Chapter XX. to establish a Court at Key West, in the State of Florida, and for other Purposes
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Chap. XX.— An Act to establish a Court at Key West, in the State of Florida, and for other Purposes.Feb. 23, 1847. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* ThatSupplementary act, post, p. 132.Southern District of Florida established. all that part of the State of Florida lying south of a line drawn due east and west from the northern point of Charlotte Harbor, including the islands, keys, reefs, shoals, harbors, bays and inlets, south of said line, shall be erected into a new judicial district, to be called the Southern District of Florida; a District Court shall be held in said Southern District,District Court. to consist of one judge, who shall reside at Key West, in said district, and be called a district judge; and shall in all things have and exercise the jurisdiction and powers of a District and Circuit CourtJurisdiction. of the United States within the district aforesaid; and appeals may be allowed and writs of error sued out and made returnable in the Supreme Court, in the same manner and under the same rules and regulations as appeals and writs of error are allowed and sued out from and to a Circuit Court.Clerk.
The judge shall appoint a clerk, who shall reside and keep the records of the court at the place of holding the same; and shah receive for the services he may perform the same fees to which the clerk of the Louisiana District is entitled for similar services. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* ThatSessions of the court. the judge of said district shall hold two regular terms of court in each year at Key West; the one commencing on the first Monday in May, the other, on the first Monday of November in each year.Extra sessions.
He shall also hold extra sessions of said court from time to time, at such places in said district as occasion may require, to despatch the business of said court; and, for the purpose of hearing and deciding all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, the said court shall be at all times open. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* ThatWreckers to be licensed. no vessel, nor master there-of, shall be regularly employed in the business of wrecking on the coast of Florida without the license of the judge of said court; and, before licensing any vessel or master, the judge shall be satisfied that the vessel is seaworthy, and properly and sufficiently fitted and equipped for the business of saving property shipwrecked and in distress; and that the master thereof is trustworthy, and innocent of any fraud or misconduct in relation to any property shipwrecked or saved on said coast.
Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* ThatCompensation of judge. there shall be allowed to the judge aforesaid an annual salary of two thousand dollars, to be paid to him quarterly from the time of his appointment. Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* ThatDistrict attorney to be appointed. there shall be appointed in said district a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the United States, who shall, in addition to his stated fees,Pay. be paid by the United States two hundred dollars as a full compensation for all extra services.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* ThatMarshal to be appointed. there shall be appointed in said district a marshal, who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees as are allowed to marshals in the District of Louisiana, and shall, moreover, be entitled to the sum of two hundred dollars annually,Pay. as a compensation for all extra services. Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That the provisions of the act132TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Sess. 132. passedProvisions of the act of 1847, ch. 17, apply to the records, proceedings, &c. of the court established by this act. at this session, entitled “An Act to regulate the Exercise of the appellate Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States in certain Cases, and for other Purposes,” shall be held to apply to all records, proceedings, judgments, or decrees transferred to the court hereby established; and all and singular the records and proceedings, judgments or decrees specified in said act, that arose or pending, or claimed to be pending as stated in said act, in or before the superior court of the Southern District of the late Territory of Florida, and provided by said act to be transferred to the District Court of the United States for the District of Florida, shall be, and are hereby, transferred to the court hereby created, and all the provisions of said act relating to said District Court of the United States for the District of Florida, or respecting the removal of judgments or decrees in such cases to the Supreme Court of the United States, or otherwise relating to such cases, shall be deemed and held to apply to the court hereby created, the same as to said District Court of the United States for said District of Florida, and to the cases so as aforesaid transferred to the court hereby created.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* ThatSaid Court to be called the PSorthern District Court of Florida. the title and name of said District Court of the United States for the District of Florida shall hereafter be, “the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Florida;” and that the judge of said Northern District shall, in addition to the terms of his court heretofore prescribed to be held within said Northern District,Terms of courts for said district. hold one term of the court for said district at Apalachicola on the first Monday in February of each year, and one term of said court at Pensacola on the first Mon-day in March of each year, for the trial of causes arising in the western section of the State of Florida.
Approved, February 23, 1847.