Under Art. 111, Const., 1879, a District Court was without appellate jurisdiction from cases decided by a justice of the peace involving less than ten dollars. A District Judge was therefore without jurisdiction in such cases to issue writs of certiorari and prohibition to inquire into the proceedings, although at the time these writs were issued the Constitution of 1898 (Art. 111), conferring appellate jurisdiction in all civil cases, was in force. The judgments in the cases having been rendered "more than fourteen months" before the Constitution of 1898 went into effect, the right of the Distirct Judge to issue his writs must be went into effect, the right of the District Judge to issue his writs must be determined by the Constitution of 1879. State ex rel. Broussard vs. Judge, 51 An. 500, [Interchange and Recusation of District Judges-Powers of

Supreme Court to Designate Judge in Certain Cases.] Art. 112. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the interchange of district judges; and also for the trial of recused cases in the District Courts by the selection of licensed attorneys at law, by an interchange of judges or otherwise. Whenever any district judge is prevented by disability, or any other cause whatever, from holding his court, and that fact is made to appear by the certificate of the clerk, under the seal of the court, to the Supreme Court, or to any justice thereof, if in the judgment of the court, or any justice, the public interest so requires, the court or such justice shall designate and appoint any district judge of any other district to hold said court and discharge all the judicial duties of the judge so disabled during said disability. Such appointment shall be filed in the clerk's office and entered on the minutes of said District Court, and a certified copy thereof, under the seal of the court, shall be transmitted by the clerk of the District Court to the district judge so designated and appointed.

Const., 1879, Art. 112.

Where the judge of one District Court, under a legal system of interchange, acts in another court upon matters properly lodged therein, the acts so done by him must, in their legal effect, be held as if performed by the judge of the court in which the matter was pending. Sec. 13, Act 255, 1855, was not repealed by Act 86, 1870. Widow and Heirs of Brigot vs. Brigot, 49 An. 1428.

[Term of Service as Judge, etc., Included in Service Qualification of Judge.]

Art. 113. Wherever in this Constitution the qualification of any justice or judge shall be the previous practice of the law for a term of years, there shall be included in such term the time such justice or judge shall have occupied the bench of any court of record in this State; provided, he shall have been a licensed attorney for five years before his election or appointment.

Const., 1879, Art. 113.

[Salary, Term of Office and Jurisdiction of all Judges Not To Be Affected by Legislation, During Term of Office.] Art. 114. No judge of any court of the State shall be affected in his term of office, salary, or jurisdiction as to territory or amount, during the term or period for which he was elected or appointed. Any legislation so affecting any judge or court shall take effect only at the end of the term of office of the judge or judges, incumbents of the court, or courts, to which such legislation may apply at the time of its enactment. This article shall not affect the provisions of this Constitution relative to impeachment or removal from office.

Const., 1845, Title IV, Art. 76; Const., 1852, Title IV, Art. 75; Const., 1864, Title V, Art. 78; Const., 1868, Title IV, Art. 84; Const., 1879, Art. 114.

[District Judges Empowered to Issue Writs of Habeas Corpus Within Their Districts.]

Art. 115. The district judges shall have power to issue the writ of habeas corpus at the instance of any person in actual custody in their respective districts.

Const., 1879, Art. 115.

[Selection of Jury-Number of Jurors for Certain Cases, etc.]

Art. 116. The General Assembly shall provide for the selec tion of competent and intelligent jurors. All cases in which the punishment may not be at hard labor shall, until otherwise provided by law, which shall not be prior to 1904, be tried by the judge without a jury. Cases in which the punishment may be at hard labor shall be tried by a jury of five, all of whom must concur to render a verdict; cases in which the punish ment is necessarily at hard labor, by a jury of twelve, nine of whom concurring may render a verdict; cases in which the punishment may be capital, by a jury of twelve, all of whom must concur to render a verdict.

Const., 1879, Art. 116. See Const., 1898, Art. 155. See annotation to Act 35, 1880, p. 451.

See Act 135, 1898, printed at p. 970, and Note of Decisions at p. 981.

The reduction of the number of jurors from 16 to 12, and the provision that nine petit jurors may find a verdict except in certain cases relate only to the remedy, and are thus not ex post facto and apply to offenses committed before the adoption of the Constitution. State vs. Caldwell, 50 An. 666. This ruling was reversed in State vs. Ardoin, where the court held that as to offenses committed before the adoption of Const., 1898, the substitution of the concurrence of nine jurors, for the unanimous vote required prior to the adoption of the Const. of 1898, conflicts with the Federal Constitution prohibiting ez post facto

legislation. State vs. Ardoin, 51 An. 169.

The provision that certain offenses may be tried without a jury is not applicable to crimes committed before the adoption of the Const. of 1898. State vs. Baker, 50 An. 1247.

Act 135, 1898, changing the mode whereby petit jurors are selected for the trial of crimes, is a change in the mode of procedure and therefore applicable to the trial of offenses committed prior to the adoption of Const., 1898. State vs. Cook, 52 An. 114.

A crime denounced by R. S. 791 may be tried by a jury of five (State vs. Senegal, 51 An. 932); so also one denounced by R. S. 832. State vs. Duggan, 104 La. 626.

An accused person cannot be deprived of the right to trial by jury, where he was entitled to a jury at the time the alleged act was committed. State vs. Baker, 50 An. 1247. An offender against a city ordinance-carrying a concealed weapon-is not entitled to trial by jury. Board of Police vs. Giron, 46 An. 1364.

On a trial for murder, all twelve jurors must concur to find a verdict for manslaughter; nine jurors cannot, on a trial for murder, find a valid, binding verdict for the lesser crime. State vs. Biagas, 105 La. 503.

Art. 116, Const.. 1898, substituting the concurrence of nine jurors for the unanimity required by the Constitution of 1879. to convict for crime, is ex post facto in so far as it relates to crimes prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1898. The decisions of the Supreme Court of the State on questions arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States. must yield to the determ:nation of these questions by the Supreme Court of the United States, vested with power by the writ of error, to compel conformance by this court with its jurisprudence. State vs. Ardoin, 51 An. 169.

[Sessions of District Courts-Signing of Judgments-Grand Juries-Trial of Certain Cases Without Juries, etc.]

Art. 117. District Courts shall hold continuous sessions during ten months of the year. In districts composed of more than one parish, the judge shall sit alternately in each parish, as the public business may require. Until otherwise provided by law, judgments shall be signed after three days from the rendition thereof, and become executory ten days from such signing.

The General Assembly shall provide for the drawing of juries for the trial of civil and criminal cases. A grand jury of twelve, nine of whom must concur to find an indictment, shall be empanelled in each parish twice in each year, and shall remain in office until a succeeding grand jury is empanelled; except in the parish of Cameron, in which at least one grand jury shall be empanelled each year. The district judges shall have authority to try at any time all misdemeanors and when the jury is waived all cases not necessarily punishable at hard labor, and to receive pleas of guilty in cases less than capital.

The provisions of this article shall go into effect upon the adoption of this Constitution.

Const., 1879, Art. 117. See foot note, p. 1847.

Const., 1898, Art. 117, is operative without legislation. State vs. Voorhies, 50 An. 985. A person, indicted for an offense punishable at hard labor, who pleads not guilty, cannot waive trial by jury and elect to be tried by the judge alone. State vs. Thompson, 104 La. 167; State vs. Jackson, 106 La. 189 aliter as to offenses where the penalty is not necessarily imprisonment at hard labor or death (Const., 1879, Art. 117; Act 18, 1890; 35, 1880). State vs. Robinson, 43 An. 383; State vs. White, 33 An. 1218; State vs. Askins, id. 1253. But where one who has waived a jury is granted a new trial, he may withdraw his waiver, and be must then be tried by a jury. State vs. Touchet, 33 An. 1154 (See annotation to Art. 9 and Art. 116).

It is bad practice to merely enter the conviction and sentence in a criminal matter on the minutes, but such entry will nevertheless suffice to uphold the sentence. State ex rel. Markham vs. Judge, 52 An. 27 (34 An. 1069; id. 1048). Nothing in Art. 117 constrains the drawing up of a separate judgment and putting it in the record. Ibid.

Art. 117 is self-operative, and requires the continuous session of the District Courts for ten months in each year, the judge having the right to designate the two months in which he will take his vacation. And where a judicial district is composed of two parishes, the judge must hold court in each alternately, as the public business may require. State ex rel. Murray vs. Judge, 50 An. 985.

Art. 117, Const., 1898, is self-operative, and did not require legislative action to make it effective. A grand jury composed under it of twelve members could, therefore, validly indict a person for a crime. State vs. Favre, 51 An. 434.

For an alleged larceny committed before the Constitution of 1898 went into effect, the accused were indicted by a grand jury composed of twelve members under Const. 1898, Art. 117, and convicted by a petit jury of twelve, of which less than the whole number concurred, under the provisions of Art. 116, Const. 1898. Held, not error; the articles of the Constitution of 1898 are self-operative, required no legislation to make them effective. They are not er post facts, because they affect only the remedy. State vs. Caldwell et al., 50 An. 666 (the authorities are fully reviewed in the opinion). State vs. Marceaux et als., 50 An. 1137.

The accused was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and elected to be tried by a jury, prior to the adoption of the Const. of 1898, which provided for the trial of such cases by the jury alone; put on trial, he asked for a jury, to which, under the Const. of 1879, he was entitled, and the judge a quo refused it. Held, reversible error, as the provision in the latter Constitution is ex post facto in its application to offenses committed before its adoption. (Distinguishing State vs. Caldwell et al., 50 An. 666, and citing McCarthy vs. State, 25 Pac. Rep., 299; In re Wright, 27 Pac. Rep. 565; Thompson vs. Utah, 170 U. S. 343-355). State ex rel. Sherbourne vs. Baker, 50 An. 1247.

In a civil suit after the jury had been selected, the pleadings read, and some evidence adduced, court adjourned until the following day, when one of the jurors was reported absent because sick. Held, the judge a quo had authority to order an additional juror to take the place of the absent one, and to proceed with the trial de novo. 8 La. 563: State vs. Monela, 39 An. 868; Lindsey et al. vs. Tioga Lumber Co., 108 La. 468.

[Continuation of District Courts Under Constitution of 1879

Until Election of Judges Under Constitution of 1898, etc.] Art. 118. The District Courts as created and now existing under the Constitution of 1879, in the various parishes of the State, as now apportioned under existing laws, shall remain

undisturbed until the organization of the District Courts created by this Constitution, after the general election of 1900, and the judges thereof shall receive salaries as now fixed.

SHERIFFS AND CORONERS.

[Election, Term of Office, Authority, Bond, etc., of Sheriffs and Coroners.]

Art. 119. There shall be a sheriff and a coroner elected by the qualified voters of each parish in the State, except in the Parish of Orleans, who shall be elected at the general election and hold office for four years.

The coroner, except in the Parish of Orleans, shall act, for and in place of the sheriff, whenever the sheriff shall be a party interested, and whenever there shall be a vacancy in the office of sheriff, until such vacancy shall be filled; but he shall not, during such vacancy, discharge the duties of tax collector. The sheriff, except in the Parish of Orleans, shall be ex-officio collector of State and parish taxes.

He shall give separate bonds for the faithful performance of his duty in each capacity. Until otherwise provided, the bonds shall be given according to existing laws.

Sheriffs elected or appointed shall furnish bond within thirty days from the date of their commissions, in default of which the office shall be declared vacant, and the Governor shall appoint for the remainder of the term.

Const., 1845, Title IV, Art. S3; Const., 1852, Title IV, Art. 80; Const., 1864, Title V, Art. 84; Const., 1868, Title IV, Art. 93; Const., 1879, Art. 118.

[Compensation of Sheriffs in Criminal Cases-As Tax Collectors.]

Art. 120. The sheriff shall receive compensation from the parish for his services in criminal matters,-the keeping of prisoners, conveying convicts to the penitentiary, insane persons to the Insane Asylum, service of process from another parish, and service of process or the performance of any duty beyond the limits of his own parish excepted, not to exceed five hundred dollars per annum for each Representative the parish may have in the House of Representatives.

The compensation of sheriffs as tax collectors shall not exceed five per cent on all sums collected and paid over; pro