United States Statutes at Large/Volume 1/5th Congress/3rd Session/Chapter 19

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United States Statutes at Large, Volume 1
United States Congress
Public Acts of the Fifth Congress, Third Session, Chapter 19
2374194United States Statutes at Large, Volume 1 — Public Acts of the Fifth Congress, Third Session, Chapter 19United States Congress


Feb. 28, 1799.

Chap. ⅩⅨ.An Act providing compensation for the Marshals, Clerks, Attornies, Jurors and Witnesses in the Courts of the United States, and to repeal certain parts of the acts therein mentioned; and for other purposes.[1]

Section 1. 1813, ch. 14.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passing of this act, the compensation to the several officers herein after mentioned, shall be as follows, to wit: To the marshals.to the marshals of the several districts of the United States, for the service of any writ, warrant, attachment or process issuing out of any courts of the United States, two dollars—and in case there be more than one person named in the said writ, warrant, attachment or process, then two dollars for each person so named; for his travel out in serving each writ, warrant, attachment or process aforesaid, five cents per mile, to be computed from the place of service to the court where the writ or process shall be returned; and if more persons than one are named therein, the travel shall be computed from the court to the place of service which shall be the most remote, adding thereto, the extra travel which shall be necessary to serve it on the other; for each bail bond, fifty cents; for actually summoning witnesses or appraisers, each fifty cents; for every commitment or discharge of a prisoner, fifty cents; for every proclamation in the admiralty, thirty cents; for sales of vessels, or other property, and for receiving and paying the money, for any sum under five hundred dollars, two and one half per cent; for any larger sum, one and one quarter per cent, upon the excess; for summoning each grand and other jury, four dollars: Provided, that in no case shall the fees for summoning jurors to any one court, exceed fifty dollars; and in those states where jurors, by the laws of the state, are drawn by constables, or other officers of corporate towns or places, by lot, the marshal shall receive for the use of the officers employed in summoning the jurors and returning the venire, the sum of two dollars, and for his own trouble in distributing the venire, the sum of two dollars; for attending the supreme or circuit court, five dollars per day;[2] and for attending the district court, where such court has the powers and cognizance of a circuit court, five dollars per day; and for attending the district courts in other cases, four dollars per day, and at the rate of ten cents per mile, for his travel from the place of his abode to either of the said courts—for all other services, not herein enumerated, except as shall be hereafter provided, such fees and compensations as are allowed in the supreme court of the state where such services are rendered: And the annual sum of two hundred dollars as a full compensation for all extra services, shall be allowed to 1803, ch. 7, sec. 5. each marshal for the districts of Tennessee, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

Sec. 2. Manner of deputy marshal’s taking the oath of office, when he resides at a distance from the district judge.And be it further enacted, That when a deputy marshal, who shall be duly appointed by the marshal of any district, shall reside and be more than twenty miles from the place where the district judge of such district shall reside and be, the oath of office required of such deputy, before he enters on the discharge thereof, may be administered and taken by and before any judge or justice of any state court within the same district, or before any justice of the peace, having authority therein, and being certified by him, to the said district judge, shall be as effectual as if administered or taken before such district judge.

Sec. 3. Compensation for the clerks of the courts of the United States.And be it further enacted, That the compensation to the clerk of the supreme court of the United States, shall be as follows, to wit: for his attendance in court, ten dollars per day, and for his other services, double the fees of the clerk of the supreme court of the state in which the supreme court of the United States shall be holden. To the clerks of circuit and district courts in each state, respectively, the same fees as are allowed in the supreme court of the said state, with an addition thereto of one third of said fees, and five dollars per day for his attendance at any circuit or district court, and at the rate of ten cents per mile for his travel from the place of his abode to either of said courts; and in case a clerk of a court of the United States perform any duty which is not performed by the clerks of the state, and for which the laws of the state make no provision, the court in which such service shall be performed, shall make a reasonable compensation therefor. And in all cases of admiralty jurisdiction, the clerk of the district court shall be allowed the same fees as are prescribed by the second section of an act, passed the first day of March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, intituled 1793, ch. 20.An act to ascertain the fees in admiralty proceedings in the district courts of the United States; and for other purposes.”

Sec. 4. Compensation for the district attornies.And be it further enacted, That the compensation to the attornies of the respective districts of the United States, shall be as follows, to wit: for each day which any such attorney shall necessarily attend on business of the United States, during the session of any district or circuit court, five dollars; for travelling from the place of his abode to such court, ten cents per mile; and such fees in each state, respectively, as are allowed in the supreme court thereof; and in the district courts, his stated fees in the cases herein mentioned, shall be as follows, to wit: for drawing interrogatories, five dollars; for drawing and exhibiting libel, claim, or answer, six dollars; and for all other services in any one cause, six dollars. And the annual sum of two hundred dollars, as a full compensation for all extra services, shall be allowed and paid by the United States, to each district attorney for the districts of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Sec. 5. Compensation to the attorney of the Virginia district in criminal cases.And be it further enacted, That for all services in criminal cases performed by the attorney for the district of Virginia, and for which no fees are allowed by law for similar services in the courts of that state, he shall be allowed such sum or sums as the court in which the same is rendered, shall consider a reasonable compensation therefor.

Sec. 6. Compensation to jurors and witnesses.And be it further enacted, That the compensation to jurors and witnesses, in the courts of the United States, shall be as follows, to wit: to each grand and other juror, for each day he shall attend in court, one dollar and twenty-five cents; and for travelling, at the rate of five cents per mile, from their respective places of abode, to the place where the court is holden, and the like allowance for returning; to the witnesses summoned in any court of the United States, the same allowance as is above provided for jurors.

Sec. 7. Criers and persons to attend the courts.And be it further enacted, That the respective courts of the United States shall appoint criers for their courts, to be allowed the sum of two dollars per day; and that the marshals be, and they are hereby authorized to appoint such a number of persons, not exceeding three, as the judges of their respective courts shall determine, to attend upon the grand and other jurors, and for other necessary purposes, who shall be allowed for their services, the sum of two dollars per day, to be paid by, and included in the accounts of the marshal, out of any money of the United States in his hands.

Sec. 8. Informers to be alone liable for the fees to the clerks, &c.And be it further enacted, That if any informer on a penal statute, and to whom the penalty, or any part thereof, if recovered, is directed to accrue, shall discontinue his suit or prosecution, or shall be nonsuited in the same, or if, upon trial, judgment shall be rendered in favour of the defendant, unless such informer be an officer of the United States, he shall be alone liable to the clerks, marshals, and attornies for the fees of such prosecution; Exception.but if such informer be an officer whose duty it is to commence such prosecution, and the court shall certify there was reasonable ground for the same, then the United States shall be responsible for such fees.

Sec. 9. Parts of former acts repealed.
1792, ch. 36.
And be it further enacted, That the third section of an act, passed on the eighth day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two, intituled “An act for regulating process in the courts of the United States, and for providing compensations for the officers of said courts, and for jurors and witnesses,” and the second section of an act passed on the first day of June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, intituled 1796, ch. 48.An act making an appropriation to satisfy certain demands attending the late insurrection, and to increase the compensations to jurors and witnesses in the courts of the United States,” be, and they are hereby repealed.

Approved, February 28, 1799.


  1. An act concerning suits and costs in the courts of the United States, July 22, 1813, chap. 14.
  2. An act to lessen the compensation for marshals, clerks, and attorneys, in the cases therein mentioned, April 18, 1814, chap. 79; an act to repeal in part an act entitled, “An act to lessen the compensation of marshals, clerks, and attorneys, in cases therein mentioned,” March 8, 1824, chap. 26.