Board of Commissioners v. Pipher

The appellee was the sheriff of Martin county and in charge of the jail; two prisoners confined in it escaped; one of them was recaptured in Martin county; the other fled to Missouri; the appellee met the commissioners in the hall of the court-house and said to them that “ if they would help him some,” he would go after the escaped prisoner, but that he would go whether aided or not, and the commissioners replied that they would assist him. The appellee did go and did recapture the prisoner, and this claim is for money expended in effecting the recapture.

The principle which rules this case is…