Clark County Circuit Court

City: Marshall

County: Clark

State: Illinois

When the Illinois General Assembly changed the terms of the circuit courts and altered the composition of the circuits in February 1821, it placed Clark County in the Second Judicial Circuit. It remained in the Second Judicial Circuit until December 1824, when the General Assembly moved it to the Fifth Judicial Circuit. In January 1827, the General Assembly moved Clark County to the Fourth Judicial Circuit, where it remained until after the Civil War. In this court, Abraham Lincoln handled just one case, a murder trial in which he represented the defendant.

"An Act Changing the Terms of the Circuit Courts and Altering the Circuits," 14 February 1821, Laws of Illinois (1821), 158; "An Act Constituting and Regulating the Supreme and Circuit Courts of this State," 29 December 1824, Laws of Illinois (1825), 42; "An Act to Amend 'An Act Constituting and Regulating the Supreme and Circuit Courts of this State,' Approved December 29, 1824," 12 January 1827, Revised Laws of Illinois (1827), 119; People v. Davis, Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds. The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d ed. (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=135871.