In force, Feb.[February] 26, 1841.
An ACT to amend the several acts in relation to Constables.
1Penalty.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That hereafter the amount of the penalty of the bond of constables shall be one thousand
dollars.
Constable may collect execution.
Sec. 2. Any constable to whom an execution shall have been delivered, and whose term of
office shall expire before the expiration of the time within which the return of such
execution is required by law, shall be authorized to proceed in all matters relating to said execution, and in
the same manner to collect the same, that he might have done, had the term of office
of such constable not have expired, and the constable and sureties, shall be liable
for any neglect of duty, and for all monies collected upon such executions in the
same manner, and to the same extent they would have been if the term of office of
such constable had not have expired.
<Page 2>
Fees paid to justice.
Sec. 3. On the return of all executions, the constable shall pay over to the justice of the peace who issued the same, all
money not previously paid over to the plaintiff; and also, all witness’ fees, which
remain unpaid to any witness; and it shall be the duty of the justice of the peace
to post up in his office, at least once in three months, a list of all witness’ fees
in his hands, and the name of the person to whom they belong; and for a failure to
comply with this provision, a justice of the peace shall be liable to a fine of fifty
dollars, to be recovered by action of debt in the name and behalf of the county commissioners’ court.
Action against constable.
Sec. 4. If any constable shall fail or neglect to return any execution within ten days
after the return day thereof, the party, in whose favor the same was issued, may maintain an action against the constable and his sureties before a justice of
the peace, and recover the amount thereof with interest from the date of the judgment
upon which said execution issued.
Suits on constable’s bonds
Sec. 5. Suits may be maintained and instituted upon constable’s bonds against the constable
and his sureties, or against the sureties alone, without first establishing the liability of the constable
by obtaining judgment against him alone.
Approved, February 26, 1841.
1John J. Hardin introduced HB 129 in the House of Representatives on January 23, 1841. The House passed the bill on February 10. On February 13, the
Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary
reported back the bill on February 22, recommending its passage, and the Senate concurred.
On February 26, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State
of Illinois, At Their Second Session, Begun and Held in the City of Springfield, December
7, 1840 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 267, 280, 362, 473, 507, 514, 531; Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At
Their Second Session, Begun and Held in the City of the Springfield, December 7, 1840 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 291, 342, 367.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841), 176-77, GA Session 12-2,