Chapter 39.
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CHAP. 39.— An act to amend the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the records and files of district and circuit courts of the United States lost or destroyed. Jan. 31, 1879. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.*, That section nine hundred and[R. S. 902](/us/rs/s902). two of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby amended so as to read as follows: In any proceedings in conformity with law to restore the records ofRestoration of court records. any court of the United States which have been or may be hereafter lost or destroyed, the notice required may be served on any nonresident of the district in which such court is held anywhere within the jurisdiction of the United States or in any foreign country; the proof of service of such notice, if made in a foreign country, to be certified by a minister or consul of the United States in such country, under his official seal.
Sec. 2. That section nine hundred and three of said Revised Statutes[R. S. 903](/us/rs/s903). is hereby amended so as to read as follows: A certified copy of the official return, or any other official paper of theSame subject. United States attorney, marshal, or clerk, or other certifying or recording officer of any court of the United States, made in pursuance of law, and on file in any department of the government, relating to any cause or matter to which the United States was a party in any such court, the record of which has been or may be lost, or destroyed, may be filed in the court to which it appertains, and shall have the same force and effect as if it were an original report, return, paper, or other document made to or filed in such court; and in any case in which the names of the parties and the date and amount of judgment or decree shall appear from such return, paper, or document, it shall be lawful for the court in which they are filed to issue the proper process to enforce such decree or judg- 278 FORTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 39, 40. 1879. ment, in the same manner as if the original record remained in said court. And in all cases where any of the files, papers, or records of any court of the United States have been or shall be lost or destroyed, the files, records, and papers which, pursuant to law, may have been or may be restored or supplied in place of such records, files, and papers, shall have the same force and effect, to all intents and purposes, as the originals thereof would have been entitled to.
Sec. 3. [R. S. 904](/us/rs/s904). That section nine hundred and four of said Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as follows: Same subject.That whenever any of the records or files in which the United States are interested of any court of the United States have been or may be lost or destroyed, it shall be the duty of the attorney of the United States for the district or court to which such files and records belong, so far as the judges of such courts respectively shall deem it essential to the interests of the United States that such records and files to be restored or supplied, to take such steps, under the direction of said judges, as may be necessary to effect such restoration or substitution, including such dockets, indices, and other books and papers as said judges shall think proper.
Said judges may direct the performance, by the clerks of said courts respectively and by the United States attorneys, of any duties incident thereto; and said clerks and attorneys shall be allowed such compensation for services in the matter and for lawful disbursements as may be approved by the Attorney-General of the United States, upon a certificate by the judges of said courts stating that such claim for services and disbursements is just and reasonable; and the sum so allowed shall be paid out of the judiciary fund.
Approved, January 31, 1879.