Századok – 2015

2015 / 5. szám - Héjja Julianna Erika: "Hűtlenségi és visszaélési botrányos tények" Vármegyei tisztviselői kihágások, felelősségre vonás, fegyelmi eljárás a 19. század első felében

1078

HÉJJÁ JULIANNA ERIKA

„SCANDALOUS FACTS OF INFIDELITY AND CORRUPTION.”

Misdemeanors and Disciplinary Procedure among the County Officials in the First Half

of the Nineteenth Century

By Héjjá Julianna (Summary)

In the course of their official work, county officials in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries had generally to proceed without national or local statutes regulating office-holding. Although efforts were taken at unification, conditions of employment, dismissal, and responsibility remained unclear at most places. It was evident that default and neglect followed to a large extent from the confusion in tasks and competences. The study examines the major groups of misdemeanor on the basis of archival documents from the counties of Békés, Csanád and Csongrád and the reports of Pesti Hírlap. Tax collectors caused cash deficit by embezzling the money they gathered, and a lot of problems were caused by the unauthorised use of forehorses. As for the noble magistrates (szolgabirák), they were proved to have unlawfully put to the market stray animals, and to be prone to corruption. The employees of the county chancelleries were convicted of forging documents, whereas the doctors set up prescriptions without permission, and sometimes provided false medical opinion. In the case of the assistant personnel, most complaints were caused by violent and overbearing behaviour, and debauchery.