Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 7, 1835.

AN ACT to amend an act, entitled “An act relating to the Attorney General and State’s Attorneys.”1
2

State’s attorneys, how elected.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That there be elected by the General Assembly, on joint vote,3 at the present session, and every two years thereafter, one State’s Attorney for each Judicial Circuit now or hereafter to be created in this State,4 except the Circuit in which the Seat of Government is situated; and the person so elected, shall be commissioned by the Governor, to continue in office for two years5 from and after his election, and until his successor shall be qualified.

Vacancies how filled.

Sec. 2. Should any vacancy occur in any of the Judicial Circuits in this State between the sessions of the Legisla-

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ture, it shall be the duty of the Governor to fill the same by the appointment of some qualified person to discharge the duties of said office, who, when so appointed, shall continue in office until his successor is duly elected and qualified as in this act provided, and the act to which this is an amendment.

Part of act repealed.

Sec. 3. So much of the third section of the act to which this is an amendment, approved, February 17, 1827, as comes within the meaning and purview of this act, be, and the same is hereby repealed.

This bill having been returned by the Council of Revision with their objections to the same becoming a law,6 and the same having been reconsidered, and again passed both Houses by a majority of the whole number of members elected, the objections of the Council of Revision notwithstanding, the same has become a law of this State, Feb. [February] 7, 1835.

1“An Act relating to the Attorney General and State’s Attorneys,” 19 February 1827, Revised Code of Laws of Illinois Enacted by the Fifth General Assembly, (1827), 79-81.

2John Wyatt introduced HB 3 in the House of Representatives on December 5, 1834. The House passed the bill on December 16. On January 16, 1835, theSenate refused to indefinitely postpone further consideration by a vote of 13 yeas to 12 nays, and agreed to continue consideration by the same vote. On January 17, the Senate refused to table the bill until July 4 by a vote of 13 yeas to 12 nays, and referred the bill to select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 20 with various amendments. The Senate amended the first amendment of the committee. The Senate also amended the committee’s report by striking out all of the bill after the enacting clause and inserting a substitute. The Senate tabled the bill and proposed amendment to the committee’s report until July 4 by a vote of 13 yeas to 12 nays. In the afternoon session of the same day, the Senate reconsidered this vote by a vote of 13 yeas to 12 nays. The Senate refused to table the bill and proposed amendment by a vote of 12 yeas to 13 nays. The Senate agreed to reconsider the proposed amendment by a vote of 13 yeas to 12 nays. The Senate rejected the proposed amendment by a vote of 12 yeas to 13 nays. The Senate approved the select committee’s first amendment as amended by a votes of 23 yeas to 2 nays, and concurred in the remainder of the committee’s amendments. The Senate passed the bill as amended by a vote of 14 yeas to 10 nays. The House concurred in the Senate amendments on January 22. On January 30, the Council of Revision vetoed the bill and returned it to the House with their objections. The House referred the bill and the Council’s objections to the Committee of the Whole. The Committee of the Whole reported back the bill without amendment. The House again passed the bill, the Council’s objections notwithstanding, by a vote of 33 yeas to 18 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting in nay. On February 2, the Senate tabled the bill and the Council’s objections. On February 7, the Senate again passed the bill by a vote of 14 yeas to 11 nays, thus overriding the Council’s veto, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 63, 69-70, 118, 127, 341, 351, 389, 392, 444-448, 502, 526; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 103, 105, 113, 262, 274, 283-84, 287, 289, 290, 291, 311, 335, 385, 398, 445, 457.

3The Constitution of 1818 gave the Governor the authority, with the consent of the Senate, to appoint state’s attorneys, and the 1827 act reaffirmed that process.
Ill. Const. (1818), art. III, § 22; “An Act Relating to the Attorney General and State’s Attorneys,” 79-80.

4In 1835, there were six judicial circuits in Illinois, and in 1841, when Abraham Lincoln ended his tenure in the legislature, there were nine.
An Act Dividing the State into Judicial Circuits (1835); An Act Dividing the State into Judicial Circuits (1839).

5In 1819, the General Assembly specified that circuit attorneys appointed by the governor would remain in office “during good behavior.” In 1827, the General Assembly changed the tenure of state’s attorneys to four-year terms.
“An Act for the appointment of Circuit Attorneys, and defining their duties, and the duties of the Attorney General,” 23 March 1819, Laws Passed by the First General Assembly of the State of Illinois (1819), 204-6; “An Act Relating to the Attorney General and State’s Attorneys,” 80.

6The Council rejected the bill primarily because its members deemed the first and third sections unconstitutional and unnecessary because the appointment of state’s attorneys was an executive, not legislative, function.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 1st sess., 444-47.