United States Statutes at Large/Volume 3/16th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 47

United States Statutes at Large, Volume 3
United States Congress
Public Acts of the Sixteenth Congress, 1st Session, Chapter 47
2637453United States Statutes at Large, Volume 3 — Public Acts of the Sixteenth Congress, 1st Session, Chapter 47United States Congress


April 21, 1820.

Chap. XLVII.An Act to establish a district court in the state of Alabama.[1]

Laws of the United States extended to Alabama.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all the laws of the United States, which are not locally inapplicable, shall be extended to the state of Alabama, and shall have the same force and effect within the same as elsewhere within the United States.

Alabama a district.
A district court of one judge.
Four stated sessions annually, at Mobile and Cahawba.
Powers of the judge.
Act of 1789, ch. 20.
1793, ch. 22.
Clerks of the court.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said state shall be one district, and be called the Alabama district; and a district court shall be held therein, to consist of one judge, who shall reside in the said district, and be called the district judge. He shall hold, alternately, at the towns of Mobile and Cahawba, beginning at the first, four stated sessions annually; the first to commence on the first Monday in April next, and the three other sessions, progressively, on the first Monday of every third calendar month thereafter. He shall, in all things, have and exercise the same jurisdiction and powers which were by law given to the judge of the Kentucky district, under an act entitled “An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States,” and an act entitled “An act in addition to the act, entitled ‘An act to establish the judicial courts of the United States,’” approved second March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three. He shall appoint clerks for the said district, who shall reside, and keep the records of the court, at the places of holding the same, and shall receive, for the services performed by them, the same fees to which the clerk of the Kentucky district is entitled for similar services.

Causes, &c. in the territorial general court transferred to the district court.
Act of March 3, 1817, ch. 59.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all causes, actions, indictments, libels, pleas, processes, and proceedings, whatsoever, returnable, commenced, depending, or in any manner existing, in the general court established by an act, entitled “An act to establish a separate territorial government for the eastern part of the Mississippi territory,” by virtue of the federal jurisdiction by that act granted, be, and the same are hereby, transferred to the said district court, and may be proceeded in, shall exist, and have like incidents and effects, as if they had been originated and been proceeded in, in the said district court.

Dockets, &c. of the general territorial court to become the dockets, &c. of the district court.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the dockets, books, records, and papers, belonging to the said general court, arising out of, and appertaining to, its federal jurisdiction, shall be transferred to, and become the dockets, books, records, and papers, of the said district court.

Compensation of judge 1500 dollars per annum.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That there shall be allowed to the judge of the said district court, the annual compensation of fifteen hundred dollars, to commence from the date of his appointment; to be paid quarter yearly at the treasury of the United States.

A district attorney.
Compensation.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That there shall be appointed, in the said district, a person learned in the law, to act as attorney for the United States; who shall, in addition to his stated fees, be paid by the United States two hundred dollars annually, as a full compensation for all extra services.

A marshal.
Compensation.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That a marshal shall be appointed for the said district, who shall perform the same duties, be subject to the same regulations and penalties, and be entitled to the same fees, as are prescribed to marshals in other districts; and shall, moreover, be entitled to the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars annually, as a compensation for all extra services.

Approved, April 21, 1820.


  1. The acts which have been passed relating to the district court of Alabama are:
    An act to establish a district court in the state of Alabama, April 21, 1820, ch. 47.
    An act to alter the terms of the district court of Alabama, Nov. 27, 1820, ch. 1.
    An act for the better organization of the district courts of the United States in the state of Alabama, March 10, 1824, ch. 28.
    An act fixing the times and places of holding the district courts of the United States in the district of Alabama, May 22, 1826, ch. 149.
    An act to alter the times of holding the district courts of the United States for the districts of Maine, Illinois, and Alabama, Jan. 27, 1831, ch. 10.
    An act to alter the time of holding the district courts of the United States for the southern district of Alabama, March 2, 1827, ch. 41.
    An act respecting the jurisdiction of certain district courts, Feb. 19, 1831, ch. 28.
    An act supplementary to an act, entitled “An act to amend the judicial system of the United States,[”] March 3, 1837, ch. 32, sec. 3, 4.
    An act to re-organize the district courts of the United States in the state of Alabama, Feb. 6, 1839, ch. 20.