In force, Feb.[February] 15, 1839.
AN ACT to authorize the county commissioners’ courts to recover certain moneys by them heretofore loaned.
1Com’rs[Commissioners] may sue for money.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the county commissioners of the several counties in this State, who have received appropriations under the act, entitled “An act to establish and maintain a system of internal improvements,” approved the 27th of February, 1837,2 shall have power, in their corporate capacity, to sue for and collect the moneys so received, in cases
where such money has been loaned.3
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Proviso.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners to appropriate all moneys, which they have or may receive under the provisions of
the before recited act, to the purposes required by law, at as early a period as practicable; and for any
unreasonable delay in making said appropriations, or for applying the money to any
other purpose than that provided by law as aforesaid, each of the county commissioners shall be liable to be indicted for negligence in discharging their duties, and, upon
conviction, shall be severally fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars, nor exceeding
one thousand dollars, and shall moreover be subject to removal from office, upon the
recommendation of the jury rendering the verdict: Provided, That where the moneys herein alluded to have been loaned, the county commissioners shall not be compelled to collect the same, only as it may be usefully disbursed
by them.4
Approved, February 15, 1839.
1Richard B. Servant introduced SB 18, originally titled “A Bill to Authorize the County Commissioners' Courts to Loan
Out Certain Funds," in the Senate on December 15, 1838. On December 17, the Senate struck out everything after the
enacting clause and referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee
on the Judiciary reported back the bill on December 19 with an amendment. The Senate
amended the amendment by striking out the first section and inserting a new first
section. The Senate adopted the amendment as amended. On December 22, the Senate
passed the bill as amended, amending the title by striking out the words “to loan
out certain funds,” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “to recover certain moneys
by them heretofore loaned.” The House of Representatives referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary on December 26. The Committee
on the Judiciary reported back the bill on January 17, 1839 with an amendment, in
which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended on January 18. The
Senate concurred with the House amendment on February 11. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 15 and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess.,
137, 143, 222, 236, 382, 395, 402; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 71, 75, 91-92, 105, 191, 311, 332, 341.
2Section eighteen, sub-section fifteen, of the act appropriated $200,000 to counties through which no railroad or canal was provided
at the expense of the State. This money was to be distributed proportionally based on the most recent census.
The money was to be used to improve roads, build bridges, and construct other necessary
public works. By December 1838, the fund commissioners had distributed $145,510 of
the appropriated $200,000 to sixteen counties. The counties receiving money were Calhoun, Greene, Monroe, Randolph, Johnson, Pope, Hamilton, White, Lawrence, Crawford, Clark, Jasper, Effingham, Knox, Warren, and Bond. There appears to be some discrepancy on the amount distributed. Krenkel and the
Sangamo Journal cite the total as $144,700, but a tabulation of the figures printed in the Sangamo
Journal results in $145,510.
John H. Krenkel, Illinois Internal Improvements 1818-1848 (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1958), 83-84; Sangamo Journal 12 January 1839, 2:1.
3On December 19, 1838, the Senate passed an amendment adding the first section.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 91.
4On January 17, 1839, the House of Representatives passed an amendment adding the second section.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 222.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1839), 119-20, GA Session: 11-1,