Acts relating to Courts.

A. D. 1813.

AN ACT FOR APPOINTING AN ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OR MASTER No 2029. IN EQUITY FOR THE COURT OF EQUITY IN CHARLESTON; AND FOR

OTHER PURPOSES THEREIN MENTIONED.

WHEREAS, much inconvenience has arisen to the suitors and others in the Court of Equity of Charleston district, by reason of the great increase of business in that court, and of there being but one master of the same; and whereas, the business of the said court is greatly impeded thereby :

I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, now met in General Assembly, That a commissioner in equity shall be appointed, who, as well as the present master, shall exercise all the powers and authorities of, and perform all the duties incident to, the office of the said master, and be entitled to receive for his services the same fees and compensation as are allowed by law to the master of the said court; and the said commissioner in equity shall give the same security for the faithful discharge of his duty as is now required to be given by the master in equity for Charleston.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the judge. presiding in the said court shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to apportion the business of the said court, now performed by the master, between the said master and commissioner, in such manner as shall appear to him most proper to expedite the same, and best promote the interest of the said suitors and others in the said court; provided always, that when the parties interested shall agree to refer their business either to the master or commissioner aforesaid, as they may choose, on application being made to the judge aforesaid, he shall be, and is hereby, required to permit them so to do, unless he should, for some substantial reason, think it expedient to refuse such permission.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case of any clashing or interference between the master and commissioner in equity in the exercise of the powers and in the performance of the duties of their respective offices, the judges of the said court shall be, and they are hereby, authorized to make such rules and regulations as shall prevent the same in future, and shall be necessary to carry into effect this Act, and the purposes intended thereby.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all registers and commissioners in equity who are or shall hereafter be appointed, shall respectively execute a bond, with good and sufficient securities, to the State of South Carolina, in the sum of twenty thousand dollars, for the faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices of regis ters and commissioners in equity, and that such bonds shall be taken in the several districts throughout this State, by the commissioners appointed to take bonds and securities from the sheriffs of the several districts of this State; which said bonds shall be transmitted and deposited as heretofore directed by law.

In the Senate House, the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, and in the thirty-eighth year of the Indepen dence of the United States of America.

SAVAGE SMITH, President of the Senate.

JOHN GEDDES, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

A. D. 1817.

Acts relating to Courts.

No. 2163. AN ACT BEQUIRING SEPARATE COUNTRY DOCKETS FOR CHARLESTON DISTRICT, AND FIXING A TIME FOR THE TRIAL OF COUNTRY CAUSES

IN SAID DISTRICT.

WHEREAS, great and peculiar inconveniences arise to the inhabitants of Charleston district, residing without the limits of St. Philip's and St. Michael's, who are required to attend the court of common pleas in the city of Charleston, either as parties or as witnesses, from the long terms allowed in said district, and the consequent uncertainty at what period of any term the causes in which they are concerned can be tried; by reason whereof the inhabitants of said district, residing in remote parts of the said district, are obliged to leave their homes, and await the trial of their causes, for many weeks together, to the great oppression of the said inhabi

tants:

I. Be it therefore enacted, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That the clerk of the court of common pleas for Charleston district shall be, and is hereby, required to make out and keep separate and distinct dockets, in which he shall register in proper form, all the causes hereafter occurring in the court of common pleas in said district, or which shall remain undecided on the dockets of said district court, at the conclusion of the term in February next, whereof either plaintiff or defendant may reside in any of the parishes composing the judicial district of Charleston, except the parishes of St. Philip's and St. Michael's; the said separate dockets to be called the country dockets of the court of common pleas for Charleston district.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in every term of the court of general sessions and common pleas, to be held in Charleston, for Charleston district, after the term which is required to commence on the third Monday in January next, it shall be the duty of the presiding associate judge to take up the aforesaid country dockets on the second Monday after the day which now is or hereafter may be appointed by the law for the commencement of the sessions of the said court of general sessions and common pleas, and to proceed regularly in calling the aforesaid country dockets, according to the order in which the said cases may be docketed, for the period of six successive days, unless all the cases on the said dockets shall be sooner disposed of, in which case any other business of the aforesaid district court shall be proceeded in as heretofore; provided, that if the business of the court of general sessions shall not have been finished before the time appointed by this Act for taking up the aforesaid country dockets, the presiding associate judge shall have power to proceed with the business of the court of sessions until all the causes depending therein shall be disposed of; and immediately thereafter, the said presiding judge shall take up the aforesaid country dockets, and proceed regularly in calling the same for six days successively, if so much time be necessary.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all writs of subpoena ad testificandum, which shall be issued in any cause required to be docketed upon the country dockets of the court of common pleas for Charleston district, shall have relation to the first day of the third week of the term, unless a later day of the term is expressed in the said writs; and that all summary processes and declarations relating to such causes, shall

Acts relating to Courts.

be endorsed by the attornies issuing or filing the same, for the country Jocket.

In the Senate House, the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thou. sand eight hundred and seventeen, and in the forty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America.

JAMES R. PRINGLE, President of the Senate.

THOMAS BENNETT, Speaker of the House of Representatives

A. D. 1817

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE JUDGES OF THE COURTS OF LAW OR No. 2165. EQUITY, TO ORDER AND APPOINT, FROM TIME TO TIME, A SPECIAL COURT IN THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS OF THIS STATE; AND FOR OTHER

the

PURPOSES THEREIN MENTIONED.

same,

I. Be it enacted, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of Special court That from and after the passing of this Act, it shall and may of law inay be ordered. be lawful for the associate judges of the court of sessions and common pleas, and they are hereby required, whenever they may deem it necessary, to order a special court of sessions and common pleas, to be holden in any district, for the purpose of hearing and determining all such causes, rules and motions, either civil or criminal, as may be ready for trial in the said court; and the clerk of the constitutional court shall forthwith send to the clerk of the court of common pleas and sessions of the said district, a certified copy of the said order, and shall cause the same to be published in such newspaper or newspapers of the State, as the said judges may direct. And it shall be the duty of one of the said judges to hold the said

court.

summoned.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That whenever any clerk of the court of common pleas and sessions shall receive Jury to be such notified order, it shall be his duty forthwith to issue and deliver to the sheriff of the same district, a writ of venire for the common plea and grand jurors, drawn at the next preceding court of the district, returnable to the said special court; and it shall be the duty of the sheriff of the said district to execute the said writ; and the jurors thereby summoned, shall be liable to the same penalties for non-attendance at the said special court, as for like default in the court of common pleas and sessions.

drawn.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the judge who shall or may hold a special court, shall cause a jury to be drawn And to be in the manner prescribed by law, for the next ensuing court of common pleas and sessions for the same district, and to award a writ of venire for the purpose of summoning the same.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the judges of the appeal court in equity, be authorized, and it is hereby declared to be their duty, whenever they may deem it necessary, to order a special court of equity to be holden in any equity district, for the purpose of hearing and determining all such causes, rules and motions, as may be ready for trial in said court; and the said judges shall cause due notice to be given of the times of the meeting of such extra courts, by having the

Special court of equity may be ordered..

A. D. 1817.

Causes to be

Acts relating to Courts.

same published in such newspaper or newspapers of the State as they may think proper.

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all causes which may be depending, continued, or have day, in any court of common continued and pleas and sessions or equity, of any district wherein a special court shall have day. or may be ordered, shall be continued to and have day in the said special court; and the parties thereto shall be required to attend and prosecute or defend the same, in the same manner as they would be required to attend and prosecute or defend the same, at the court to which the said causes were originally returnable; and all witnesses who may be duly summoned or bound in recognizance to attend at any of the above mentioned courts, shall be liable, on their failure so to do, to the same penalties as for nonattendance at any of the regular sessions of said courts.

mer Act re

pealed.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That so Part of a for- much of an Act entitled "An Act for the creation of an additional circuit, so as to prolong the terms in the districts of Charleston, Colleton and Beaufort; and for other purposes therein mentioned," passed on the 13th December, 1815, as provides for the holding of a court of sessions and common pleas at Charleston, on the second Monday after the fourth Monday in March and October, in each year, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.

Inferior city

court of Charleston, when to

sit.

Part of a former Act repealed.

VII. And be further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inferior city court established in the city of Charleston, shall be holden on the first Monday in every month, instead of the time now directed by law, and that all writs of venire, processes and recognizances, shall be returnable accordingly; and that all jurors and witnesses duly summoned to attend said court, shall be liable to attend at the time aforesaid, and on their failure so to do, they shall be subject to the same penalties as are now prescribed by law.

VIII. Whereas, it has been found inexpedient to elect another judge in the place of the honorable Elihu Hall Bay, who has been excused from riding the circuit and attending the constitutional court at Charleston and Columbia: Be it therefore enacted, by the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That the first clause of an Act entitled "An Act for the prevention of frivolous appeals," be, and the same is hereby, repealed; and in all cases of appeal from the decisions of the circuit courts of law in this State, to the constitutional court of appeals at Charleston or Columbia, the opinion of the judge who tried the cause shall not be allowed, and have no effect in the final determination of the case.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the conConstitutional stitutional courts of appeals at Charleston and Columbia, shall not consist court to consist of less than four judges, and no case shall be decided without the concurof not less than four judges. rence of three, at least, of the judges of the courts of common pleas and general sessions; and in case of an equal division of the judges upon any question of appeal, the motion of the appellant shall not be lost, but the case shall be postponed until the attendance of any judge qualified according to the terms of this Act to give an opinion, who may be absent at the trial or argument of the appeal.

X. And whereas, the honorable Elihu Hall Bay has applied to the LegisJudge Bay au- lature for permission to leave the State; Be it enacted by the authority afore

Acts relating to Courts.

A. D. 1818.

said, That the said Elihu Hall Bay, be, and he is hereby, authorized to thorized to leave the State for the term of nine months.

In the Senate House, the eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and in the forty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America.

JAMES R. PRINGLE, President of the Senate.

THOMAS BENNETT, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

leave the State.

AN ACT TO ENLARGE THE JURISDICTION OF THE INFERIOR CITY COURT No. 2175. OF CHARLESTON.

WHEREAS, from the peculiar situation and circumstances of Charleston, as a Metropolis and the great Seaport of South Carolina, the administration of justice should be prompt, and the present delays are attended with burthensome expenses on the State, in dieting prisoners confined on charges [of] misdemeanor.

I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, now met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the passing of this Act, the inferior city court of Charleston shall have jurisdiction concurrent with the court of general sessions, in all cases of misdemeanor, assault and battery, arising within the city of Charleston; also in all cases of trover, detinue, replevin and trespass arising within said city, to the amount hereinafter specified. And the said inferior city court shall have jurisdiction in civil cases to the amount following:-no verdict shall be given for a greater sum than five hundred dollars, exclusive of costs, but any amount not exceeding five hundred doliars, exclusive of costs, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, within the jurisdiction of the said court, whether the same be damages, or the balance of mutual demands, or single cause of action; Provided, nothing contained in this Act shall be so construed as to extend to any inhabitant of this State, who may not be a resident within the city of Charleston; and no person shall be construed to be a resident of the said city, unless he shall have resided in the said city three months prior to the commencement of the suit or prosecution, or shall have resided within the said city four months during the year immediately preceding the commencement of said suit or prosecution.

II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the charges and fees of the several offices of said inferior city court, shall be the same as in the court of sessions and common pleas, in like cases.

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the recorder of the city of Charleston, as judge of the said inferior city court, shall have the same powers in the discharge of his duties, as the judges of the court of sessions and common pleas in like cases, and the proceedings in criminal cases, and in civil cases over and above one hundred dollars, shall be the same substantially as in the courts of sessions and common pleas in like cases.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all prisoners who shall be arrested and ordered to be committed by any sentence