§12-17-185. Duty to attend court.

(a) It is the duty of every district attorney to attend each session of the court for which he is district attorney and to remain in the discharge of his duties until the business of the state is disposed of. Any district attorney, other than those mentioned in subsection (b) of this section, failing to so attend or absenting himself before the business of the state is disposed of, forfeits to the state the sum of $100.00, for which a conditional judgment must be entered, to be made absolute on notice to such district attorney unless a good excuse is rendered.

(b) If any district attorney who is paid a salary by the state fails or neglects to attend any session of the court for which he is district attorney or, after attending, absents himself before the business of the state is disposed of, he forfeits to the state the sum of $25.00 for every day he is thus absent or fails to attend, to be deducted by the Comptroller from his salary. The absence or failure of such district attorney shall be certified to the Comptroller by the clerk of the court within 10 days after the session, under a penalty of $100.00, to be recovered in the name of the state on two days' notice.

(c) The deduction provided for in the subsection (b) of this section shall not be made if the district attorney makes and files with the Comptroller, within 10 days after the session from which he is absent, an affidavit that such failure to attend or absence was on account of sickness of himself or family, inevitable accident or of an epidemic or contagious disease or a well-grounded apprehension thereof.

(Code 1852, §§725, 726; Code 1867, §§857, 858; Code 1876, §§773, 774; Code 1886, §§4248, 4249; Code 1896, §§5517-5519; Code 1907, §§7782-7784; Code 1923, §§5499-5501; Code 1940, T. 13, §§230-232.)