Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, for the more convenient transaction of business in the courts of the United States within the State of Louisiana, the said State shall be, and the same is hereby, divided into two judicial districts, in the manner following, to wit: the parishes of Sabine, Desoto, Caddo, Natchitoches, Bossier, Rapides, Claiborne, Jackson, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachita, Union, Morehouse, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, Concordia, St. Landry, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, St. Mary, St. Martin, Vermillion, and Lafayette, shall compose one district, to be called the western district of Louisiana; and all the remaining part of the said State shall compose another district, to be called the eastern district of Louisiana; and all criminal actions or civil suits, either in law or equity, which have arisen in the western district, or against persons residing therein, or concerning lands situated therein, together with all process, writs, recognizances, and records, belonging thereto, shall be transferred to the western district; and all civil suits hereafter instituted against persons residing in said western district, or suits concerning lands situated in the same, in the courts of the United States, shall be in said district; and there shall be held annually in said district one stated session of the court at each of the following places, to wit: at Opelousas, on the first Monday in August, for the parishes of St. Landry, Calcasieu, St. Mary, St. Martin, Vermillion, and Lafayette; at Alexandria, on the first Monday in September, for the parishes of Rapides, Avoyelles, Natchitoches; at Shreveport, on the first Monday in October, for the parishes of Caddo, Sabine, Desoto, Bossier, and Claiborne; at Monroe, on the first Monday in November, for the parishes of Ouachita, Jackson, Union, Morehouse, Franklin, Catahoula, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, and Concordia; and a person learned in the law, residing in said western district, shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, judge thereof, with a salary of two thousand dollars per annum, payable semi-annually, with the same powers and duties as the district judge of the United States for the district of Louisiana, as it now exists, and such as are conferred on him, or required of him, by this act; who is

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required to hold said terms, and authorized and required to hold special sessions of the said court, in the said western district, for the trial of civil or criminal cases, whenever he may deem it expedient; that all process, writs, and recognizances of every kind, whether respecting juries, witnesses, bail, or otherwise, which relate to cases to be tried at said special sessions, shall be considered as belonging to such sessions, in the same manner as if they had been issued or taken in reference thereto; that any special session may be adjourned to any time or times previous to the next stated meeting of the District Court for said districts; that all business pending for trial at any special court shall, at the close thereof, be considered as of course removed to the next stated term of the court; that the District Court, in said western district, shall perform all the duties, and possess all the powers, of Circuit Courts of the United States for the State of Louisiana, except in cases of appeal and writs of error; and the said judge shall appoint a clerk of the court in the western district, for each place where the court sits, who shall reside, and keep the records of the court, at that place, and shall receive, for the services performed by them, the same fees and compensation that are allowed to the clerk of said court holding its sessions in New Orleans, in the same State, and shall be subject, in every respect, to the same restrictions and responsibilities; and the District Court for the eastern district shall be held in New Orleans as heretofore, and it shall be the duty of the clerks of the District and Circuit Courts of the United States in New Orleans to transmit, by some safe conveyance, or deliver to the clerks of the western district, or their order, the original papers in all such cases as properly belong to the court in the western district by the provisions of this act, together with a transcript of the proceedings had therein.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, be, and hereby is, authorized to appoint one person as marshal, and one as district attorney, for the said western judicial district of the United States within the State of Louisiana, created by this act, and that the terms of appointment and service, together with the duties and responsibilities of the said marshal and district attorney respectively, for the district aforesaid, be, in all respects, the same within their said district, as to the terms of appointment and services, the duties and responsibilities of the marshal and district attorney, respectively, of the eastern district of the State of Louisiana; and said marshal shall receive such fees and emoluments as are received by the marshal of the United States for the State of Louisiana; and said attorney on annual compensation of two hundred dollars, and the same fees and emoluments as are allowed to the attorney of the United States for the district of Louisiana.

Approved, March 3, 1849.