MODE OF ACCUSATION. 61 



prosecuting attorneys to conduct game cases for the State. In some 

 of these States the prosecuting attorneys are required to institute the 

 prosecution whenever they receive information or have personal knowl- 

 edge of the offense. The Kansas game law authorizes the magistrate 

 having proper jurisdiction to employ an attorney to conduct the prose- 

 cution, upon neglect or refusal of the proper prosecuting officer to do 

 so, and directs that such attorney shall receive a fee of $10, to be taxed 

 as costs against every convicted defendant. 



The game commissions and State wardens very generally have regu- 

 larly employed attorneys, even in the absence of special authorization, 

 as only a few States make provision for such officers. The Minnesota 

 commission is empowered to employ an attorney or attorneys to per- 

 form such legal services as may be required, and such attornej^ is 

 required to appear for the commission in any civil action in which it 

 or its wardens may be officially interested, and he may assist the county 

 attorney in all criminal prosecutions, or, when for any reason the county 

 attorney does not act, may conduct the prosecution with the same 

 authority as that officer. His compensation is paid from the funds 

 provided for enforcement of the act. The forest, fish, and game com- 

 missioner of New York is authorized by the game act to employ neces- 

 sary counsel in his office and to appoint an attorney to represent the 

 department in the prosecution or defense of any proceeding brought 

 under the game law. The compensation of these officers is paid from 

 the general treasury. The law of Wyoming also authorizes the State 

 game warden, when he deems it necessary, to employ an attorney, 

 whose compensation is to be paid from the State game fund, to prose- 

 cute violators of the game laws. 



MODE OF ACCUSATION. 



An indictment is a written accusation presented by a grand jury to 

 a competent court, charging a person with the commission of a crime. 

 An information is a written statement, usually under oath, by a prose- 

 cuting attorney on behalf of the State, charging a person with the 

 commission of a crime. A complaint or affidavit (for the purposes of 

 a prosecution) is a statement under oath, made by any person, charg- 

 ing another with the commission of a crime. 



These are the modes of accusation in use in criminal law, though, as 

 elsewhere stated in this bulletin, a few of the States enforce their 

 game laws or certain features of them by a proceeding in the nature 

 of a civil suit for the recovery of penalties. 



Which one of the modes is appropriate in any particular case 

 depends upon statutory regulation and the character of the offense, 

 and both of these differ widely in the several States. Indictment lies 

 for offenses of the graver sort, those punishable with imprisonment in 



