misdemeanors or lesser crimes it has jurisdiction. All guardians of minor children must file accounts in this court, and it is here that marriage licenses are issued and records of marriages and deaths are kept. 68. Wills. One of the methods of conveying title to property is by will. This provides that title shall pass after the death of the owner. A will is designed to permit a person to direct the disposal of his property after death, and thus avoids litigation among the heirs. To accomplish this, certain things must be done to prove the will. Any person interested in the estate bequeathed may have it proved or construed. The first is done in the probate court, the second in the court of common pleas. At a stated time the probate court hears the witnesses of the will and other parties claiming an interest, and if the court is satisfied that the testator was in sound mind and not unduly influenced, he orders the executor - if one is named in the will, otherwise he appoints one to carry out the intentions of the deceased. 69. Rules of Descent in Realty. If no will is made, the property passes to the heirs as follows: I. Where the title came by devise, descent, or gift. a. To the children or their legal representative. b. If there are no children, then to husband or wife relict of intestate, during life. c. If there are neither children nor husband nor wife, then to brothers and sisters of the intestate. d. If there are no brothers nor sisters, then to ancestor of the intestate. e. If there is no ancestor, then to half-brothers and halfsisters. f. If there are no half-brothers nor half-sisters, then to next of kin. 2. Where title came by purchase. The above rules apply here, with the modifications that if there are no children, the estate goes to the husband or wife relict of the intestate, in fee simple, and that when the estate ascends to the ancestor, it goes to father first, then to mother. The administration of estates is conducted in the probate court. When minors are left with property, the probate court appoints a guardian to look after their interests during minority. When a person dies intestate, that is, without having made a will, and leaves a husband or wife, and there is no person entitled to inherit the property, then the husband or wife inherits it as an " estate of inheritance "instead of as a life estate. 70. Descent in Personalty. Personal property descends in the same order as real property. If there is no one to inherit the property, it goes to the state, to be applied to the common-school fund of the county in which the estate is located. If there are no children, the widow or widower receives all the personal property. When there are children, the widow receives one half of the first four hundred dollars and one third of the balance. "Dower" in law refers to that portion of an estate which goes to the widow or widower. In Ohio it is one third of the estate for life, and the right to live in the mansion house for one year. It is the dower interest that requires both husband and wife to sign a deed of conveyance in order to pass a clear title. 71. Fees collected by County Officers. County officers are required to keep full accounts and records of all fees collected. All fees, costs, penalties, etc., are fixed by law, and must be paid into the treasury, and must be kept as a separate fund. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 1. In what way is the county rather than the township regarded as the unit? 2. How is a county organized? Indicate the growth in Ohio. Will the number of counties increase? 3. What do you expect to find in the county capital that is not found in other places? 4. Name the legislative officers of the county. 5. Name the executive officers of the county. 9. I purchase a farm and fail to have it recorded. Is my title defective? 10. If a crime is committed in Clarke County, whose duty is it to bring the criminal to justice? 11. Who keeps the record of cases tried in the common-pleas courts and courts of appeals? Is this important? 12. John Doe is prosecuting attorney of Greene County. You, acting as a citizen of the county, desire to consult him on a matter of law. Does he collect from you for advice? 13. At night Jones steals Smith's horse and buggy from the barn situated in Madison County. Give the steps in the prosecution. 14. What is the grand jury? What is meant by ex parte examination ? 15. How is this jury selected? 16. Distinguish the petit or trial jury from the grand jury. 17. Describe a trial before this jury. 18. Show how the prisoner is favored. 19. Distinguish criminal from civil cases. 20. Define a will. What court has jurisdiction over it? 21. Give rules of descent of real property in Ohio. 22. Give rules of descent of personalty. 23. A man takes from a building a window shutter that was fastened securely. Of what offense is he guilty? 24. How are fees, costs, penalties, etc. fixed? CHAPTER V MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 72. Classification of Cities. The constitution classifies municipal corporations into cities and villages. All such corporations having a population of five thousand or over are cities, all others are villages. Whenever a city falls below five thousand or a village increases its population to this number, each must change respectively according to its population. Villages may surrender their corporate powers whenever forty per cent of the electors so desire. 73. General Powers of Municipalities. Every city and village is a body corporate and politic, having perpetual succession, the right to use a common seal, to sue and to be sued, to acquire, hold, manage, and control property. A corporate body is a number of persons united for a particular purpose under a common name, each person having certain rights and assuming certain obligations. A body politic is one which is formed for political purposes; that is, for purposes of government. The city is not only a selfgoverning body (Boynton, School Civics, p. 295), but is also an agent for the administration of the laws of the central government of the state. All municipalities have other general powers, the most important of which are to preserve peace; to protect property; to prevent injury or annoyance by offensive nuisance; to preserve the public morals by the prevention of gambling and the destruction of all gambling devices; to maintain police and fire departments; to provide for a system of waterworks for public purposes; to lay out, establish, maintain, and repair streets, alleys, and public grounds and buildings of all kinds; to regulate the sale of all commodities at public markets or on the streets; and to provide punishment for the violation of any city ordinance. 74. Special Powers of Municipalities. In addition to the general powers mentioned above, all municipal corporations of Ohio have certain important special powers, which must be exercised in the manner prescribed by the general assembly in the municipal code. 75. Power to appropriate Private Property for Public Purposes. Municipalities have the right to exercise the principle of eminent domain in certain designated cases (Boynton, School Civics, p. 20). They can acquire real estate within their corporate limits for the following purposes for parks, streets, market places, children's playgrounds, public buildings (including halls and offices for the use of the municipal officials), libraries, universities, prisons, workhouses, hospitals, pesthouses, crematories, cemeteries, etc.; for roads, bridges, aqueducts, viaducts, sewers, sewage- and garbage-disposal farms, waterworks, gas houses, electric plants. The corporation may also acquire property outside of its own limits for any of the above purposes when absolutely necessary, with the restriction that no public cemetery may be located within two hundred yards of any dwelling house, unless the owner of said house consents. When it is deemed necessary to appropriate private property for any of the uses specified |