A sheriff is assisted by
deputies.

Sec.9. There are in each county one or more _coroners_, whose principal
duty is, to inquire into the cause of the death of persons who have died
by violence, or suddenly, and by means unknown. Notice of the death of a
person having so died is given to a coroner, who goes to the place of
such dead person. A jury is summoned to attend the examination;
witnesses are examined; and the jury give their opinion in writing as to
the cause and manner of the death. Such inquiry is called a _coroner's
inquest_. In one or two states, the office of coroner, it is believed,
does not exist; in which case the inquest is held by a justice of the
peace, or some other officer.

Sec.10. An attorney, elected or appointed for that purpose, attends all
courts in which persons are tried in the county for crimes committed
therein, and conducts the prosecutions in the trial of the offenders. In
states where there is no attorney-general for the state, the prosecuting
attorney for each county serves in this capacity, in trials in which the
state is a party. As all crimes and breaches of the peace are considered
as committed against the state, and prosecuted in its name, this
attorney is sometimes called _state's attorney_.

Sec.11. In some states there is a _county-surveyor_, whose duties within
his county are similar in their nature to those of a state
surveyor-general.

Sec.12. County officers are generally elected by the people of the county.
Some of them are, in some of the states, appointed by some authority
prescribed by the constitution or laws of the state.

Chapter XV.

Towns and Town Officers. Powers and Duties of Town Officers.

Sec.1. The districts of territory into which counties are divided, are, in
some states, called _towns_. In others they are called, and perhaps more
properly, _townships_; and the name of _town_ is given to an
incorporated village, or a city. We shall, however, in this work, apply
to these territorial divisions the shorter name of _towns_, as they are
called in most of the old states.

Sec.2. The electors of the several towns meet once a year for the election
of town officers, and for certain other business purposes. The electors
of a town have power, at their annual town meetings, to order money to
be raised for the support of the poor, for the building and repairing of
bridges, and for other town purposes; to make regulations concerning
fences; to fix the