Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 28, 1839.

AN ACT to amend “An act regulating the mode of trying the right of property.”
1

Property claimed.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That in all cases where any personal property shall be taken by virtue of an execution or attachment issued by any justice of the peace, and shall be claimed by any person or persons other than the defendant in such execution or attachment, and shall give notice in writing of his or their claim and intention to prosecute the same, it shall be the duty of the constable to notify the plaintiff in execution or attachment of such claim, and the time and place of trial; and if the justice who issued such execution or attachment be absent from the county, or unable to attend to such trial, it shall be the duty of the constable serving such execution or attachment to notify the plaintiff in execution that he will attend before some other justice of the peace of the county, (naming him,) and shall also designate some day and hour for the trial of the right of said property.

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Trial of right of property.

Execution.

Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of any justice of the peace, when notified by any constable of any person or persons claiming property as aforesaid, to enter such cause on his docket, and to proceed in all cases to have the right of such property tried, in the same manner as if the execution or attachment had been issued by him: and in case the property shall appear to belong to the claimant, the justice shall enter judgment against the plaintiff in execution or attachment, for the costs that may have accrued on such suit; and on failure of the plaintiff to pay the same, the justice may issue execution therefor; but in all cases where it shall appear that the property claimed belongs to the defendant in execution, the justice shall enter judgment against the claimant of the property for the amount of costs that shall have accrued, and issue execution therefor as in other cases.

Officer may issue subpoenas.

Sec. 3. That in all cases of trial of the right of property before any justice of the peace, constable, or sheriff, the said justice, constable[,] or sheriff shall be authorized to issue subpoenas for witnesses, and compel their attendance, in the same manner as in the trial of causes before justices of the peace in the circuit courts of this State.

Approved, February 28, 1839.

1On January 24, 1839, John J. Hardin introduced HB 191 in the House of Representatives. The House read the bill twice and recommitted it to the committee on the Judiciary to amend. On February 4, the committee reported back the bill with an amendment. On February 13, the House passed the bill. On February 26, The Senate read the bill and referred it to the committee on the Judiciary. On February 27, the committee reported back the bill without an amendment and the Senate passed the bill. On February 28, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 273, 338, 351-52, 392-93, 539, 554, 566; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 3, 1838 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1838), 331, 423, 435, 449.