Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/151



. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the circuit courts for the district of Columbia shall be and they are hereby invested with the same power respecting constables, inspectors, and the inspection of tobacco and flour, surveyors, mills, highways and ferries, for the county of Alexandria, as have heretofore been vested in the county courts of the commonwealth of Virginia; and for the county of Washington, the same power and authority as have been heretofore exercised by the county and levy courts of the state of Maryland; with power to appoint to all other offices necessary for the said district, under the laws of the respective states of Maryland and Virginia. And all officers for whom no special provision is made by this act, or the act to which this is a supplement, shall receive the same fees and emoluments as they have respectively received under the jurisdiction of the respective states.

. And be it further enacted, That all indictments shall run in the name of the United States, and conclude, against the peace and government thereof. And all fines penalties and forfeitures accruing under the laws of the states of Maryland and Virginia, which by adoption have become the laws of this district, shall be recovered with costs, by indictment or information in the name of the United States, or by action of debt, in the name of the United States and of the informer; one half of which fine shall accrue to the United States, and the other half to the informer; and the said fines shall be collected by or paid to the marshal, and one half thereof shall be by him paid over to the board of commissioners herein after established, and the other half to the informer; and the marshal shall have the same power regarding their collection, and be subject to the same rules and regulations as to the payment thereof, as the sheriffs of the respective states of Maryland and Virginia are subject to in relation to the same.

. And be it further enacted, That all felonies committed within the county of Alexandria shall be punished in the same manner as such crimes were punishable by the laws of Virginia, as they existed prior to the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six; and the circuit court for the said county of Alexandria shall possess and exercise the same powers and jurisdiction, civil and criminal, as is now possessed and exercised by the district courts of Virginia.

. And be it further enacted, That the magistrates, to be appointed for the said district, shall be and they are hereby constituted a board of commissioners within their respective counties, and shall possess and exercise the same powers, perform the same duties, receive the same fees and emoluments, as the levy courts or commissioners of county for the state of Maryland possess, perform and receive; and the clerks and collectors, to be by them appointed, shall be subject to the same laws, perform the same duties, possess the same powers, and receive the same fees and emoluments as the clerks and collectors of the county tax of the state of Maryland are entitled to receive.

. And be it further enacted, That the clerks of the circuit court shall, within their respective districts, be bound to perform the same duties, respecting the recording of deeds and all other services, and shall receive the same fees and emoluments for the same (except in those cases provided for in the ninth section of the ) as are now performed and received by the clerks of the counties of the respective states of Maryland.