Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan.[January] 7, 1841.

An ACT to change the time of holding Courts in the second Judicial Circuit.
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Times of holding courts in the several counties in the 2d judicial district

Sec. [Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That hereafter the terms of the circuit courts in the second judicial circuit, shall commence at the times hereinafter specified, and continue from day to day, (Sundays excepted,) until all the business be disposed of, unless it shall be necessary to close the term to enable the judge to attend in the next county to hold court. In the county of Clinton, on the first Mondays of February and August; in the county of Bond, on the second Mondays of February and August; in the county of Montgomery, on the third Mondays of February and August; in the county of Shelby, on the fourth Mondays of February and August; in the county of Effingham on the first Mondays of March and September; in the county of Fayette, on the Thursdays thereafter; in the county of Washington, on the third Mondays of March and September; in the county of Randolph, on the fourth Mondays of March and September; in the county of Monroe, on the fifth Monday of March, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and forever after on the first Mondays of April and October; in the county of St. Clair on the first Monday of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and forever thereafter on

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the second Mondays of April and October; in the county of Madison, on the fourth Mondays of April and October.2

All process made returnable to courts as now established

Sec. 2. All writs, recognizances, and other process which have been, or may be issued, or entered into, and made returnable to the courts as at present arranged, shall be taken and considered to be returnable to the terms fixed by this act; and all proceedings pending in any of said courts shall be taken up and disposed of according to law, as if no alteration had been made in the time of holding said courts.

48 jurors to be selected

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners’ courts of each of the counties of Madison and St. Clair, to select forty-eight petit jurors for each term of the circuit courts in said counties, twenty-four to be summoned to serve the first week of each term of said courts, and twenty-four for the remainder of each of said terms.3

Laws repealed

Sec. 4. All laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.4 This act to be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, January 7, 1841.

1Joseph Gillespie introduced HB 47 to the House of Representatives on December 21, 1840, and the House referred it to the Committee on the Judiciary. The committee reported back on December 31 and recommended a substitute for the entire bill, to which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as substituted on January 2, 1841. The Senate passed the bill the same day. The Council of Revision approved the bill on January 7 and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 142, 169-70, 173, 180, 200; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 130, 131.

2In February 1841, the General Assembly superseded this section with section fourteen as an act establishing circuit court.

3In February 1841, the General Assembly incorporated this section as section fifteen of an act establishing circuit courts.

4In 1839, the General Assembly adopted an act regulating the time for holding courts in the Second Judicial Circuit. In 1840, the General Assembly amended this act with an act changing the times for holding court in Bond and Clinton counties.