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Sec[Section] 1st. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly:
That an Election shall be held on the first Monday in August 1839, and every succeeding
2 years thereafter in each County in this State for the purpose of electing a School Commissioner; said Commissioner when elected
shall continue in office 2 years and until their Successors ^his sucesor^ shall be elected and qualified to office, and previous ^9^ to their ^his^ entering upon the duties of their ^his^ respective offices ^he^ shall enter into Bonds ^with sufficient securities^ as is now required by Law; Said securities to be approved of by the County Commissioners Court.
Sec 2nd. The elections provided for in this act shall be held in the same place and conducted
in all respects as is now provided for by ^an act^ a law regulating Elections in the electingof County Commissioners and in cases of vacancies occurring ^in the office of School Commissioner,^ such vacancies shall be filled by an appointment made by the County Commissioners Court, which appointment shall expire at the regular Election of School Commissioner
Sec 3rd. In all contested elections of the afore mentioned officers it ^they^ shall be settled as provided in the act in relation to contested Elections of Sheriffs
and Coroners.
Sec 4th. Every School Commissioner who shall neglect or refuse to deliver over to their ^his^ successors in office all papers, books ^&^ monies, in his possession, as well as all and every thing appertaining to his respective
office, he shall forfeit and pay any sum of money not exceeding one
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thousand dollars, said sum to be added to the School fund of said County and be imprisoned
for any term not exceeding six months ^&^ moreover be liable for any defalcation on his Bonds.
Provided also that ^if^ the county Commissioners Court on settlement with said School Commissioner shall find him in default, that they may remove said Commissioner from said office and proceed to supply such vacancy
in manner provided for in the second Section of this act.
Sec 5th. All laws and parts of laws Authorizing the County Commissioners Court to appoint such school Commissioners shall be and the same are2 hereby repealed.
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Engrossed
1On December 13, 1838, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution instructing the Committee on Education to investigate the wisdom
of having school commissioners elected by the people. In response to this resolution,
William Edmonston of the Committee on Education introduced HB 59 in the House on December 20. On January
18, 1839, the House passed the bill by a vote of 54 yeas to 17 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting nay. On January 22, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on School
Lands and Education. The Committee on School Lands and Education reported back the
bill on February 18 with an amendment. The Senate amended the amendment by adopting
a substitute, but the Senate rejected the Committee’s amendment as substituted by
a vote of 18 yeas to 22 nays. The Senate referred the bill to a select committee.
The select committee reported back the bill on February 19 with amendments, in which
the Senate concurred. On February 23, the Senate passed the bill as amended by a
vote of 22 yeas to 17 nays. On February 28, the House refused to table the Senate
amendments by a vote of 23 yeas to 49 nays, with Lincoln not voting. The House concurred
with the Senate amendments. The Council of Revision vetoed the bill on March 2, and returned it to the House with its objections. The
House referred the bill and the Council’s objections to a select committee, which
did not report back the bill.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 82, 118, 126, 178, 220, 235, 494, 565-66, 577, 603,
605; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 190-91, 208, 343, 344, 350, 394, 466.
Handwritten Document, 4 page(s), Folder 49, HB 59, GA Session 11-1, Illinois State Archives [Springfield, IL] ,