Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 13, 1835.

AN ACT to amend “An act prescribing the mode of Summoning Grand and Petit Jurors, and defining their qualifications and duties.”
1

County commissioners shall have power to compensate jurymen.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the county commissioners’ courts of the several counties of this State, shall have power to make an allowance out of the county Treasury of their respective counties, to all Grand and Petit Jurymen who may be regularly summoned, and shall actually serve as such in the Circuit Court of their counties, a sum not exceeding seventy-five cents2 per day.3

Clerk of circuit court to furnish each juryman with a certificate.

Proviso.

Sec. 2. The Clerk of the Circuit Court shall furnish to each of the Jurors aforesaid, (and without fee,) whenever he shall be discharged from further service by the Court at any term thereof, a certificate of the number of days he may have attended at such term, and upon the presentment thereof to the County Treasurer, he shall pay to such person the sum above provided for his services: Provided, The Clerk shall not furnish such certificate, unless the

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county commissioners’ court shall have first made the allowance as required in the first section.4

Petit jurors’ fee, and docket fee, shall constitute a fund for the payment of jurors.

Sec. 3. That the fee of three dollars now paid under the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, for compensating Petit Jurors; also, the docket fee now required by law to be paid by the unsuccessful to the successful party in each suit in law or equity in any of the Circuit Courts of this State, shall be paid to the Clerk of said Circuit Court, and by him to be paid over to the Treasurer of the county for the use of the people thereof: Provided, The same shall always remain as a fund for the payment of Grand and Petit Jurors.5

Approved, Feb. 13, 1835.

1John S. Hacker introduced SB 11, originally titled “A Bill Compensating Jurors,” in the Senate on December 11, 1834. On December 12, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee of the Whole. On December 19, the Senate resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole to consider the bill. The Committee of the Whole reported back the bill with an amendment, and the Senate referred the bill and proposed amendments to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on December 22 without amendment. The Senate concurred in the Committee of the Whole’s first amendment to the bill, but deferred on the second. The Senate referred the bill and second amendment to the Committee of the Whole. On December 24 and January 6, 1835, the Senate resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole to consider the bill. The Committee of the Whole reported back the bill on January 6 without amendment. On January 7, the Senate referred the bill and the Committee of the Whole’s original amendments to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 9 with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. On February 10, the Senate amended the bill by inserting after the word “seventy-five” in the first section, the word “cents.” The Senate passed the bill as amended 18 to 7, amending the title so as to read “A Bill to Amend ‘An Act Prescribing the Mode of Summoning Grand and Petit Jurors, and Defining their Qualifications.’” On February 11, the House of Representatives tabled the bill. The House later rescinded this action, amending the bill by adding provisos to the second and third sections and striking out the fourth section. The House passed the bill as amended. The Senate concurred in the House amendments on February 12. On February 13, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law. Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 527, 535-37, 558, 560, 564; Journal of the Senate, of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. W. Sawyer, 1835), 84, 87, 117, 122-23, 132, 194, 202, 415, 466, 477-478, 500, 516, 522, 528.

2On February 10, 1835, the Senate amended the bill by adding the word “cents.” Journal of the Senate, of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. W. Sawyer, 1835), 477.

3Prior to the passage of this act, courts had paid jurors twenty-five cents per day.
“An Act Prescribing the Mode of Summoning Grand and Petit Jurors, and Defining Their Qualifications and Duties,” 7 February 1827, The Public and General Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), 398.

4On February 11, 1835, the House of Representatives amended the bill by adding the proviso to the second section.Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 537.
Previously, there was no provision for the presentation of a certificate of juror service.
“An Act Prescribing the Mode of Summoning Grand and Petit Jurors, and Defining Their Qualifications and Duties,” 7 February 1827, The Public and General Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), 395-98.

5On February 11, 1835, the House of Representatives amended the bill by adding the proviso to the third section. The House also struck out a fourth section. Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 1, 1834 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 537.
Depending on the action, docket fees ranged from $2.5o to $5.
“An Act regulating the Salaries, Fees, and Compensation of the Several Officers and Persons Therein Mentioned,” 19 February 1827, The Public and General Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), 294.