United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/15th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 108
Chap. CVIII.—An Act to divide the state of Pennsylvania into two judicial districts.[1]
Pennsylvania divided into two districts.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of Pennsylvania be, and the same is hereby, divided into two districts, in manner following, to wit: the counties of Fayette, Greene, Washington, Alleghany, Westmoreland, Somerset, Bedford, Huntingdon, Centre, Mifflin, Clearfield, M’Kean, Potter, Jefferson, Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong, Butler, Beaver, Mercer, Crawford, Venango, Erie and Warren, shall compose of one district, to be called the Western district;Western district.
Eastern district.
Terms of the eastern district.
Terms of the circuit court for the western district.
See act of May 15, 1820, ch. 111. and the residue of the said state shall compose another district, to be called the Eastern district; and the terms of the district court for the said Eastern district, shall be held in the city of Philadelphia, at the several times they are now directed to be held in said district of Pennsylvania; and the terms of the circuit court for the Western district shall commence and be held in the city of Pittsburg, on the first Mondays of the months of June and December, in each and every year, and be continued and adjourned, from time to time, as the court may deem expedient for the despatch of the business thereof.
Richard Peters to hold the courts in the eastern district, &c.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That Richard Peters, now judge of the district court of Pennsylvania, shall be, and he is hereby, assigned as the judge to hold the courts in the Eastern district, and to do all things appertaining to the office of a district judge, under the constitution and laws of the United States.
The President, with consent of Senate, to appoint a judge for the western district, with a salary of 1600 dolls. per annum.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint a district judge for the said western district of Pennsylvania; which judge, when appointed, shall receive a salary of one thousand six hundred dollars per annum; to be paid in the same manner as the salary of the judge of the eastern district of said state, and he shall also do and perform all such duties as are enjoined on, or in anywise appertaining to, a district judge of the United States.
Circuit court for the eastern district to be held as directed by law, &c.Western district court to have jurisdiction as a circuit court.
Writs of error to the circuit court in the eastern district, &c.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the circuit court of the United States shall be held, for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, at the city of Philadelphia, at the times, and in the manner now directed by law to be held for the district of Pennsylvania; and the district court for the said western district, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction and powers of a district court, shall, within the limits of the said western district, have jurisdiction of all causes, except of appeals and writs of error, cognisable by law in a circuit court, and shall proceed therein in the same manner as a circuit court; and writs of error shall lie from decisions therein to the circuit court in the said eastern district of Pennsylvania, in the same manner as from other district courts to their respective circuit courts.
The President, with the consent of the Senate, to appoint an attorney and a marshal for the western district, &c.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, be, and hereby is authorized to appoint one person as district attorney, and one person as marshal for the said western district, whose terms of appointment and service, as well as duties and emoluments, shall be the same with those respectively annexed to the said offices in the eastern district. And the district attorney and the marshal for the district of Pennsylvania, shall, respectively, be district attorney and marshal for said eastern district.
Actions, suits, process, &c. continued over to the western district court.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That all actions, suits, process, pleadings, and other proceedings, of a civil nature, except in cases of appeals and writs of error, commenced or pending in the district or circuit court of said district of Pennsylvania, in which no verdict shall have passed, or plea to the merits shall have been decided, and which, by law, should have been had or commenced in said district court of said western district, if the same had been had or commenced before the passing hereof, and where the parties to the same shall not otherwise agree, shall be, and hereby are, continued over to the district court of the western district, established by this act, and shall there be proceeded in with like effect, and in the same manner, as if originally had or commenced therein. And the said district and circuit courtsThe district and circuit courts of the eastern district invested with powers for the removal of papers, &c.
Proviso. of said eastern district, shall possess and exercise all necessary powers for the removal of all papers and files relating to such actions, suits, process, pleadings, and other proceedings, to the said district court of said western district, so continued over as aforesaid: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect any bond or recognisance made or entered into in any of the actions or suits hereby directed to be removed; but the same shall continue of as much validity as though this act had not been passed.
Approved, April 20, 1818.
- ↑ An act concerning the western district of Pennsylvania, Dec. 16, 1818, ch. 4. Act of May 26, 1824, ch. 170. Act of April 25, 1826, ch. 23.