District Attorneys. 1. Compensation for collections under the revenue laws. 3 March 1863 211. 12 Stat. 741. Compensation for collections under the revenue laws. Ibid. 12. For defending lectors, &c. damages recovered. 3. To defend suits against officers. To make annual reports. 1. There shall be taxed and paid to district attorneys two per centum upon all moneys collected or realized in any suit or proceeding arising under the revenue laws conducted by them in which the United States is a party. The act in relation to costs, approved February 26th 1853, shall not apply to such allowances, and the same shall be in lieu of all costs and fees in such suit or proceedings. 2. In all suits or proceedings against collectors or other officers of the revenue for any act done by them, or for the recovery of any money exacted by or paid to such officer suits against col- and by him paid into the treasury of the United States, in the performance of his official duty, in which any district or other attorney shall be directed to appear on behalf of such officer, by the secretary or solicitor of the treasury, or by any other proper officer of the government, such attorney shall be allowed such compensation for his services therein as shall be certified by the court in which such suit or proceedings shall be had, to be reasonable and proper, and approved by the secretary of the Payment of dam- treasury. And where a recovery shall be had in any such suit or proceedings, and the court shall certify that there was probable cause for the act done by the collector or other officer, or that he acted under the directions of the secretary of the treasury or other proper officer of the government, no execution shall issue against such collector or other officer, but the amount so recovered shall, upon final judgment, be provided for and paid out of the proper appropriation from the treasury. ages recovered. Ibid. 13. 3. In all suits or proceedings against collectors or other officers of the revenue for any act done by them, or for the recovery of any money exacted by or paid to such officers, against officers. which shall have been paid into the treasury of the United States, it shall be the duty To defend suits reports. of the respective district attorneys within the district where such suit or proceedings shall be had, unless otherwise instructed by the secretary of the treasury, to appear on To make annual behalf of such officers. And it shall be the duty of the several district attorneys, on the first of October of each year, to make returns to the solicitor of the treasury of the number of proceedings and suits commenced, pending and determined within his district, during the fiscal year next preceding the date of such returns; which returns shall show the date when such proceedings or suits in each case commenced; and if for any reason the determination of such proceedings or suits shall have been delayed or continued beyond the usual or reasonable period, such reasons shall be set forth, together with a statement of the measures taken by the district attorneys to press such proceedings or suits to a close. And the returns hereby directed shall be embraced in a report by the solicitor to the secretary of the treasury, to be by him annually transmitted to congress, with a statement of all moneys received by the solicitor, and by each district attorney under the provisions of this act. 6 August 1861 21 12 Stat. 318. District Courts. 1. Holding of courts, in case of vacancy in the office of district judge. 1. In case of a vacancy in the office of district judge of any judicial district of the United States in any state in which there are two judicial districts, it shall be lawful Holding of courts for the district judge of the other district in said state to hold the district court or in case of vacan cy in the office circuit court, in case of sickness or the absence of the circuit judge, and discharge all of district judge. the judicial duties of the district judge of such vacant district so long as such vacancy shall continue; and all the acts and proceedings in said courts, or by or before the said district judge of the adjoining district, shall have the same force, effect and validity as if done and transacted by and before a judge appointed for such district. 12 Stat. 762. 1. There shall be established in the District of Columbia a court to be called the 3 March 1863 31. Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, which shall have general jurisdiction in law and equity. It shall consist of four justices, one of whom shall be denominated as Supreme court. chief justice. These justices shall be appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and shall hold their offices during good behavior. Each justice, before he enters upon the duties of his office, shall take the oath prescribed to be taken by judges of the courts of the United States. Any three of said justices General and spemay hold a general term, and any one of them may hold a special term or circuit court, as hereinafter provided. A special term may be held at the same time with a circuit court and by the same justice. 2. The said court shall have power to appoint a clerk, who shall take the oath and give a bond, with sureties, in the manner prescribed by law for clerks of district courts of the United States. cial terms. Ibid. 22. Clerk. Ibid. 2 3. 3. The supreme court organized by this act shall possess the same powers and exercise the same jurisdiction as is now possessed and exercised by the circuit court of the Jurisdiction. District of Columbia, and the justices of the court so to be organized shall severally possess the powers and exercise the jurisdiction now possessed and exercised by the judges of said circuit court. Any one of said justices may hold a district court of the District court. United States for the District of Columbia, in the same manner and with the same powers and jurisdiction possessed and exercised by other district courts of the United States. Any one of said justices may also hold a criminal court for the trial of all Criminal court. crimes and offences arising within said district, which court shall possess the same powers and exercise the same jurisdiction now possessed and exercised by the criminal court of the District of Columbia. Ibid. 4. 4. General terms of the said supreme court shall be held at the same times at which terms of the circuit court of the District of Columbia are now required to be held, and Terms of the at the same place. District courts and criminal courts shall also be held by one of said courts. 3 March 1963. Ibid. 5. Business at spocial terms. justices at the several times when such courts are now required by law to be held, and at the same place. 5. Special terms of said supreme court shall be held by one of said justices, at such time or times as the said court, in general term, shall appoint. Non-enumerated motions, in all suits and proceedings at law and in equity, shall first be heard and determined at such special terms. Suits in equity, not triable by jury, shall also be heard and determined at such special terms. But the justice holding such special term may, in his discretion, order any such motion or suit to be heard, in the first instance, at a Appeals to gene general term. Any party aggrieved by any order, judgment or decree, made or pronounced at any such special term, may, if the same involve the merits of the action or proceeding, appeal therefrom to the general term of said supreme court, and upon such appeal the general term shall review such order, judgment or decree, and affirm, reverse or modify the same, as shall be just. ral term. Ibid. 26. 6. The said court, in general term, shall adopt such rules as it may think proper, to Rules of practice. regulate the time and manner of making appeals from the special term to the general term, and may prescribe the terms and conditions upon which such appeals may be made. Such court may also establish such other rules as it may deem necessary, for regulation of the practice of the several courts organized by this act, and from time to time, revise and alter such rules. It may also determine by rule, what motions shall be heard at a special term, as non-enumerated motions, and what motions shall be heard at a general term in the first instance. Ibid. 27. Trial of issues. Ibid. 28. Bills of exception New trials. 7. All issues of fact triable by a jury, or by the court, shall be tried before a single justice; when the trial is by jury, at a circuit court; and when the trial is without a jury, at a circuit court or special term. Issues of law may be tried at a circuit court or special term. At any time after issue, and at least ten days before the sitting of the court, either party may give notice of trial. The party giving the notice shall furnish the clerk, at least four days before the sitting of the court, with a note of the issue, containing the title of the action, the names of the attorneys, and the time when the last pleading was served; and the clerk shall thereupon enter the cause upon a calendar, according to the date of the issue. 8. If, upon the trial of a cause, an exception be taken, it may be reduced to writing at the time, or it may be entered on the minutes of the justice, and afterwards settled in such manner as may be provided by the rules of the court, and then stated in writing in a case or bill of exceptions, with so much of the evidence as may be material to the questions to be raised, but such case or bill of exceptions need not be sealed or signed. The justice who tries the cause may, in his discretion, entertain a motion, to be made on his minutes, to set aside a verdict and grant a new trial upon exceptions, or for insufficient evidence, or for excessive damages: Provided, That such motion be made at the same term or circuit at which the trial was had. When such motion is made and heard upon the minutes, an appeal to the general term may be taken from the decision, in which case a bill of exceptions or case shall be settled in the usual manner. 9. A motion for a new trial on a case, or bill of exceptions, and an application for Hearing of rules judgment on a special verdict, or a verdict taken subject to the opinion of the court, for new trial, &c. shall be heard in the first instance at a general term. Appeals. Ibid. 29. Ibid. 10. Teste of process. Ibid. 11. Jurisdiction of 10. Writs and process issued out of the court hereby organized may be tested in the name of any justice of said court. 11. Any final judgment, order or decree of said court may be re-examined and reversed, or affirmed in the supreme court of the United States, upon writ of error or supreme court of appeal, in the same cases and in like manner as is now provided by law in reference to the final judgments, orders and decrees of the circuit court of the United States for the District of Columbia. United States. Ibid. 12. Appeals from justices of the lace. Ibid. 2 13. Prosecution of 12. Appeals may be made from the judgments of justices of the peace to the court hereby organized, in like manner, and in the same cases in which such appeals are now allowed to the circuit court of the United States for the District of Columbia. Such appeals shall be heard and decided at a special term. 13. All suits and proceedings which, at the time this act takes effect, shall be pending in any of the courts hereby abolished shall be transferred to the courts to be estapending causes.; blished under the provisions of this act, and may be prosecuted therein with the same effect as they might have been in the court in which the same were commenced. Process issued out of any of said courts shall also be returned to the court hereby established. Ibid. 14. 14. Justices of the peace may be removed by the court to be organized under the Removal of jus- provisions of this act at a general term, after due notice, and an opportunity to be heard in their defence, and for causes to be assigned in the order of removal. tices. 15. The justices to be appointed by virtue of this act shall receive an annual salary 3 Mar. 1863 ₫ 15. of three thousand dollars, to be paid quarterly at the treasury of the United States. Salaries of judges Ibid. 16. Former courts 16. The circuit court, district court and criminal court of the District of Columbia are hereby abolished. All laws and parts of laws relating to said courts, so far as the same are applicable to the courts created by this act, are hereby continued in force in abolished. respect to such courts, and all other laws and parts of laws relating to said circuit, district and criminal courts are repealed. II. PENAL CODE. 12 Stat. 635. 17. All persons who shall hereafter be convicted by the criminal court of the District 16 Jan. 1863 § 1. of Columbia of any offence, the punishment of which by law shall be confinement in the penitentiary, shall be confined during the term for which they shall be sentenced by Imprisonment of said court in some suitable prison in a convenient state, where they can be employed at suitable labor, to be designated by the secretary of the interior. convicts. Ibid. 2. 18. It shall be the duty of the secretary of the interior to contract with the managers or superintendent of a suitable prison, in some convenient state, for the imprisonment Duty of secretary and subsistence and proper employment of all prisoners who shall be convicted in said court of such offences, on the best terms that he can; and he shall, on or before the first day of each term of the criminal court of the District of Columbia, inform said court in writing of the designation and location of the prison in which he shall have made provision for the confinement and support of prisoners; and said court shall sentence all persons who shall, during said term, be convicted of such offences, to confinement at hard labor in the prison so designated. Ibid. 23. 19. It shall be the duty of the secretary of the interior, to make suitable provision for the safe transportation of all prisoners to the prison to which they shall be sentenced Transportation by the court, and until they shall be so transported they shall be confined in the jail of of convicts. Washington city. Ibid. 5. 20. The secretary of the interior shall also cause to be paid from such appropriations the sum of ten dollars to each prisoner, when he or she shall be legally discharged, to Payment to disenable such prisoner to reach the point he or she may wish to go to. charged convicts. Ibid. 6. 21. Whenever a suitable penitentiary shall be erected in the District of Columbia, and completed for the reception of prisoners, it shall be the duty of the secretary of the Transfer to peniinterior, to cause to be transferred to such penitentiary all persons who shall then be tentiary. imprisoned outside of the District of Columbia, under sentence of the criminal court of said district. 12 Stat. $23. persons convict 22. That the provisions of the act entitled "An act to provide for the imprisonment 28 Jan. 1863 1. of persons convicted of crime by the criminal court of the District of Columbia," approved the 16th day of January 1863, be and are hereby made applicable to all persons who Extended to all had been convicted of crime by the criminal court of the District of Columbia and ed of crime. sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary prior to the date of the act herein named, and subsequent to the transfer legalized by the fourth section thereof, and their transfer to the penitentiary at Albany, in the state of New York, in the present month, by order of the president of the United States, is likewise hereby legalized and declared valid ; and the said persons so transferred shall continue in confinement in said prison until the expiration of their several terms of imprisonment, or until they shall be legally discharged or removed. III. MECHANICS' LIENS. 11 Stat. 370. Debts contracted 23. Any person who shall hereafter, by virtue of any contract with the owner of any 2 Feb. 1859 ? 1. building, or with the agent of such owner, perform any labor upon, or furnish any materials, engine or machinery, for the construction or repairing of such building, for erecting or shall, upon filing the notice prescribed in section second of this act, have a lien upon repairing a buildsuch building and the lot of ground upon which the same is situated, for such labor ing to be a lien. done, or materials, engine or machinery furnished, when the amount shall exceed twenty dollars. Ibid. 2. Notice to be filed in the circuit court within 24. Any person wishing to avail himself of this act, whether his claim be due or not, shall file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court for the District of Columbia, at any time after the commencement of the said building and within three months after the completion of such building or repairs, a notice of his intention to hold a lien upon three months. the property declared by this act liable to such lien, for the amount due or to become Such notices to due to him, specifically setting forth the amount claimed. Upon his failure to do so, the lien shall be lost. The clerk aforesaid shall file and record such notice in a book provided for that purpose. be recorded. Ibid. 3. 25. Such lien shall cease to exist at the expiration of one year after the completion of the building or repairs, unless, before that time, an action to enforce the same shall Within what have been commenced in the said circuit court by the person having such lien against period suit to be the owner with whom or with whose agent the contract was made; unless such claim commenced. 2 Feb. 1859 Ibid. 4. Form of complaint. Ibid. 5. Service of pro cess. Ibid. 26. be not due at the expiration of one year after such completion, in which case the action shall be commenced within three months after the same shall have become due. 26. The complaint of the plaintiff shall contain a brief statement of the contract on which the claim is founded, the amount due thereon, the time when the notice was filed with the clerk, the time when the building was completed, if it be completed, with a description of the premises, and any other material facts, and shall pray that the premises may be sold and the proceeds of the sale applied to the discharge of the lien. 27. The summons shall be served as in other cases, or, instead of service by publication, it may be made by delivering a copy thereof to the person in possession of the premises. If the defendant shall have sold or disposed of the premises before the service of the summons, the court shall direct notice of the proceedings to be served on the purchaser, or his agent for the premises, who may thereupon, if he desire it, be made a party defendant in the action. 28. The proceedings in an action to enforce such lien shall be the same as in other Proceedings and actions, except as otherwise provided in this act; and if judgment be rendered for the plaintiff, he may have execution issued against the premises, and thereupon the marshal shall proceed as upon other executions upon real property. execution. Ibid. 27. Precedence. 29. The liens created in pursuance of the provisions of this act shall have precedence over all other liens or incumbrances, which attached upon the premises subsequent to the time at which said notice was given. If, upon a sale of the premises on execution, Apportionment. the proceeds be insufficient to pay all such liens, the court shall order them to be paid in proportion to the amount, respectively, due to each. And any other property of the defendant, not exempt from execution, may be sold to satisfy such execution. Other property to be liable. Ibid. 28. What curtilage to be embraced in the lien. Ibid. 29. Several lien-cre ditors may join in one action. Actions may be consolidated. Ibid. 10. entered in case of payment, &c. 30. If the building be on any land lying outside the corporate limits of Washington City and Georgetown, the land upon which the same is erected, together with the space around the same, not exceeding five hundred square feet clear of the building, shall also be subject to the said lien, if the said land, at the time of the erection or repair of such building, shall have been the property of the person contracting for the erection or repair of the same. If the building be in Washington City or Georgetown, the ground on which the same is erected, and a space of ground equal to the front of the building, and extending to the depth of the lot or lots on which it is erected, shall also be bound by the said lien, subject to the foregoing proviso. 31. All or any number of persons, having liens on the same building, pursuant to the provisions of this act, may join in one action, but their claims shall be stated distinctly as in a separate action, and the judgment shall show the amounts to which they are respectively entitled. If several such actions be brought by different claimants, and be pending at the same time, the court may order them to be consolidated. upon 32. Whenever any person having a lien, by virtue of the provisions of this act, shall Satisfaction to be have received satisfaction for his claim, and the cost of his proceedings thereon, he shall, the request of any person interested, and upon the payment or tender of the costs of entering satisfaction, within six days after such payment or tender, enter satisfaction of his demand in the office of the clerk aforesaid; and upon failure to do so, he shall forfeit and pay fifty dollars to the party aggrieved, and all damages which he may have sustained in consequence of such failure or neglect. Penalty for neglect. Ibid. 11. Lien may be dis 33. In all proceedings, commenced under this act, the defendant may file a written undertaking, with surety to be approved by the court, to the effect that he will pay the charged on giv judgment that may be recovered, and costs, and thereby release his property from the lien hereby created. ing security. Ibid. 12. Liens on personal property. Ibid 13. Special agree ments. Ibid. 14. Act of 1833 repealed. 23 June 1860 21. 12 Stat. 91. 34. Any person, having possession of the same, who shall make, alter, repair or bestow any labor on any article of personal property, at the request of the owner or lawful possessor thereof, shall have a lien on such property so made, altered or repaired, or upon which labor has been bestowed, for his just and reasonable charges for the labor he has performed and the materials he has furnished; and such person may hold and retain possession of the same until such just and reasonable charges shall be paid; but if possession pass from such person, by his consent, the lien shall cease. 35. The provisions of section twelve of this act shall not interfere with any special agreement of the parties. 36. That the act entitled "An act to secure to mechanics and others," &c., approved March 2d 1833, (a) and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be and the same are hereby repealed; and this act shall take effect from the date of its passage. IV. DEEDS AND MORTGAGES. 37. All the powers conferred upon a justice or justices of the peace in the District of (a) Ante 247, pl. 103. |