other cases is provided by law for contesting of elections for judge or clerk of the circuit court; and the said clerk shall take the same oath, and enter into bond, as is taken and required to be entered into by the clerks of the circuit

courts.

7. This act shall be a public act, and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

APPROVED March 6, 1869.

AN ACT to establish a common pleas court in the city of Mattoon.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That there

In force Feb. 20, 1809.

court of Mat

shall be established in the city of Mattoon, in Coles county, Common pleas Illinois, a court of civil common law jurisdiction, which toon. shall be a court of record, by the name of "The Common Pleas Court of the City of Mattoon."

§ 2. Said court shall have jurisdiction within the cor- Jurisdiction. porate limits of the said city of Mattoon, concurrent with the circuit court of Coles county, in all civil common law cases and actions arising under the statutes of this state, for the recovery of debt.

3. The officers of said court shall be a judge, who offers. shall be called judge of the common pleas court of the city of Mattoon, clerk, sheriff and such bailiffs as may be appointed.

how

4. The judge of said court shall be elected by the Judge, qualified voters of the city of Mattoon, and shall be com- qualined, etc. missioned by the governor, and shall hold his office for the term of four (4) years and until his successor is elected and qualified; said judge shall possess the same qualifications, be qualified in the same manner, be subject to the same penalties and possess the same powers in every respect, and perform the same duties in the said court as the judges of the circuit courts in their respective counties.

5. An election for judge of said court shall be Election. held on the third Monday of the month of March, A. D. 1869, and every four (4) years thereafter, and it shall be the duty of the clerk of the city of Mattoon to give notice of said election in some newspaper published in said city of Mattoon, at least ten (10) days previous to said election, and said election shall be held in the same manner as elections are held for mayor and other officers of the city of Mattoon under the charter and ordinances of said city that are now or may hereafter be in force; and the clerk of the city of Mattoon, under the seal of the said city of Mat

toon, shall certify to the governor the number of votes received by each person for said office, and the person receiving the highest number of votes for said office, as shown by the certificate of said clerk, shall be commissioned by the governor as judge of said court.

§ 6. The judge of said court shall receive the same salary from the state treasury as is now allowed to the respective judges of the circuit courts by the constitution, to be paid in the same manner; and in addition thereto shall receive the sum of one dollar as docket fee for each and every case commenced in said court or brought into said court by appeal or otherwise, and said docket fee shall be taxed, collected and paid over in the same manner, by the clerk of said court, as docket fees are now taxed, collected and paid over by the clerk of the circuit court of Coles county, and all other fees and costs shall be taxed in said. court as for like services and cases are taxed or assessed in the circuit court of Coles county; and the city council of said city of Mattoon may and are hereby authorized to make such appropriation towards the salary of said judge in addition to the salary hereby provided for, to be paid out of the city treasury of said city, in the sum not less than one hundred (100) dollars and not more than five hundred (500) dollars.

7. The clerk of the circuit court of Coles county shall be,ex officio, the clerk of said court, and shall perform the same duties, be entitled to the same fees and be liable to the same penalties in the said court as in the circuit court, and it shall be and is hereby made his duty to appoint, and keep, one or more deputy clerks, who shall at all times reside within said city of Mattoon and in the absence or disability of said clerk it shall be the duty of said deputy or deputies to perform the same duties in the said court. as would be incumbent on the clerk thereof; and it shall be the duty of the said clerk to keep in his office at Charleston a list, in cross-index form, of all judgments entered or rendered in said common pleas court, together with steps taken and proceedings had thereon in like manner and to the same extent, as near as may be, as he is now required to make up and keep of or pertaining to judgments rendered in the circuit court, and no judgment rendered in said common pleas court shall be a lien upon real estate in Coles county until the same is entered upon the record at Charleston as provided by this section. The fees for making up such record of judgments and proceedings had thereon or pertaining thereto shall be the same as are allowed for like services in the circuit court, to be taxed as cost of suit in the case in which such judgment is rendered and collected as other costs.

and fees.

88. The sheriff of Coles county shall be, ex officio, the Sheriff, duties, sheriff of said court, and shall perform the same duties, be entitled to the same fees, and be liable to the same penalties in said court as in the circuit court of Coles county, and it shall be his duty to appoint and keep one or more deputies who shall at all times reside within the city of Mattoon; and it shall be the duty of said deputy or deputies to perform, in the absence or disability of the sheriff, such duties as would be incumbent on the said sheriff, and in cases where the said sheriff may be interested it shall be the duty of the coroner of Coles county to execute the process of said court.

89. The process of said court shall be tested in the Process. name of the clerk thereof, and shall be issued, executed, and returned in the same manner as process issuing from the circuit court of Coles county; and process out of said court may issue against a defendant or defendants, if found in said city of Mattoon, in all cases, and against a defendant or defendants to the sheriff of the county where the defendant or defendants may reside. When the contract or cause of action accrued in said city of Mattoon, and the plaintiff or plaintiffs, or one of them, reside in said city, and in all cases where there are more than one defendant, and one or more of such defendants reside in or may be found in the city of Mattoon, the plaintiff or plaintiff's commencing his or their action in said court may have a writ or writs issued, directed to the sheriff of any county or counties where the other defendant or defendants may reside or be found; and in all cases where the defendant or defendants, or one or more of them, are non-residents of the state, service by publication may be made upon such non-residents in the manner as is now provided by law for the service of process issuing out of the circuit courts of the state; and all civil process issued out of said courts shall have the same force and effect as similar process issued out of the circuit court.

10. All judgments of said court shall be a lien upon real estate in the county of Coles from the rendition thereof, subject, however, to the provisions of section seven of this act, and shall be enforced and collected in the same manner as judgments rendered in the circuit court of Coles county, and appeals from the orders and judgments of said court may be taken to the circuit court of Coles county, and shall be had in the same cases and taken and conducted in the same manner as is provided by the laws of this state for the taking of appeals from the circuit courts to the supreme court: Provided, that either party may introduce other and additional evidence upon the trial of said cause in the circuit court, as in other cases: Provided, also, that no additional docket fee shall be charged or taxed in cases so appealed to the circuit court. In all cases, execu

JudgmentsAppeals.

Terms.

Where holden -Records.

Appeals from justices.

Change

venue.

tion may issue forthwith upon the rendition of the judg ment: Provided, the plaintiff or his agent or attorney make the affidavit as now required by law in such cases in the circuit courts; and executions issued out of the said common pleas court shall have the same lien in the county of Coles or the county to which they may be directed, upon the personal property of defendants, from the time they are delivered to the sheriff or other officer to execute, as though issued out of the circuit courts.

Said court shall hold two terms in each year, $ 11. commencing on the first Monday of February and August of each and every year, respectively, and shall continue each term until all the business before the same be disposed of. The said judge shall have power to appoint special terms of said court at such times as he may think proper, upon giving twenty (20) days' notice thereof in some newspaper published in said city; and all orders, judgments and decrees and proceedings made or had at any such special terms shall be as valid and effectual as if made or had at a regular term of said court; and he shall have power, upon entering the proper order of record of said court, during any term thereof, to fix any number of days or times at which he will hear, at his chambers, general and special motions, arguments of demurrers and arguments upon agreed cases, and for the making up of issues and for the making of orders thereupon, and for the making of such interlocutory orders as may be necessary to expedite the proceedings in any cause; and may, at any regular term of said court, by order entered of record in said court, appoint such special term as to him, at such time of making such order, may seem necessary.

$12. Said court shall be holden at such place in the city of Mattoon as shall be provided by the city council of said city; and it shall be the duty of said city council to provide suitable rooms or buildings within said city in which to hold said court. Said court shall have a seal, to be provided by the city council of said city; and said council shall also provide such blank books, records, stationery and other articles as may be necessary for the transaction of the business of said court, or the carrying on of the same under the provisions of this act.

§ 13. All appeals and writs of certiorari from the decisions of justices of the peace or other magistrates within said city, may be taken to said common pleas court, and there be heard and determined as like cases in the circuit court.

of § 14. Changes of venue, in all cases, may be taken from said court to the circuit court of Coles county for the same causes and in the same manner as changes of venue are now by law allowed from the circuit courts, and when

the petition shall allege that the inhabitants of Coles county are prejudiced against the petitioner, the change of venue shall be to the circuit court of some adjoining county where the cause of complaint does not exist: Provided, if the judge of said court shall not be satisfied that said petition is true, the court may require the petition to be verified by the oath of some credible person other than the oath of the party applying for such change of venue, and he may require the reasons for the belief of the petitioner to be stated in the petition: Provided, also, that persons residing beyond the corporate limits of said city of Mattoon, who may be sued in said court, shall, upon mere motion, have the right to change the venue into the circuit court of Coles county, on making affidavit of such residence and praying for such change of venue upon entering his, her or their appearance in such cause, and not thereafter; and said affidavit may be made by the agent or attorney of the defendant or defendants in his, her or their absence.

§ 15. The petit jurors of said court shall be selected Jurors. from the qualified voters of said city by the city council thereof, in the same manner that jurors are selected by the county court, at least fifteen (15) days before any of the terms of said court, and the clerk of the city of Mattoon shall, within five (5) days thereafter, certify to the clerk of said court a list of the petit jurors, whose duty it shall be to issue and deliver to the sheriff of Coles county a summons, as provided for jurors in the circuit courts, which jurors shall possess the same qualifications and be liable to the same penalties and punishments and have the benefits of the same excuses and exceptions as are imposed and allowed by the laws of the state to jurors of the circuit courts, and shall take the same oaths, possess the same powers and be governed in all their proceedings in the same manner as is prescribed, imposed and allowed in case of jurors of the circuit courts. The jurors of said court shall receive, out of the city treasury, the same compensation that is now allowed to jurors of the circuit courts, to be paid upon the certificate of the clerk of said court by the treasurer of said city, on presentation.

§ 16. In all cases in said court where, by the laws of Sentence. the state, offenders may be punished or sentenced to the county jail, the said judge shall sentence or punish such offenders in the county jail of Coles county.

17. Upon the happening of any vacancy in the office Vacancy. of judge of said court, it shall be the duty of the city council of said city of Mattoon to order an election to fill such vacancy; and the person elected to fill such vacancy shall hold his office until the next regular election for such office as provided by this act.