for its preservation, deliver it to the county superintendents of the poor, to be applied for the benefit of the poor of the county.

§ 772. When money or other property is taken from a defendant, arrested upon a charge of a public offence the officer taking it shall, at the time, give duplicate receipts therefor, specifying particularly the amount of money and the kind of property taken; one of which receipts he shall deliver to the defendant, and the other of which he shall forthwith file with the clerk of the court to which the depositions and statements must be sent, as provided by section 213.

CHAPTER XI.

Seals of the courts of original criminal jurisdiction.

§ 773. The seal of the county shall be the seal of the courts of oyer and terminer and sessions therein, except that in the city and county of New-York, the seals of those courts now in use, shall continue to be the seals thereof.

§ 774. The seals, now in use, of the mayors' and recorders' courts having criminal jurisdiction, shall continue to be the seals of those courts respectively.

§ 775. Process issued by the courts mentioned in the last two sections, shall be sealed by making an impression of the seal on the paper upon which the process is written; and exemplifications of their records, or other proceedings, may be sealed in the same manner.

CHAPTER XII.

The public prosecutor.

§ 776. The district attorney in each county, is the public prosecutor therein.

§ 777. He must attend the courts of oyer and terminer and sessions in his county, and the mayor's or recorder's court, if any, having criminal jurisdiction within his county, and conduct therein on behalf of the people, all prosecutions for public offences.

§ 778. If he fail to attend any of those courts, the court shall designate a counsellor at law to perform the duties of the district attorney during his absence from the court, who shall receive a reasonable compensation, to be audited and allowed by the board of supervisors, and paid from the county treasury.

§ 779. The district attorney must also institute proceedings before magistrates, for the arrest of persons charged with or reasonably suspected of public offences, whenever he has information of any such offe..ce committed; and for that purpose must attend upon the magistrate in cases of arrest when required by him, and must advise the grand jury, when asked to do so, as provided in section 279.

§ 780. The district attorney shall prosecute for all penalties and forfeitures exceeding fifty dollars, which

may be incurred in his county, and for which no other officer is by statute specially directed to prosecute.

§ 781. When he shall receive any money or property in his official capacity, he must deliver a receipt therefor to the person from whom he receives it, and file a duplicate thereof with the county treasurer.

§ 782. Every district attorney must, on or before the first Tuesday of October in each year, file in the office of the county treasurer an account in writing, verified by the oath of the district attorney, of all money received by him in his official capacity during the preceding year; and shall at the time pay over the same to the county

treasurer.

§ 783. If a district attorney refuse or neglect to account for and pay over money so received by him, as required by the last section, the county treasurer must bring an action against him for the recovery of the money, in the name of the county.

§ 784. The district attorney of the several counties shall receive each an annual salary, to be fixed by the board of supervisors of the county, and paid out of the county treasury.

§ 785. The salary shall, at each annual meeting of the supervisors in November, be fixed for the ensuing year; but at the end of the year, the board may render such additional allowances as may be reasonable, for extraordi

nary services performed during the year; no district attorney shall receive any other compensation, costs, or fees for a service rendered in his official capacity.

786. The district attorney shall keep a register of his official business, in which shall be entered a note of every indictment, the time when it was found, and the proceedings thereon. The register shall, at the expiration of his term of office, be deposited by him in the office of the clerk of the county.

PART VI.

Of proceedings in the police courts.

TITLE I. Of the proceedings in police courts, in the counties other than New-York. II. Of the proceedings in the police courts, in the city and county of New

York.

III. Of appeals from the police courts.

TITLE I.

OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN POLICE COURTS, IN THE COUNTIES OTHER THAN NEW-YORK.

§ 787. In the cases in which the police courts have urisdiction, as provided by section 50, when the defendant is brought before the magistrate, the charge against him shall be distinctly read to him, and he shall be required to plead thereto.

§ 788. The defendnat may plead the same pleas as upon an indictment, as provided in section 364. His plea shall be oral, and shall be entered upon the minutes of the magistrate.

§ 789. Upon a plea other than a plea of guilty, if the defendant do not demand a trial by jury, the magistrate shall proceed to try the issue.