Typed as spelled and written – Lena Stone Criswell

                                               THE MARLIN DEMOCRAT

                                               Sixtieth Year – Number 101 (p3)

                                   Marlin, Texas, Tuesday Morning, February 28, 1950

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             LeSASSIER ANSWERS CRITICISM WITH PROMISE OF STIFF

PENALITIES WHERE PUBLIC TRASH DUMPING CHARGES FILED

            Justice of the Peace Louis LeSassier, Prec. No 1, appeared before the Falls county Commissioners Court meeting Monday morning and said that complaints have been made to him about deliberate dumping of trash on county road and highway right-of-way and in other public places.

            He said he has tried to break up this practice and he proposes to give public notice that offenders found guilty of this practice will be faced with fines of $50 and costs in his court as he tries to bring this violation to a halt.  He said the fine could be $200 as a maximum.

            The Justice of the Peace said criticism had been directed at him as a public official, saying that he had not assessed penalties stiff enough to cause the appeals for this practice to be stopped.  Now he said he is going to stiffen up on the fines as he tries to break up the practice.

                                              CAN FINE $200

            “I want to advise the public of my change in attitude and it may be something I’ll want to set the fine to $200, but I’m ready now to fine anyone found guilty of this offense at $50 and costs,” Justice LeSassier said.

            As the Court members discussed the matter of trash dumping along public roads, highways, ditches and public streams and channels as being a violation of the law, members of the Court from all four precincts voiced comments about various spots in their respective areas being littered with trash, dumped without authorization and in violation of the law.  Justice LeSassier asked that the Court authorize Engineer Jeff Pringle to post signs in various parts of the county to declare the offense to be in violation of the law.  The Court approved this being done and also noted that regardless of the signs being posted it was still a violation.  The Justice of the Peace added in his comments that if the signs are posted and persons are found guilty of destroying or removing the signs that he would assess a fine for such offense as the destruction of public property.

                                            FIRST PENALTY ASSESSED

            Only a short time after the trash dumping matter was heard at the Court meeting, Justice LeSassier returned to the assembly and announced that upon a charge just entered in his Court Monday morning against a Marlin negro Freddie Nelms, he had assessed the $50 fine and costs, totalling $66.15, for a trash dumping offense.  Justice LeSassier said the charge was brought as the result of some trash being dumped on a county road, west of Marlin in the Brazos bottom, south of Hwy. No. 7, and on a road leading to the S.R.Hemphill place.