Chapter LIV. to divide the State of Michigan into two Judicial Districts, and to provide for holding the District and Circuit Courts therein
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Chap. LIV.— An Act to divide the State of Michigan into two Judicial Districts, and to provide for holding the District and Circuit Courts therein.Feb. 24, 1863. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the State of Michigan be,Michigan divided into two judicial districts. and the same is hereby, divided into two judicial districts, in the following manner, namely:— the eastern and western districts.
The western district shall embrace all the territory and waters withinWestern district. the following boundaries, to wit: Commencing at the southwest corner of Hillsdale county, in the State of Michigan, and running from thence north, on the west line of said county, to the south line of Calhoun county; thence east, on the south line thereof, to the southeast corner of said last-named county; thence north, on the east boundary of said county, to the south line of Eaton county; thence east, on said south line, to the southeast corner of Eaton county; thence north, on the east boundary of Eaton county, to the south line of Clinton county; thence west, on the south boundary of said county, to the southwest corner thereof; thence north, on the west boundary of Clinton and Gratiot counties, to the south boundary of Isabella county; thence west, on its south boundary, to the southwest corner of said last-named county; thence north, on the west line of Isabella and Clare counties, to the south boundary of Missaukee county; thence east, on its south boundary, to the southeast corner of Missaukee county; thence north, on the east line of Missaukee, Kalcasca, and Antrim counties, to the south boundary [of] Emmet county; thence east to the southeast corner of Emmet county; thence north, on the east boundary of Emmet county, to the Straits of Mackinac; thence north to midway across said straits; thence westerly, in a direct line, to a point on the shore of Lake Michigan where the north boundary of Delta county reaches Lake Michigan; thence west, on the north line of Delta county, to the northwest corner of said Delta county; thence south, on the west boundary of said county, to the dividing line between the States of Michigan and Wisconsin in Green Bay; thence northeasterly, on the said dividing line, into Lake Michigan; and thence southerly, through Lake Michigan, to the southwest corner of the State of Michigan, on a line that will include within said boundaries the waters of Lake Michigan within the admiralty jurisdiction of the State of Michigan; thence east, on the south boundary of the State of Michigan, to the intersection of the west line of Hillsdale county.
The judicial centre of which district shall be at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent, where the courts ofCourts, where held.661THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 54. 1863. said district shall be held. The eastern district shall embrace all theEastern district. other territory of the State of Michigan and all other waters of said State not embraced within the foregoing boundaries of said western district. The judicial centre of said eastern district, shall be at Detroit, in the countyPlace of holding courts. of Wayne, where the courts of said district shall be held.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That there shall be two terms of theTerms of courts. circuit and district courts begun and held in each of said districts, to wit: At the city of Detroit, for the eastern district, on the first Tuesday in*Ante*, p. 657. June, November, and March in each year; and at the city of Grand Rapids, for the western district, on the third Monday of May and third Monday of October in each year. And the said courts are hereby authorized to hold adjourned terms when the business before the courts shall, in the opinion of the court, require it.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That all suits and other proceedings,Provision for pending suits and process. of whatever name or nature, now pending in the circuit or district courts of the United States for the district of Michigan, shall be tried and disposed of in the circuit and district courts, respectively, for the eastern district of Michigan, in the same manner as the same would have been in case said State had not been divided into two districts; and for that purpose the jurisdiction is reserved to said courts in the eastern district; and the clerk of the circuit and district courts for the present district of Michigan shall remove the records and files of the said circuit and district courtsRecords and files. to the city of Detroit, and do and perform all the duties appertaining to his office within the eastern district; and all process and other proceedings taken or issued, or made returnable to the circuit or district court for the present district of Michigan, shall be returnable at the next term of the said courts, respectively, in the eastern district of Michigan.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That, upon the application of anySuits pending may be removed to western district. party to any suit now pending which would have been commenced in the western district if this act had been in force before the commencement of said suit, the proper court may, and, if all parties consent, shall, order that the same be removed for further proceedings to the proper court for the western district; and thereupon the clerk shall transmit all the papers in the cause, with a transcript of the order of the removal, to the clerk of the court to which the said suit shall be removed; and all further proceedings shall be had in said court as if the suit had been originally commenced therein.
Sec. . *And be it further enacted,* That the present judge of the districtPresent judge to hold courts in eastern district. of Michigan be, and he is hereby, assigned to hold said courts in the eastern district of Michigan, and shall exercise the same jurisdiction and perform the same duties within said district as he now exercises and performs within his present district. Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That final process upon any judgmentFinal process, &c., returnable to eastern district. or decree entered in the circuit or district court of the United States for the district of Michigan, and all other process for the enforcement of any order of said courts, respectively, in any cause now pending therein, except causes removed as hereinbefore provided, shall be issued from and made returnable to the proper court for the eastern district of Michigan, and may run and be executed by the marshal of said eastern district in any part of said State.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That there be appointed a districtJudge to be appointed for western district. judge for the said western district of Michigan, who shall possess the same powers and do and perform all such duties in his district as are now enjoined or in any wise appertaining to the present district judge for the district of Michigan; and the district judge of each district shall be entitled to the same compensation as by law is provided for the present judgePay. for the district of Michigan.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That there be appointed one personDistrict attorney and marshal. as district attorney, and one person as marshal for said western district,662THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 54, 55. 1863. whose terms of appointment and service, as well as duties and emoluments,Pay and duties. shall be the same with those respectively appertaining to the said offices in the district of Michigan. And said marshal shall give the same bond thatBond of marshal. other marshals are required to give, to be approved and recorded as now directed by law: *Provided,* That the present district attorney of the districtPresent marshal and district attorney. of Michigan shall be the district attorney of the eastern district, and retain the charge of all suits already commenced until final termination, unless the President of the United States shall otherwise direct, and the present marshal of the district of Michigan shall be the marshal of the eastern district, during their respective official terms.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That all suits hereafter to be broughtSuits, where to be brought hereafter. in either of said courts not of a local nature, shall be brought in the court of the district where the defendant resides; but if there be more than one defendant, and they reside in different districts, the plaintiff may sue in either, and send a duplicate writ against the defendants, directed to the marshal of the other district, on which an endorsement shall be made that the writ thus sent is a copy of a writ sued out of the court of the proper district; and the said writs, when executed and returned into the office from whence they issued, shall constitute one suit, and be proceeded in accordingly.
Approved, February 24, 1863.