CONVICT UNDER PAROLE, MARRIAGE OF. A prisoner of the State Penitentiary, out on parole, can enter into the marriage contract. Denver, Colo., August 20, 1903. STATE BOARD OF PARDONS, Denver, Colorado. Gentlemen-I am in receipt of the following inquiry, under date of August 15th: Can a prisoner of the State Penitentiary, out on parole, lawfully enter into the marriage contract? The chief importance attaching to this is the validity of the marriage relation and the legitimacy of the children born. The matter seems to be fully passed on in the case of My notion is that there is nothing to prevent the marriage of a prisoner out on parole. The marriage is legal, and any children born will be legitimate. Persons desiring to camp outside of counties in which they legally reside must get permit from the clerk of their own county. Denver, Colo., July 27, 1903. HON. GEORGE HETHERINGTON, County Judge, Gunnison, Colo. Dear Sir-Replying to yours of the 22d inst., requesting my construction of section 11 of the Forestry Act, found in Session Laws of 1901, page 185, et. seq., I would say that the section referred to is as follows: "No person, party or parties, shall be allowed to camp, either for business or pleasure, in any forest district of this State outside the county in which they legally reside, without first taking out a permit so to do. Such permit shall bear such part of this act as relates to fires and their care and shall be issued by the clerk of any County Court within the State upon the payment of the sum of fifty cents as a fee. Permits must at all times be produced and shown to any game or forest warden, land appraiser, constable, sheriff or other official empowered by law to demand the same, and such permit may be taken up by such warden, land appraiser or other official whenever the holder thereof shall willfully violate the provisions of this act." It will be seen that, by the plain interpretation of the act, this section authorizes the issuance of a camping permit allowing any one to camp outside of the county in which he legally resides, "by the clerk of any County Court within the State," upon the payment of the prescribed fee. A construction of this section requiring campers to procure a permit from the clerk of the County Court in each county where they happen to camp would impose an unnecessary burden upon such persons in the multiplication of fees which is not evidently contemplated by the act, the evident purpose of the act being to prevent the destruction of our forests by fires, etc., and as a means to that end to require persons desiring to camp in counties outside of that county where they legally reside to take out a permit from some county court, being, as it were, a sort of guaranty of good character and responsibility; one permit accomplishes this as well as two or more. The same section also requires that permits must, at all times, be produced and shown to any game or forest warden, land appraiser, constable, sheriff, or other official empowered to demand the same, and also that the permit may be taken up by any such official in case of wilful violation of the act by the holder thereof. The usual and reasonable requirement of publicity in cases of permits or licenses is naturally fulfilled in this by the abovementioned provision relating to the production of the permit to officers upon demand. As the officials above named are charged with the enforcement of the law, with power to arrest with or without warrant, all violators, I do not see, if such officers do their duty, which it must be presumed they will do, that there is any prob ability of the law becoming "an absolute nullity," as you suggest. I heartily concur with you that all possible means must be taken to prevent the recurrence of forest fires, but for this the State must rely upon "the game and forest wardens, the land appraisers and all peace officers of the State," charged by section 13 of the act, with its enforcement. Yours respectfully, N. C. MILLER, Attorney General. By HENRY J. HERSEY, CERTIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS. The certificates of indebtedness issued for the payment of the militia employed in the suppression of insurrection in Teller and San Miguel counties, and other places in the State, are valid, and will draw interest at the rate of per cent. per annum until paid by an appropriation of the legislature. ПON. JAMES H. PEABODY, Governor of Colorado, State Capitol. Denver, Colo., April 7, 1904. Dear Sir-In reply to your request for an opinion concerning the validity of the certificates of indebtedness issued for the payment of the soldiers and expenses incurred in the suppression of insurrection at Teller and San Miguel counties and other places in the State, I desire to state as follows: The provision of the Constitution under which the troops have been called out is as follows: "He shall have power to call out the militia to execute the laws, suppress insurrection, or repel invasion." Section 5, Article IV, Colorado Constitution. All the proclamations and orders necessary for the calling out of the troops to carry out the foregoing provision have been issued by you, and, therefore, the troops are properly in the field, and expenses incurred by them are legal. They are in the service of the State under your orders. Sections 10 and 12 of the act of 1897, concerning the National Guard, provide for the payment of the militia when in the service of the State. Section 10 provides that: "The officers and enlisted men who are serving under the orders of the Governor, sheriff, mayor or judge, to prevent violation of the law of the State, or to prevent or suppress riot or insurrection, etc., shall until such time as other provision is made for the payment of the services rendered, receive pay out of the general fund of the State at the following rates." Section 12 provides that: "Payments under the preceeding sections shall be made by the Inspector General; no voucher for any such payments shall be audited unless certified as correct by the proper officer and passed upon by the State Military Board." No appropriation shall be made, nor any expenditure authorized, by the General Assembly, whereby the expenditures of the State during any fiscal year shall exceed the total tax then provided by law and applicable for such appropriation or expenditure, unless the General Assembly making such appropriation shall provide for the levying of a sufficient tax not exceeding the rates allowed in section 11 of this article, to pay such appropriation or expenditure within said fiscal year. This provision shall not apply to appropriation or expenditures to suppress insurrection, defend the State, or assist in defending the United States in time of war. Section 16, Article X, Colorado Constitution: "In all cases where the laws recognize a claim for money against the State, and no appropriations shall have been made by law to pay the same, the Auditor shall audit and adjust the same, and when the said claim shall have been approved by the Governor and Attorney General, he shall give the claimant a certificate of the amount thereof under his official seal if demanded, and shall report the same to the General Assembly, with as little delay as possible, giving a statement in tabular form of the number, date of issue and amount of each certificate, and for what purpose issued. No indebtedness shall be incurred or certificate of indebtedness issued for any purpose for which an appropriation has been made and exhausted, unless the necessity. for the creating of such indebtedness and the issuing of such certificate is caused by a casualty happening after the question of incurring such indebtedness shall be first submitted to the Governor and Attorney General, for their approval." 1 M. A. S., section 1829. In conclusion I have to say that all the conditions have been complied with, necessary to the issuance of a valid certificate of indebtedness for the payment of the military, and its expenses while in the service of the State have been audited by the Military Board. There is no appropriation to pay them, and the necessity for this indebtedness grows out of an unforeseen casualty, and therefore comes strictly within section 1829, above quoted. It only remains for the Legislature to provide for their payment by making an appropriation, or otherwise providing for the same. Until they are paid, they draw interest at the rate of four (4) per cent. annually. Yours respectfully, N. C. MILLER, HOUSES OF CORRECTION-SCHOOLS. The children in houses of correction and other places of confinement for incorrigible children must be cared for by the State, and are not part of the common school system, and therefore entitled to none of its school fund. Denver, Colo., September 21, 1903. HON. HELEN L. GRENFELL, State Superintendent Public Instruction, State Capitol. Dear Madam—I have considered the following letter submitted to you by C. E. Hagar, secretary of the State Board of Charities and Correction: "At the postponed regular meeting of the State Board of Charities and Correction held Wednesday afternoon, September 9, 1903, I was instructed to request from you information in relation to the question whether children of school age in custody of the State of Colorado in its several State institutions are entitled to a share of the school fund of this State, and if so, what steps should be taken to obtain the same. The board desires further, if it shall be found that these children are entitled to such portion of the State school fund, to know whether the teachers employed to instruct these children must possess a teacher's certificate from the proper State or county authorities." I beg leave to report in reference to said inquiry as follows: The school fund of the State, apportioned to the several counties by you, is derived from the following source: "The sections numbered 16 and 36 in every township, and where such sections have been sold or otherwise disposed of by any act of Congress, other than land equivalent thereto in legal subdivisions of not more than one-quarter section, and as contiguous as may be, are hereby granted to said State for the support of the common schools." Sec. 7 Enabling Act, p. 92, Mills. This provision alone probably settles your question without further discussion. This section has been construed invariably |