Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force March 1st, 1837.

AN ACT to amend an act entitled an act establishing the courts of county commissioners, approved March 22, 1819.
1

Clerk to prepare tickets, to be drawn by co. com’is’ers.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That at the first term of the county commissioners courts in each and every county of this State, to be held after the first Monday in August 1838, it shall be the duty of each and every one of the clerks of said courts, to prepare three tickets upon one of which shall be written the words one year, upon another the words two years, and upon the other the words three years, which tickets so prepared shall be presented by said clerks to the county commissioners of their counties respectively, and each of said commissioners shall draw one of said tickets.2

Term of service of county commissioners.

Clerk to enter upon record.

Sec. 2. The term of service of the commissioners who draws the ticket upon which is written the words one year, shall expire on the first Monday in August in the year 1839; the term of service of the commissioner who draws the ticket upon which is written the words two years, shall expire on the first Monday in August in the year 1840; and the term of service of the commissioner who draws the ticket upon which is written the words three years, shall expire on the first Monday in August in the year 1841, and it shall be the duty of the clerks of the county commissioners courts respectively, to enter upon the records of said courts which of said commissioners is

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to continue in office for one year, which for two years, and which for three years.

Elections to be held.

Sec. 3. On the first Monday in August in the year 1839, and on the first Monday in August in each and every year thereafter, there shall be held an election, held in each and every county in this State, for the election of one county commissioner, whose term of service shall be three years from and after the day of his election, and the county commissioner who has been longest in office, shall always be the presiding officer of the court.

Commis’ers[Commissioners] to determine by lot.

Elections to be held.

Sec. 4. In each and every county which may hereafter be organized in this State, there shall be elected at the first regular election held in said county, three county commissioners who at the first term of their court held after their election, shall proceed to determine their terms of service in the same manner as is provided in the first section of this act, and on the first Monday in August in each and every year thereafter, there shall be elected in said counties, one county commissioner, who shall continue in office three years from after the time of his election.

Clerk to order an election to fill vacancies.

Proviso

Sec. 5. Whenever a vacancy shall happen in the office of county commissioner by death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the county commissioners court of the county in which the vacancy shall happen, to issue his order to the judges of election in the different districts in said county, requiring them on a certain day not less than twenty days from the date of such order, to hold an election to fill such vacancy, Provided, That if the term of service of the commissioner whose vacancy is to be filled, would have expired within six months of the happening of said vacancy, it shall not be necessary for the clerk to order an election to fill such vacancy.

Manner of conducting elections.

Sec. 6. All elections provided for in this act, shall be conducted and returns thereof made in the manner provided in an act entitled, “An act regulating elections,” approved January 10, 1829.3

Part of an act repealed.

Sec. 7. So much of the 25th section of an act entitled “an act regulating elections, approved January 10th 1829,” as relates to the election of county commissioners, is hereby repealed.4

This act to take effect from and after its passage.

Approved 1st March, 1837.

1Orville H. Browning introduced SB 41 in the Senate on January 3, 1837. On January 9, the Senate refused to engross the bill for a third reading by a vote of 17 yeas to 17 nays. Later that day it reconsidered that vote, and instead tabled the bill. On January 30, the Senate took up the bill and ordered it engrossed for a third reading by a vote of 20 yeas to 14 nays. On January 31, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 20 yeas to 15 nays. On February 18, the House of Representatives referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on February 24 without amendment, recommending its passage. The House then passed the bill by a vote of 42 yeas to 32 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. On March 1, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 441, 472, 553, 643, 692-93, 760; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 143, 154, 175-76, 179, 318-19, 326, 516, 555, 590.

2Section one of the act creating courts of county commissioners specified that the office of county commissioner would be elective, but provided no mechanism for conducting elections.
“An Act Establishing the Courts of County Commissioners,” 22 March 1819, Laws of the State of Illinois (1819), 175-77.

3
“An Act Regulating Elections,” 10 January 1829, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 54-68.

4Section twenty-five stipulated that on the first Monday in August 1830, and on the first Monday in August biennially thereafter, each county in the state was to hold an election for three county commissioners.
“An Act Regulating Elections,” 10 January 1829, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 67.