An ACT to establish an uniform and more convenient System of Judicature.

WH

HEREAS a more easy, certain, and uniform system of judicature, by the establishment of courts, under proper regulations, in districts of convenient dimensions, in this state, will tend greatly to promote the interest and happiness, and preserve the just rights, liberties and properties of the good people thereof: To attain, therefore, the salutary ends aforesaid,

Be it enacted by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now net and sitting in general assembly, and by the authority of the same, This state That from and immediately after the passing of this divided in- act, this state shall be, and hereby is divided into

to dis

tricts.

the several districts hereinafter expressed and described, that is to say: One district, to be named Abbeville district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Edgefield district, to comprehend the county of that name according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Newberry district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Laurens district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits; one other district, to be named Pendleton district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Greenville district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Spartanburgh district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Union district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named York district, to comprehend the county of that pame, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Chester district, to

comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Lancaster district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Fairfield district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Kershaw district, to comprehend the counties of Kershaw and Richland, according to their present limits: one other district, to be named Chesterfield district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Marlborough district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Darlington district, to comprehend the county of that name, according to its present limits: the three counties of Claremont, Clarendon and Salem, shall form one district, to be called Sumter district; which said district shall comprehend the said three counties, as heretofore established by an actual survey: one other district, to be named Marion district, to comprehend the county now called Liberty county, according to its present limits: one other district, to be named Georgetown district, to comprehend the whole of the former district of Georgetown, except Marion district aforesaid: one other district, to be named Colleton district, to comprehend the parishes of Saint Paul, Saint Bartholomew and Saint George, Dorchester: one other district, to be named Charleston district, to comprchend the former district of Charleston, except Colleton district: one other district, to be named Beaufort district, and to comprehend the present district of that name: one other district, to benamed Barnwell district, to comprehend that part of the former district of Orangeburgh, which lies between South-Edisto and Savannah rivers: one other district, to be named Orangeburgh district, to comprehend the whole of the former district of Orangeburgh, except Barnwell district aforesaid.

holding

Courts.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforeTime of said, That in each of the said districts, by this act established, there shall be held, from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred, by one or more of the associate judges of this state for the time being, and at such places as shall be appointed by or under this act, a court of sessions and a court of common pleas, to possess and exercise respectively, each court in its respective district, the same powers and jurisdiction now held and exercised by the several circuit or district courts of this state, in their respective districts, and shall sit at the times following, that is to say: For Abbeville district, at Abbeville court-house; for Orangeburgh district, at Orangeburgh courthouse for Marion district, at Marion courthouse, on the first Mondays in March and October, in every year. For Pendleton district, at Pendleton court-house; for Barnwell district, at Barnwell court-house; for Darlington district, at Darlington court-house, on the second Mondays in March and October, in every year. For Greenville district, at Greenville court-house; for Edgefield district, at Edgefield court-house; for Marlborough district, at Marlborough court-house, on the third Mondays in March and October, in every year. For Spartanburgh district, at Spartanburgh court-house; for Laurens district, at Laurens court-house; and for Chesterfield district, at Chesterfield court-house, on the fourth Mondays in March and October, in every year. For Union district, at Union court-house; for Newberry district, at Newberry court-house; and for Lancaster district, at Lancaster court-house, on the Monday next after the fourth Monday of March and October, in every year. For York district, at York court-house; for Fairfield district, at Fairfield court-house; and for Kershaw district, at Kershaw court-house, on the second Monday after the

fourth Monday in March and October, in every year. For Chester district, at Chester courthouse; and for Sumter district, at Sumter courthouse, on the third Monday after the fourth Monday in March and October, in every year. For Charleston district, at Charleston, on the second Monday in January and May, in every year; and to continue to sit no more than five weeks. For Georgetown district, at Georgetown, the first days of April and November. For Colleton district, at Colleton court-house, when built, on the tenth days of April and November. For Beaufort district, at Coosawhatchie, on the seventeenth days of April and November. To sit no more than six days in each of the last mentioned districts.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That each of the said courts shall sit and ad- Time of sitting. journ, from day to day, not exceeding five days, till the business thereof be dispatched, if all the business can be determined in that time; but if not, then what shall remain unfinished, shall be continued or adjourned over till the next court, except only as to the courts of Charleston, Georgetown, Colleton and Beaufort districts, which shall sit the time by this act before prescribed.

circuits.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the several courts of Charleston district, DistribuGeorgetown district, Colleton district, and Beau- tion of fort district, shall form one circuit, to be named the courts into Eastern Circuit; and that the attorney-general shall attend each of the said courts, and prosecute all suits and prosecutions, on behalf of the state, in each of the aforesaid courts, respectively, according to the usage and custom of the existing circuit courts of this state. That the several courts of Abbeville district, Pendleton district, Greenville district, Spartanburgh district, Union district, York district, and Chester, shall form one other circuit, to be named the Western Circuit; and that the solicitor of the western circuit, as now by law

established, shall attend each of the courts of the said western circuit, and prosecute therein respectively, all suits and prosecutions on behalf of the state, according to the usage and custom of each of the existing circuit courts of this state. And that the several courts of Marion district, Darlington district, Marlborough district, Chesterfield district, Fairfield district, Kershaw district, and Sumter district, shall form one other circuit, to be named the Northern Circuit; and that the solicitor of the northern circuit shall attend each of the courts of the said northern circuit, and prosecute therein respectively, all suits and prosecutions, on behalf of the state, according to the usage and custom of the existing circuit courts of this state. And that the several courts of Orangeburgh, Barnwell, Edgefield, Laurens and Newberry districts, shall constitute one circuit, to be called the Southern Circuit; and the solicitor of the southern circuit shall attend and prosecute therein, all suits and prosecutions, on behalf of the state, according to the custom and usage of the existing circuits of this state.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforeCourts of said, That the several circuits, by this act estabRecord. lished, shall be courts of record; and all persons necessarily going to, and attending on, or returning from the same, shall be free from arrests in any civil action.

and jurors

drawn.

And be it further enacted by the authority aforeJury lists said, That the sheriffs who shall be elected for the to be made said districts respectively, shall be, and they are, to be and each of them are hereby severally and respectively authorized and required, immediately after they shall have been respectively elected and commissioned as hereinafter directed, to make jury lists from the tax returns of the preceding year, of the said districts respectively, agreeably to law: And that the said sheriffs and the clerks who shall be appointed and commissioned as hereinafter