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Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly2 That the manner of collecting the State and county taxes in the several counties
in this state that may be levyed on any real or personal property from and after the Year one thousand eight hundred
and thirty seven, shall be by the Sheriff of the several counties advertising in each
of the districts as laid out in their respective counties for the election of Justices
of the Peace and constables, in three of the most public places, that he will on a
day therein named be at the place of holding election in the said districts there
and then to receive the tax due and owing by each and every individual residing within
the bounds of such district.3
Sec. 2. If any individual shall fail to meet the Sheriff or his Deputy, on the day appointed
by him for the purpose of receiving the tax in his district every such person so failing
shall within thirty days thereafter pay the amount of the tax which he or she may
stand charged with to the Sheriff at his office at the County Seat in their respective
counties and if they should fail to do so the Sheriff may proceed to collect the same
at any time thereafter in the same manner as he is now authorized by law after having
called on individuals for their tax.
Sec 3. In all cases when any person fails to pay his or her tax agreeable to the
provisions of this act, and it should become the duty of the Sheriff
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to call on him or her for the same, each and every such individual shall pay to the
Sheriff the sum of fifty cents as a distraining fee.Sec. 4. The time of collecting the tax as provided in the first section of this act.
shall be in the months of January and February in each and every year.
Sec. 5. All acts and parts of acts coming within the per view and meaning of this
act is hereby repealed.4
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Laid on the table until July 4
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com[committee] fin[finance]
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passd[passed]
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Engrossed
1John Allen introduced SB 181 in the Senate on February 11, 1837. On February 28, the Senate amended the bill by striking out
the third, fourth, and fifth sections. The Senate passed the bill as amended by a
vote of 24 ayes to 11 nays. On March 1, the House of Representatives referred the bill to the Committee on Finance, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. The Committee on Finance reported back the bill on March 2 with a
substitute, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as substituted, amending the title so as to read to “A Bill Specifying the Time when Certain Lands
Shall be Listed for Taxation.” On March 2, the Senate tabled the bill and the House’s
amendments until July 4.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 772, 785, 797; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 395, 529, 557-58, 587, 594.
2On March 2, 1837, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting a substitute.
The Illinois State Archives preserved this as the engrossed bill plus amendments.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 797.
3An 1827 law governed the power of sheriffs to collect taxes.
“An Act concerning Sheriffs and Coroners,” 12 February 1827, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1827), 371-75.
4On February 28, the Senate amended the bill by striking out the third, fourth, and fifth sections.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 557-58.
Handwritten Document, 4 page(s), Folder 435, SB 181, GA Session 10-1, Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) ,