likewise in the petition. Such suits in the parish of Orleans shall be instituted before the Civil District Court.

This act and the Intrusion into Office Act provide for different cases, State ex rel. Stewart vs. Reid, 118 La. 106.

The exception that the acts are charged to have been committed during a prior term of office is not a plea to the jurisdiction, State ex rel. Reid vs. Judge, 45 A. 943; nor is it a valid defense, State ex rel. Dist. Atty. vs. Sheriff, 45 A. 1350.

Petitioners May Employ Counsel.

3405. [Sec. 2.] The citizens and taxpayers at whose request the suit is brought shall have the right to employ, at their own exclusive cost, counsel to aid the attorney of the State in instituting and in conducting the same, until it shall have been finally disposed of, and such suits shall be tried by preference over all others.

When Incompetency Alleged.

3406. [Sec. 3.] In all cases instituted to remove an officer on the ground of his incompetency, arising out of his want of the knowledge necessary to enable him to perform the duties of his office, or of any mental incapacity unfitting him for the office, the court may, on its own motion, or on that of any party to the suit, cause the defendant to come before it, in person and in open session, to answer any pertinent question, which may be addressed to him; as each question is put to him the clerk. shall, with his own hand, write on a separate paper his answer,. and number it to correspond with the number of the question, and this without being permitted to leave the presence of the court or to have recourse to the assistance of any person, book, paper of memorandum whatsoever; if defendant be unable to write, the cause of his inability shall be stated to him, under oath, and the clerk shall take down his answers in writing; provided, that questions propounded to said officer shall not be foreign to the duties of his office. In case of appeal the original papers containing such questions and answers shall be sent with and

form a part of the transcript, the clerk retaining a certified copy of the same. In all other cases of removal defendant may be summoned and examined under oath, as any other witness.

Jury May Be Demanded.

3407. [Sec. 4.] Either party to suits brought pursuant hereto may claim trial by jury; provided, that the plaintiff may pray for jury trial in his original petition, and not thereafter, and that the defendant may pray for jury trial in his original answer, and not thereafter. In case either party prays for a jury during a term for which no jury has been drawn, or the jury drawn and summoned for which has been set aside, and there be time to do so and try the case before adjournment of the term, the court shall, at once, order the jury commissioners to draw a new or special jury, as the case may be, to try the case, if either party require it. If the term of court next succeeding that during which the jury is prayed for, or succeeding the time when such prayer is filed, if filed in vacation, be not a jury term, the case remaining untried, the judge shall order the jury commissioners to draw a special jury to appear at such term of court to try the case, and these rules shall apply to all succeeding terms until the case shall be finally tried. In all cases, when a special jury is ordered, the judge shall order the drawing of thirty qualified jurors who shall be summoned by service of notice in the usual form. On the trial the jury shall be exercised as in jury trials in ordinary civil cases, and talesmen may be summoned as in other cases.

State ex rel. Dist. Atty. vs. Sheriff, 42 A. 54.

Motion for New Trial.

3408. [Sec. 5.] Either party to such suits may make motions for new trials within the same delays, on the same grounds and in the same manner and form as is provided in other cases before the district court.

Appeal.

3409.

[Sec. 6.] From all interlocutory decrees that might work irreparable injury, and from all final judgments in such cases, any party thereto or any of the citizens whose names are set forth in the petition may appeal, on giving bond in such sum as the court may fix in the order granting the same. Such appeal bond shall be given in the manner and form as in other ap

peals in civil cases, and the appeal shall suspend the execution of the judgment appealed from. All such appeals must be taken and the bond furnished within ten days from the signing of the judgment, and shall be made returnable within ten days from the granting of the order of appeal to the appellate court, wherever it may be sitting, or wherever it may hold its next session.

3410. [Sec. 7.] If on appeal, the case be remanded for further or another trial, it shall be had and proceeded with in the same manner as is provided in the foregoing sections, for its first trial.

Suit Does Not Suspend Officer.

3411.

[Sec. 8.]

[Sec. 8.] The pendency of a suit to remove an officer shall not operate a suspension from office.

Judgments, How Executory.

3412. [Sec. 9.] Judgments in all such suits shall become of force and be executory as in other cases before the district courts of the State.

Time to file transcript may be extended, State ex rel. Bourg vs. Marrero, 132 La. 109.

Who Pays Costs.

3413. [Sec. 10.] If judgment in such suits be rendered against the defendant he shall be condemned to pay all costs, and if judgment be rendered in his favor the citizens at whose request the suit was brought shall be condemned jointly and in solido to pay all costs.

REMOVAL OF JUDGES.

Proceedings to Be in Supreme Court.

3414. [Sec. 1, Act 122, 1880, p. 156.] All suits for the removal from office of any judge of the courts of appeal, of the district courts throughout the State, or of the city courts for the parish of Orleans, for any of the causes specified in article one hundred and ninety-six of the State Constitution [Con. 1913, Art. 217] shall be brought and instituted, pursuant to article two hundred of the Constitution [Con. 1913, Art. 24], before the Supreme Court of the State, by petition, and the pleadings, citations and all of the proceedings therein, shall be made and had as is now provided for, and practiced before the district