Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 27, 1839.

AN ACT to define the manner of proceeding in petitioning the General Assembly for locating and altering State roads.
1

Public notice of petition.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That from and after the passage of this act, when any of the citizens of this State shall deem the establishment or relocation of any State road to be of public utility, they, or some two of them, shall give four weeks’ public notice, by at least four written notices posted up in the most public place in each county in which the proposed location, change, or alteration, is about to take place, that they will petition the next session of the Legislature to establish or relocate such road; in which notice a particular description of the road shall be set forth.

Number to sign petition

Sec. 2. That at least fifty householders and citizens of the county or counties through which said road shall pass are necessary to sign the petition; and before the petition shall be presented to the Legislature, the persons giving said notice, or other creditable persons, shall make affidavit of such advertisements having been made as required by this act, before the clerk of the court of any county through which the road may pass; a certificate of which shall be given by the clerk, and accompany the petition.

Sec. 3. That after the passage of this act no State road shall be established, or relocated, except upon the petition of a portion of the citizens of the county in which the same is to be established or relocated, according to the provisions of this act.

Duty of county clerk.

Sec. 4. That the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts shall, severally, issue the certificates aforesaid, upon oath being made by any credible persons that said notices were given according to the provisions of this act.

Approved, February 27, 1839.

1On January 31, 1839, Byrd Monroe introduced SB 161 in the Senate. On February 7, the Senate passed the bill. On February 14, the House of Representatives referred the bill to the committee on state roads. On February 19, the committee reported back the bill with amendments, and the House concurred. On February 23, the House passed the bill as amended. On February 25, the Senate concurred in the amendments and passed the bill. On February 27, 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), 367, 407, 440, 492, 509, 534; 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), 252, 278, 289, 293, 406, 409, 445, 452.