Madison County Circuit Court

City: Alton

County: Madison

State: IL

When the Illinois General Assembly divided the state into judicial circuits in March 1819, it placed Madison County in the First Judicial Circuit. It remained in the First Judicial Circuit until 1824, when the General Assembly moved it to the Second Judicial Circuit. It remained in the Second Judicial Circuit through the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln participated in nineteen cases originating in the Madison County Circuit Court.

"An Act Regulating and Defining the Duties of the Justices of the Supreme Court," 31 March 1819, Laws of Illinois (1819), 378; "An Act Constituting and Regulating the Supreme and Circuit Courts of this State," 29 December 1824, Laws of Illinois (1825), 41-42; For Abraham Lincoln's cases in the Madison County Circuit Court, search "Madison County Circuit Court" under "Court Type," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org.