In force Feb.[February] 10, 1835.
AN ACT to establish the Seat of Justice of Iroquois county.
1Commissioners appointed to locate seat of justice.
When and where to meet.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William Bowen and Joseph Davis of Vermilion county, and Philip Stanford of Champaign county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to locate and establish the Seat
of Justice of Iroquois county, and give it a name. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of Thomas Venum in said county, who, after being first duly sworn before some Justice of the Peace of said county, faithfully to locate the Seat of Justice thereof, without partiality, favor or affection,
taking into consideration the present, and prospect of future population, shall proceed
accordingly to fix upon a place for the permanent Seat of Justice of said county.
Shall report to county commissioners’ court.
Sec. 2. When said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall have agreed upon a place for
the Seat aforesaid, they shall make a report thereof in writing, under their hands
and seals, describing the quarter or fractional quarter section, township and range
upon which they have located the same, together with the name they may have given
it, to
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the county commissioners’ court of said county of Iroquois, who shall at the next term of said court thereafter, cause the said report to be entered on the record of said court, and the place so selected by the said commissioners or a majority of them, shall
remain the permanent Seat of Justice for Iroquois county, and shall be known and called by such name as may be given to it, by said commissioners.
Compensation.
Sec. 3. The county commissioners’ court of said county shall allow the said commissioners such reasonable compensation per
day for their services, as they may deem just, not exceeding two dollars per day,
out of the County Treasury of said county.
If located on private land.
To be laid off into town lots.
Sec. 4. Should said commissioners locate said Seat of Justice on lands belonging to an individual
or individuals, they shall ask and obtain a donation of any number of acres not less
than twenty-five, and also select and describe said donation in their report, with
reasonable certainty, by metes and bounds: Provided, That should the proprietor or proprietors neglect or refuse to make the donation
herein provided for, the said commissioners shall then be required to locate the said
Seat of Justice on the nearest eligible situation on public land, and it shall be
the duty of said commissioners, previous to locating said Seat of Justice on the land
belonging to any individual or individuals, to take a deed in fee simple to said
county of Iroquois for such land as may be donated as aforesaid: And provided further, That if the said commissioners shall locate said Seat of Justice on the public land,
the county commissioners’ court shall be, and they are hereby authorized and required to purchase any quantity of
land not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, including said town site, in the name
and for the use of said county of Iroquois, which land or such part thereof as the county commissioners’ court may order and direct, shall be laid off into town lots in such manner, and sold for the use and benefit
of said county, at such time and place, as the county commissioners’ court thereof may order and direct.2
Approved, Feb. 10, 1835.
1John W. Vance introduced SB 75 in the Senate on January 27, 1835. The Senate tabled the bill. On February 2, the Senate took
up the bill, and on February 3 passed it. The House of Representatives concurred on February 6. On February 10, 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), 512, 519; 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), 346, 399, 418, 452, 474, 483, 484;Journal of the House of Representatives of the Ninth General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, at their Second Session, Begun and Held in Pursuance of the Proclamation
of the Governor, in the Town of Vandalia, December 7, 1835 (Vandalia, Ill.: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 386, 394, 404.
2In June 1835, the county commissioners began meeting at the private home of Isaac Courtright in Montgomery, and they failed to perform their duties to locate a permanent seat of government
for Iroquois County. Two years later, the Illinois General Assembly had to enact
new legislation to establish an official county seat.
Hiram W. Beckwith, History of Iroquois County (Chicago: H. H. Hill & Co., 1880), 344-45; An Act to Establish the County Seat of Iroquois County.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at their First Session (Vandalia, IL:
J. Y. Sawyer, 1835), 46-47, GA Session: 9-1