Chapter 144.
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CHAP. 144.— An act to divide the State of Louisiana into two judicial districts.March 3, 1881. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Louisiana divided into two judicial districts. That the parishes of Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Olaiborue, Union, Morehouse, West Carroll, East Carroll, Madison, Richland, Ouachita, Lincoln, Bienville, Red River, De Soto, Sabine, Winn, Natchitoches, Jackson, Caldwell, Franklin, Tensas, Concordia, Catahoula, Grant, Vernon, Rapides, Avoyelles, Saint Landry, La Fayette, Saint Martin’s, Vermillion, Cameron, and Calcasieu, in the State of Louisiana, shall constitute, and is hereby created, the western judicialWestern judicial district.Eastern district. district in that State ; and the district court now existing in Louisiana shall, from and after the passage of this act, be known as the district court for the eastern district of Louisiana, and all the parishes in said State not above named shall belong to said district.
Sec. 2. That all suits not of a local nature in the circuit and districtProvision for suits not of a local nature. courts against a single defendant, inhabitant of said State, must be brought in the district where he resides, but if there are two or more defendants, residing in different districts, such suits may be brought in either district. Sec. 3. That all prosecutions for crimes or offenses hereafter committedProsecutions for crimes, etc., hereafter committed and heretofore committed ; where triable.Suits pending may be removed to western district. in either of said districts shall be cognizable within such district; and all prosecutions for crimes or offenses heretofore committed in the district of Louisiana shall be commenced and proceeded with as if this act had not been passed.
Sec. 4. That all civil suits in law or equity which have arisen in the parishes composing said western district, or against persons residing therein, or concerning lands situated therein, and now pending, together with all process, writs, recognizances, and records belonging thereto, shall, with the consent of all the parties, be transferred to said western district. Sec. 5. That there shall be held semiannually in said district twoPlaces of holding courts.Terms of courts. stated sessions of the district and circuit courts, at each of the following places, to wit:
At Opelousas, on the first Mondays of January and June; at Alexandria, on the fourth Mondays of January and June; at Shreveport, on the third Mondays of February and July; at Monroe, on the first Mondays of April and October. Sec. 6. That a person learned in the law shall be appointed by theJudge to be appointed for Western district.Salary.Powers and duties. President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, district judge thereof, with a salary of three thousand five hundred dollars per annum, payable quarterly, and with the same powers and duties as the district judge of the United States for the district of Louisiana as it now exists, and such as are conferred on him, or required of him, by this act.
And the said judge shall appoint a clerk of theClerks. district court in the western district, and a clerk of the circuit court for said district shall be appointed in the same manner as other such clerks are appointed, and Compensation.who shall receive for the services performed by them the same fees and compensation that are allowed to the clerks of such courts holding their sessions in New Orleans, in the same State, and shall be subject in every respect to the same restrictions and responsibilities, and the district and circuit courts for the eastern district of Louisiana shall be held in New Orleans, as heretofore.
And it shall be the duty of Transfer from courts in New Orleans of papers in cases belonging to the western district.the clerks of the district and circuit courts of the United States in New Orleans, whenever the courts shall so order, to transmit, by some safe conveyance, or to deliver to the clerks of the courts in the western district, or their order, the original papers in all such cases as properly belong to the court in the western district by the provisions of this act, together with a transcript of the proceedings had therein.
Sec. 7. That the President of the United States, by and with the Marshal and district attorney.advice and consent of the Senate, be, and hereby is, authorized to appoint one person as marshal and one as district attorney for the said western district of the United States within the State of Louisiana created by this act ; and that the terms of appointment and service together 508 FORTY-SIXTY CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 144, 145, 146. 1881. with the duties and responsibilities of the said marshal and districtDuties. attorney, respectively, for the district aforesaid shall be in all respects the same within their said district as the terms of appointment and services, the duties, and responsibilities of the marshal and district attorney, respectively, of the eastern district of the State of Louisiana Approved, March 3, 1881.